Levana Finkelstein to receive Lifetime Achievement Award
The legendary 79-year-old actress is being recognized for a career spanning more than five decades in Israeli cinema, television, and theater. The Ophir Awards ceremony will be held on September 9 at Cinema City, hosted by Shani Cohen and Adam Gabay. "When they told me about the win, I suddenly felt cold all over my body," the actress said, "truly goosebumps from the excitement."
Actress Levana Finkelstein will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Ophir Awards ceremony, the Israeli Academy of Film and Television announced today, Sunday. Finkelstein, 79, is one of the most veteran actresses in Israeli cinema, television, and theater, with a career spanning more than five decades. The ceremony will be held on September 9 at Cinema City, hosted by Shani Cohen and Adam Gabay.
From the Academy's reasoning for granting the award:
"Levana Finkelstein is one of the most veteran actresses in Israel. With a long, prolific, and diverse career, it seems she has always been here."
Finkelstein, born in Bulgaria, immigrated to Israel at the age of one. In 1967, she graduated from the Beit Zvi school and was among the founders of the IDF Theater. She became a star after being cast in the lead role in Menahem Golan's film 'Margo Sheli' (1969). Years later, another director from Tiberias, Shemi Zarhin, would make her an integral part of his regular ensemble of actors in the films 'Aviva My Love', 'The World is Funny', 'The Kind Words', and 'Hemda', the Academy added.
For her role in 'Big Love', she won the Ophir Award for Best Supporting Actress. She stole the show with an unforgettable performance in 'The Farewell Party' and 'Mazal Hatula', proving that there is no such thing as 'small roles'. Over seven decades, she cemented her status as an exciting and heartbreaking dramatic actress as well as an excellent comedian. As an example, they cited her wordless role, written especially for her in 'The Silence', with Chaplin-esque mimicry skills.
Upon learning of the award, Finkelstein said:
"When they told me about the win, I suddenly felt cold all over my body, truly goosebumps from the excitement. In such tense and heavy days, culture and art are the place that uplifts the soul, comforts, and does good in people's hearts, whether it is to make them laugh, cry, or take with them a thought that accompanies them for days to come."
"As someone born in Bulgaria, I always felt that I was on the seam between East and West," she added. "I was privileged to portray over the years a whole mosaic of women in Israeli society - Moroccan, Ashkenazi, Yemenite, Tripolitanian - they were all my daughters, and I did them all with great love and from the heart. We are all mixed and connected here, and it is important that we give culture the respect it deserves, because without culture, what are all things actually worth?"
Throughout her career, Finkelstein also played in 'I Love You Rosa' (1972) by Moshe Mizrahi, 'Salomonico', 'The Tzanani Family' (1976), and 'Susetz'. After a break from the screen, she returned in 1989 in Michal Bat-Adam's film 'The Thousand Wives of Naftali Siman-Tov'. She worked with the country's top directors and simultaneously appeared in all the major repertory theaters: Habima, Cameri, Beit Lessin, and Gesher.
For her work, Finkelstein has won a series of prestigious awards: Best Actress Award at the Haifa Festival (for 'The Farewell Party', 2014), Best Actress Award at the Jerusalem Festival (for 'Mother V.', 2001), and as mentioned, the Ophir Award for 'Big Love'. Beyond acting, Finkelstein is also an acclaimed sculptor: her bronze works are displayed in museums in Israel and Bulgaria, among which the public sculpture 'Reut' (Friendship) stands out, placed at the Bulgarian Embassy as a token of gratitude for the rescue of Jews during the Holocaust.
