Hochner opens doors for gay cinema in Israel

Jonathan Curiel
Sunday, December 28, 2008

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/26/PKQI14N4NV.DTL

This is one reason Hochner wanted to ratchet up the scenes in "Antarctica" where gays and lesbians do more than hold hands. The film stars Tomer Ilan as a librarian named Omer who's turning 30. When Omer retreats from a one-night stand with a handsome choreographer (played by Ofer Regirer) because of the choreographer's disdain for cats, the movie launches into its more comic moments, such as the scene where Omer's mother - played eccentrically by the cross-dressing actor Noam Huberman - gets her hair done in a salon where clients try to set up their out-of-the-closet offspring with the sons and daughters of other clients. Huberman's character is an ode to John Waters and the drag artist Divine. "Antarctica" stars both gay and straight actors, including Guy Zoaretz, the husband of Israeli supermodel Yael Bar-Zohar, who portrayed a commando in Steven Spielberg's "Munich" and, in "Antarctica," is a gay journalist who's after Omer.