Samuel Maoz Samuel Maoz Samuel Maoz (Hebrew: שמואל מעוז; born c. 1962) is an Israeli film director. His 2009 film, "Lebanon" won the Golden Lion at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. He also won the award for Best Screenplay for Lebanon at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2010. Shmuel (Shmuel) Maoz was born in Tel Aviv. At the age of 20, he was a gunner in one of the first Israeli tanks to enter Lebanon in the 1982 Lebanon War. After the war, he trained as a cameraman at the Beit Zvi theater school, and did art direction in film
61st Venice International Film Festival the official selection: 61st Venice International Film Festival The 61st annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 1 to 11 September 2004. The festival opened with Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal", and closed with Katsuhiro Otomo's "Steamboy". The Golden Lion was awarded to the film "Vera Drake", directed by Mike Leigh. On this edition of the festival, a new independent section, Venice Days ("Giornate degli autori"), has started "for free cinema, new talents and new stories". This section is organized by the ANAC (National Association of Cinematographic Authors) and the API (Independent Authors & Producers). Also in this edition, "The