A STREAM OF HIT TV SHOWS LIKE SHTISEL HAVE MADE THE COUNTRY A WORLD LEADER IN ON-SCREEN ENTERTAINMENT
Of all the burning cultural questions on social media during the last lockdown, “When does Shtisel Season 3 start?” cropped up often. Unpronounceable (‘Schteezel’) and obscure to those who have yet to watch the Israeli drama about an ultra-orthodox Jewish family, which first aired in 2013 and was picked up by Netflix in 2015, it finally returned at the end of March to a devoted global audience of millions. That the Hebrew and Yiddish-spoken series, set in the sparse Jerusalem apartment of patriarch Rabbi Shulem Shtisel (veteran star Dova’le ‘Dov’ Glickman) and his handsome teacher/artist son Akiva (Michael Aloni, now a cult heartthrob), should attract such vast viewing figures almost beggars belief.Prayers, modest dress and no touching in any episode is a tricky sell, but it is the devout beliefs, daily rituals and familiar struggles of the Shtisel family – delivering what The New Yorker describes as “pleasures similar to those of an expansive 19th century novel” – that have engaged the hearts and minds of viewers of all ages and persuasions from Melbourne to Manchester.
“Then Fauda aired in Israel in 2015 and things changed,” says Dana Stern, managing director of Yes TV studios, the country’s equivalent of Sky. The testosterone-charged action series about an Israeli army undercover unit was picked up by Netflix and broadcast in its original Hebrew and Arabic. Lior Raz, who both co-wrote the series and played its bullet-headed protagonist Doron Kavillio, was suddenly at the helm of a global hit.
If Hollywood has always been keen to adopt Israel’s TV creatives, the streaming giants are now bankrolling their homegrown ideas. Tarantino’s plans to refurbish a historic Tel Aviv cinema seem particularly timely given there are two biopics about Israel’s prime minister Golda Meir in the works: a film starring Helen Mirren and the TV series Lioness produced by Barbra Streisand with Shtisel’s Shira Haas.
Shtisel producer Dikla Barkai already has a new series, The Attache, on Amazon Prime but – brace yourself now, fans – says there are no plans for a fourth series with Shulem and co. “Our TV creation exploded and it’s hard for us to believe, understand and imagine all the love we received,” she says. Those who are still in love with Shtisel will keep on hoping plans change.