Artistic Director Jonathan Dekel

Jonathan is a director/screenwriter, born in Los Angeles. Jonathan grew up between Israel and LA, eventually leaving America at 18 for voluntary service in the Israeli Special Forces. He cites those two extremes —an immigrant in an LA high-school, then the Israeli military —as the biggest inspirations on his work.

Jonathan wrote and directed internal documentaries and narrative content for the IDF/Prime Minister's Office before venturing into TV and film, with his debut screenplay, Checkout (2022), chosen for development in the Sundance Feature Film Program. Helmed by Josh Pais (Joker, Ray Donovan), Checkout tells the story of Dov, a desperate Mossad spy trying to win the appreciation of his peers while tracking down a supposed legendary terrorist.

Checkout was featured at the 29th Annual Austin Film Festival. Jonathan sits down with Tom to discuss the filmmaking process, how he crosses cultural barriers within the film, and his artistic decisions in casting and portraying an unconventional interrogation. Checkout is a dark comedy that came to fruition of eight laborious years.