Gidi Avivi
Gidi Avivi (born 1961) is an Israeli film producer, the founder of Vice Versa Films. Education and early career. Avivi holds a Master's degree in Cinema Studies from New York University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television from Tel Aviv University. Avivi was the Head of the Music Department and a music programmer at the IDF radio station. Concurrently, Avivi was the popular music critic for the weekly magazine Ha'ir from 1983 to 1987 and the daily newspaper "Haaretz" from 1994 to 2006. Film and TV Career. Between 1994 and 1998 Avivi  created (with Yoav Kutner, Ami Amir, Arik Bernstein and Gabriel Bibliowicz) a comprehensive 12-part documentary series about the history of Israeli rock music, "“Sof Onat Hatapuzim”" ("End of the Orange Season"). In 2006 Avivi produced two documentary films: "Bekummernis" (with Ido Sela) and "The Cahana Sisters" (with Amir Harel and Gilad Melzer). In 2008 Avivi produced (with Yael Biron and Dror Nahum) a documentary about Ehud Banai and The Refugees - "On The Move". In 2011 Avivi founded Vice Versa Films, a production house for feature films, short films and TV series. Film Festivals. Since 2016 Avivi is the Artistic  Consultant of Solidarity International Human Rights Film Festival, Tel Aviv. The fourth edition of Solidarity Festival took place in April 2016 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. The fifth edition of the festival took place in May 2017. The opening night film was "The Unknown Girl" directed by the Dardenne Brothers . The lineup included documentaries, including "Speed Sisters" and narrative films including "Junction 48". In 2009, Avivi, with Micky Laron, founded "EPOS", an annual event based at Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Avivi was the Festival Director till 2015. In its inaugural year, the festival guests were Ben Lewis, Sheila Hayman  and Rene Letzgus. In 2010 "EPOS 2" guests were Percy Adlon, Galina Eevtushenko, Lionel Guedj, Yony Leyser, Tom Magill, Sam McClean, Sergey Ovcharov, Tony Palmer, Viktoria Petranyi, Kathie Russo, Helma Sanders-Brahms, and Lucy Walker. "EPOS 3" took place in 2012, and some of its films were also shown in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Beit She'an. The festival included a musical tribute to Dave Brubeck by his son, Darius Brubeck, after a screening of a documentary film by Clint Eastwood about the great jazz pianist. Among the festival's guests were Arantxa Aguirre, John Bridcut, Kevin Hood, Lech Majewski, Agnes Sos , Iwan Schumacher, Philipp Stölzl and Wiktoria Szymanska. EPOS 4 took place in 2013, with additional screenings of its films in various venues in Israel. The opening film of the festival was 'Yossi Banai – A Farewell Album', In addition to the film screenings, the festival hosted cultural and musical events. "Imagination at Work", a new exhibition by Harun Farocki, who was the festival's guest, opened at Tel Aviv Museum of Art during the festival. The premiere of "The Composer's Cut", a new concert of Jonathan Bar Giora, closed EPOS 4. EPOS 5, a 10-day extended edition of the  festival, took place in 2014. The opening night film was "Mafriah ha-yonim" ("Farewell Baghdad), directed by Nissim Dayan. Filmography. 2017 2016 2014 2013 2012 2011 2008 2006 1998