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Golda

August 25, 2023 | Bleecker Street | 100 minutes
Directed by: Guy Nattiv | Written by: Nicholas Martin | Cinematography: Jasper Wolf | Costume Design: Sinéad Kidao | Production Design: Arad Sawat | Music: Dascha Dauenhauer
Golda is a ticking-clock thriller set during the tense 19 days of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (Helen Mirren), faced with the potential of Israel’s complete destruction, must navigate overwhelming odds, a skeptical cabinet, and a complex relationship with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber), with millions of lives in the balance. Her tough leadership and compassion would ultimately decide the fate of her nation and leave her with a controversial legacy around the world.
Cast & Characters
Helen Mirren (Golda Meir), Liev Schreiber (Henry Kissinger), Camille Cottin (Lou Kaddar), Ed Stoppard (Benny Peled), Ohad Knoller (Ariel Sharon), Zed Josef (Adam Snir), Rotem Keinan (Zvi Zamir), Emma Davies (Miss Epstein), Jonathan Tafler (Dr. Rosenfeld), Ellie Piercy (Shir Shapiro), Rami Heuberger (Moshe Dayan), Dvir Benedek (Eli Zeira), Lior Ashkenazi (Dado Elazar), Dominic Mafham (Haim Bar-Lev), Mark Fleischmann (Minister Uri), Daniel Ben Zenou (Avner Shalev), Henry Goodman (Chairman Agranat), Jaime Ray Newman (Henry Kissinger's Secretary), Olivia Brody (Young Pianist), Claudette Williams (Golda Double), Sara Matin (Yael)
Photo Gallery
Production Notes

The historical drama Golda explores what Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir faced, both personally and politically, during the 19 days of the brutal and devastating Yom Kippur War in 1973. Cancer stricken at the age of 75, she made impossibly difficult decisions and shouldered the responsibility of protecting her country, but it was not without a heavy toll, both in the moment and for her legacy as a leader.

When Israeli director Guy Nattiv joined the project, the script was completely different. “It was massive war movie with a lot of combat scenes and a little bit of Golda. I felt that it was an opportunity for us to go under the skin of Golda and to do a character piece”. Helen Mirren was already attached. She read the script and said she was interested, and, as Nattiv told Collider, “they wanted me to meet with her to see that we are on the same creative page. She approved me and, in the middle of COVID, she came to my house in Los Angeles and we just sat for three hours. I felt like I was talking to a family member, to my mother. She so understood every layer of Golda and Israel, as a country, in a way that not a lot of people understood. Don’t forget that she was also 29 when she toured Israel. She volunteered at a kibbutz, picking tomatoes. She was hitchhiking from north to south and she slept on the beach. She was a Zionist who was experiencing Israel in ‘67. So, she understood it. She got it”.

“Golda” celebrated its world premiere at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival and released in theaters on August 25, 2023. Due to the dual strike in Hollywood, no promotion was done for the film. While some critics took issue with a non-Jewish actress performing an iconic Israeli character, Golda Meir’s grandson support the casting of Helen Mirren:

I was fortunate and grateful to have helped the brilliant and dedicated screenwriter Nicholas Martin with sharing my memories and thoughts and insights about my late grandmother. I read the script at different stages, and we had many wonderful discussions. One day, the question of casting came up. Several great actresses were mentioned, and I wasn’t convinced of any. So, I suggested Helen Mirren. At the time, I was watching reruns of Mirren’s wonderful Prime Suspect — a woman in a position of leadership in a Man’s World, the hardships, the victories, the dilemmas, the personal conflicts, so intelligently and deeply played. I could already see the parallels with Golda’s story. I knew that with makeup Mirren could easily become Golda. But I couldn’t have imagined how convincing she would be in capturing the physicality of Golda’s body – her heavy gait, her movement, and her femininity. (Gideon Meir, Rolling Stone, August 26, 2023)

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