PLAY REEL
FEATURE FILMS
The Performance
Directed by Shira Piven
Harold May is an American Jew and gifted tap dancer. While on tour in Europe, Harold and the rest of his troupe are scouted by a German attaché who leads the troupe to an exclusive performance for Hitler himself.
Starring:
Jeremy Piven | Robert Carlyle | Maimie McCoy | Adam Garcia |
Eva Stories
Directed by Mati & Maya Kochavi
What if a girl in the Holocaust had Instagram? A film based on the real diary of Eva Heyman, a 13 year old girl who lived in Hungary during the Nazi regime. Instead of her diary, Eva has an iPhone. The film depicts Eva's life through 220 Instagram stories. All 220 Instagram stories were released on Holocaust Memorial Day and received over 300 million views in 48 hours. Eva dreamed of becoming a famous journalist, she was murdered in 1944 and became famous in 2019.
AWARDS:
PRESS:
Saving Shuli
Directed by Ben Bachar
The film became the most successful in the box offices in Israel for the past 45 years
Avihu, Nati, and Bezalel go on a courageous rescue journey that includes a wide range of legal and not-so-legal activities. Desire parties, organ trafficking, licking a psychedelic toad, and having some trouble with the Colombian Drug Cartel
Eqiano Stories
Directed by Mati & Maya Kochavi
Euiano Stories brings to life the historical story of Olaudah Equiano, who was enslaved at 11 years old in 1756. His life is recounted in a series of stories posted on instagram
Forgiveness
Directed by Guy Amir & Hanan Savyon
The days are wartime in southern Israel. It is the beginning of the Jewish year, according to Jewish religious law, ten days of repentance are the days of asking forgiveness. Nissan an Orthodox Jew, feels that he will not be able to continue his life unless he receives forgiveness from his friend Shaul.
The film became the most successful in the box offices in Israel of 2019
MUSIC VIDEOS
GARDEN CITY MOVEMENT - MOVE ON
AWARDS
MTV Best Music Video
Israel 2014
LA Film Festival
Los Angeles 2014
MORE MUSIC VIDEOS
ABOUT
Lael Utnik has filmed many award-winning projects worldwide.
His use of unconventional tools, unique perspective, and distinctive positioning of the lens allows him to tell stories in remarkable ways.
At the age of 12, Utnik discovered his passion for cinematic art and story telling in Art school. Later when he was drafted, he joined a filming unit and became a military cameraman. He also studied Cinema at the University.
Feature films, television series, music videos, and more than 800 commercials across the world.
Utnik has also taken part in innovative films such as Eva.Stories (Ukraine, 2019) and Equiano.Stories (South Africa, 2022) whose purpose is to make historical events accessible to the younger generation via storytelling on social platforms. Such projects garnered hundreds of millions of views and established a new genre of storytelling. Untik also filmed blockbuster Israeli films such as Forgiveness (2019, Israel), and Saving Shuli (2021, Columbia), which is the most-viewed Israeli film in the last 45 years.
Utnik’s latest feature film, The Performance, is based on Arthur Miller’s Story of a tap dancer in 1937. It was filmed in combination with digital cinema as well as a vintage camera from the period, to achieve an authentic perspective for the audience.
