He was born and raised in Tel Aviv, where he studied History and Film in 1995. From 2001 to 2005, he made the documentaries Marta & Luis', 'Checkpoint' and '5 Days'. The films have participated in over 40 festivals around the globe and have been warmly received at great film festivals such as IDFA, Sundance, Berlin and Documenta Madrid, where they have won numerous awards. Yoav Shamir's latest documentary 'Flipping Out' is also shown at CPH:DOX 2008 (see SPECIAL SCREENINGS). The film depicts the hefty reaction of young Israelis, both women and men to having to go through three years of military service. Yoav Shamir has previously been present at CPH:DOX in 2004.