It is with profound sadness that we bid farewell to Gil Alkabetz, The award-winning and internationally renowned Israeli animation artist passed away at the age of 64 on September 15, 2022.
With Gil Alkabetz we lose an outstanding artist, loyal friend and ally of ITFS. who accompanied us for more than two decades with his extraordinary sense of humor and warm-hearted aura. With his animations, creative ideas and unique personality, he had a significant impact on the Festival: his films “Swamp”, made in 1990 at the State Academy of Fine Arts, “Rubicon” (1997) but also “Morir de Amor” (2005), “Da Vinci Timecode” (2009) and “Beseder” (2020) enriched the ITFS competitions and programs. His very special and endearing humor was also particularly evident in his films for children, such as “Wollmond” (2009) or also “Ein sonniger Tag” (2007), which ran in the Tricks For Kids competitions of the ITFS. His involvement in the Program Advisory Board and support for animated film were outstanding. He provided consistently illustrations for the ITFS – lastly for the Trickburg-project in May 2022. We also planned a trailer production for one of the next festivals together with Gil…
Since 1995 Gil Alkabetz lived in Stuttgart, worked with Studio Film Bilder on projects for SDR, Nickelodeon and MTV. With his wife Nurit he founded his own film studio “Sweet Home Studio” in 2000. In 1998, he also helped Tom Tykwer’s “Run Lola Run”, one of the most successful German feature films of the late nineties of the last century, to achieve an international breakthrough with his design of the animation sequences.
Gil, we thank you very much for your friendly connection with the ITFS, your personal commitment and your great passion for animated film! You leave a gap at the ITFS, in the German animation scene and with us in the team. We will miss you very much!
Our deepest sympathy goes to your family and all your relatives.
Your ITFS Team & Uli
