The Israeli film Ajami was selected as one of the five nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. This is the third year in a row that Israel has received an Oscar nomination in this category, and Israel's ninth nomination overall. Ajami, a drama about crime in the city of Jaffa, adjacent to Tel Aviv, was directed by Scandar Copti, an Israeli-Arab Christian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew.
Batsheva Dance Company: Arbos, choreography by Ohad Naharin, 1991
Vertigo Dance Company: Contact Lenses, 1993, with Adi Sha'al and Noa Wertheim If there is a near-miraculous development of an art form in Israel, it is dance not just folk dance at regional and seasonal celebrations, but the growth of professional companies reflecting all the forms of the performing art and its counterparts in dance worldwide.