Avner Faingulernt

Avner Faingulernt was born in Bror Hayil Kibbutz, as most residents are, to Brazilian immigrants. His parents came from Rio de Janeiro in 1955. He studied in Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council high school and worked at the agricultural fields. Like many other Kibbutz youth Faingulernt chose to do a service year as a regional coordinator in Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council and in Sderot. In 1981 he was recruited to the Isreali Defence Forces to the commando squad of Sayeret Matkal special ops unit. After his army he wandered for five years in Israel and all over world. Among other occupations he worked as a Truck Driver and of lighting and camera gear on movie sets and as a fisherman in New York. According to him, his exposure to film making and especially his job as a lighting best boy filled him with great love towards cinema, and especially for Documentary film making. In 1990 he began his studies of Cinema and Psychology in the Tel Aviv University, where he also directed his first movies. In 1992, at the time of birth of his first daughter, he returned to the Kibbutz where he was born and raised and dedicated himself to establishing a local education system, with intent to provide an ideal environment for his and his friends' children. Afterwards he worked as a director of documentaries reportages for the show "Ha'She'elah Ha'ba'ah" on Keshet Broadcasting, produced by Yaron London and Nurit Kedar. In 1997 he directed and produced his first documentary film, along with Maya Bar, _Rishon Yiheyeh Aharon (1997)_qv. The following stage in his life was to return living and working in the south of Israel creating his unique cinematic language. In 1999 he established an independent studio for documentary and experimental film making in Bror Hayil, and worked then in collaboration with Macabit Abramson and Lev Goltzer on his following films. He was among the founders of the School of Audio & Visual Arts in Sapir Academic College and has been the head of it since 2001. He initiated and founded the Cinema South Festival in Sderot, the Cinema South Notebooks and the Cinema South The Curator Book, which are journals that offer a stage for articles and discussions regarding film. He completed his PhD studies in London.