Archive | 2012 | May | 17

The latest of 3 ads released for Tel Aviv pride…

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Madonna will be performing in Israel in two weeks, and yesterday a list of demands of Queen M during her stay in the Holy Land were leaked to the Israeli media. The list indicates that Madonna has no intention of leaving Ramat Gan Stadium where her show is going to be held on May 31st.

Madonna’s list includes a Spa & treatment room with a personal masseur, 34 rooms to serve as her staff’s offices. Madonna also requested a 350 sq feet children’s room the entrance to which will be only through her personal room.

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Two Israeli movies to be showcased at this year’s INSIDEOUT festival, Toronto’s LGBTQ Film Festival… REVIEWS TO COME!

Water Wells – Saturday May 26th @ 5:15pm

TIFF BELL Lightbox CINEMA 2

Water Wells is a forbidden love story between a teacher, Lea, and her female student, Inka, set in 1940s Israel. As time goes by, Inka yearns to push more boundaries, while Lea’s fears of beingrevealed begin to surface.

Melting away – Monday May 21st @ 6:45pm

TIFF BELL Lightbox CINEMA 2

Melting Away is a thoroughly engrossing and heartfelt examination of a family drawn into crisis, which marks the first time in Israeli cinema a film has dealt with parents coming to terms with having a transgender child.

When Schlomo and Galya discover girls’ clothing hidden under the bed of their teenage son Assaf, they lock him out in the rain to teach him a lesson. Distraught by his parent’s reaction, Assaf decides to flee home and begin a new life.Years later when Schlomo is hospitalized with cancer, Galya hires a private detective to track down Assaf. The detective discovers Assaf is now living as Anna, a cabaret singer who works at Maxim Club, the local gay bar. Informed about her father’s worsening condition, Anna decides to visit her dad in the hospital but she panics at the last minute and tells him she’s a nurse sent by the insurance company.

The film follows Anna’s juggling act as she avoids her suspicious mother, counsels her closeted gay friend, Schimi, and tries to crack her father’s tough shell.

Grounded by a captivating performance by Israeli model Hen Yani as Anna, director Doron Eran created this meditation on family and acceptance after hearing about parents who refused to visit their children following the violent attack at the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Community Center in 2009. Melting Away serves as the perfect response from a community looking for new ways to foster understanding and compassion.

Toronto Premiere

For more information and full festival schedule click here

Famous Mash Up artist ‘Noy Alooshe’ put together a little something something to showcase what to expect in Israel this summer…

Including: Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chris Cornell, Morrissey, The Afghan Whigs, Rufus Wainwright, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

by Ricardo Geromel

I visited P&G office in Tel Aviv. Lital Asher-Dotan, who established Procter & Gamble first R&D hub in Israel called “P&G Israel House of Innovation”, explained why P&G calls Israel a “startup nation.”

In the entry lobby of P&G office, which is 20 minutes away from Google’s office in Tel Aviv, there are a few samples of different products sold by P&G in Israel. Among the usual health and beauty brands (Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Oral B, Gillette, Tampax, Pampers …) and brands of household cleaners (Ariel, Lenor, Swiffer, Tide …) there were also different prizes and trophies P&G Israel has received for the development of innovative products. However, what surprised me the most was that besides all these products and prizes there was a copy of the acclaimed book Startup nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer.

Procter & Gamble takes Research and Development seriously: it invests $2.8 Billion annually and has 9,300 employees in R&D worldwide. The Israel House of Innovation (IHI) was created five years ago by CEO Bob McDonald and one of the key goals is to create alliances between P&G and Israeli innovators.

Procter & Gamble’s Israel House of Innovation collaborates with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), the largest generic drug manufacturer in the world; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which carries out more than 1/3 of all academic scientific research in Israel; Powermat, which has only 70 employees and is developing wireless battery rechargers. By the way, Jay-Z participates in the JV with Powermat and P&G not only as a spokesperson but also as an investment partner. P&G has also signed on bilateral agreement with Israeli Chief Scientist providing Israeli start ups that collaborate with P&G favorable access to governmental funding.

Present in over 180 countries and with total revenues of about $80 Billion, P&G is the world’s largest Multinational consumer goods company. Procter & Gamble has promised to deliver 3-6 % of growth per year or about extra $5billion in annual revenue. Open innovation is the key to this growth: the giant established in 1837 aims to have 50% of all innovation (not only on new products but also on internal systems) having elements from outside of the company. Jeff Weedman, P&G Vice President, External BD:

“Our JV with TEVA represents the lessons learned that we need better access to Innovation and global abilities while we can provide the in-depth consumer knowhow.”

Lital Asher-Dotan explained why P&G calls Israel a startup nation:

-Israel has the highest density of tech start-ups in the world. Israel has about 80 companies listed on NASDAQ, more than all of Europe, Japan, Korea, India, and China combined.

-Israel is the biggest destination for global venture capital per capita. In recent years, many US based VCs have opened Israeli funds and/or Israeli offices – Sequoia ($580M), Benchmark ($490M). Greylock, Battery Ventures, Bessemer. Main accelerators in Israel are: Microsoft, VentureGeeks, The Junction, TechLoft, DreamIT Ventures,The Hive, UpWestLabs, The Library, and MobileMonday.

- Israel raises 2.5 times as much global venture capital as the U.S., 30 times more than Europe, 80 times more than India, and 350 times more than China.

-Israel has twice the number of engineers per capita than the US and Japan. 34% of its population holds university degrees (24% of the work force).

- Israel has the highest level of R&D spending relative to GDP in the world: 4,9% in 2009. OECD average is 2,3%.

- Israel holds the largest number of Nobel Prize winners this past decade. By the way, I had the chance to meet Dr. Dan Schechtman, winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for “the discovery of quasicrystals,” who told me his views on entrepreneurship.

-In Israel, Military technology is often transferred to other areas. For instance, Based on real-time image processing technology from Rafael’s Missile Division, Dr. Gabi Iddan from Given Imaging developed the PillCam™ capsule endoscope – the first ingestible camera in a pill for detection of GI disorders. The PillCam™ capsule is easily ingested by the patient and transmits high quality color images that enable physicians to directly visualize parts of the GI tract. Capsule endoscopy is the only available ingestible diagnostic tool that allows direct visualization of the small intestine.

I have just outlined the key points why Israel is considered by P&G as a startup Nation. In a post for Techcrunch, Roi Carthy and Daniel Cunha, founders of Initial Capital, suggest what the Brazilian booming startup community could learn from the Israeli case.

Source: Forbes

HAVANA is the name IDAHO takes in Israel. Each year, groups of activists around the country mark the day in various ways, under the impulse of a dedicated team of core IDAHO activists who run the national anti-homophobia HAVANA.org.il website.

The main event will take place at the Tel Aviv Gay Center. An inter organizational committee prepares the evening’s program.

An academic paper contest will take place for the second year running. The minister of education might be present at the awards ceremony.

An academic conference on the subject of transphobia will be held at Tel Aviv-Jaffa College.

“I’m also Gay Friendly”

Mostly in Hebrew… Promo for HAVANA (AKA IDAHO)

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