First look at Helen Mirren as ‘Golda’
Production has commenced in London, U.K. on Academy Award® winner Guy Nattiv’s Golda, and we can now reveal a first look at Academy Award® winner Helen Mirren as Golda Meir, Israel’s first female Prime Minister. Camille Cottin, star of hit series Call My Agent, has also joined the cast.
Written by Nicholas Martin (Florence Foster Jenkins), Golda is a ticking-clock thriller – sharing the intensely dramatic events, high-stake responsibilities, and controversial decisions that Meir – also known as the ‘Iron Lady of Israel’ – faced during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Her actions, in impossible circumstances, would ultimately decide the fate of millions of lives.
Mirren says “Golda Meir was a formidable, intransigent and powerful leader. It is a great challenge to portray her at the most difficult moment of her extraordinary life. I only hope I do her justice!”
“I have long been an admirer of the great Helen Mirren” said Nattiv. “She has melted so brilliantly into Golda Meir’s character with incredible talent, intelligence, depth and emotion, doing justice to the richness and complexity of this incredible woman”.
Camille Cottin will play Lou Kaddar, Golda’s long-time personal assistant, who stood beside her throughout the war. Cottin exploded to prominence in France with her sketch comedy Connasse and then internationally as the lead in Call My Agent. She also reprised Phoebe Waller Bridge’s acclaimed Fleabag character in French, in Mouche, and has appeared in the BBC’s hit show Killing Eve. Cottin recently starred alongside Matt Damon in Tom McCarthy’s Stillwater, and in Ridley Scott’s upcoming House of Gucci.
Rami Heuberger (Schlinder’s List) will portray Meir’s Minster of Defence Moshe Dayan with Lior Ashkenzi playing Chief of Staff, David Elazar. One of Israel’s most prominent stage, television and film actors Ashkenzi won Best Actor at The Ophir Awards (Israel’s version of the Oscars), for his performance as ‘Michael Feldmann’ in Samuel Maoz’s Foxtrot. Ashkenzi can also be seen as ‘Yitzhak Rabin’ in the feature film 7 Days in Entebbe, alongside Rosamund Pike and Daniel Bruhl. Other credits include Norman, Big Bad Wolves and Footnote. Most recently, LIOR directed the feature film Perfect Strangers, an Israeli adaptation of a 2016 Italian film of the same name.
Golda’s cast also includes Ellie Piercy (Black Mirror, The Dig), Ed Stoppard (Judy, Youth), Rotem Keinan, Dvir Benedek, Dominic Mafham, Ben Caplan, Kit Rakusen. Emma Davies.
Nattiv is supported by best-in-class Heads of Department including Director of Photography Jasper Wolf (Monos), Production Designer Arad Sawat (Beirut, Foxtrot), Costume Designer Sinéad Kidao (assistant on Wonder Woman 1984, Little Women, Mary Magdalene, Peterloo, Beauty and the Beast), Hair & Make Up Designer Karen Hartley (Persuasion, The Duke, The Personal History of David Copperfield), Editor Arik Lahav (Foxtrot) and Casting Director Alex Johnson (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, Fisherman’s Friends, Dad’s Army).
As previously announced, Bleecker Street and ShivHans acquired US rights to the film, in a deal negotiated by ICM Independent and CAA Media Finance. Embankment have also pre-sold Golda to multiple international territories, including ANZ (Transmission), Italy (Leone), Scandinavia (Scanbox), Benelux (The Searchers), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Spain, Portugal & Latin America (Sun/Diamond), CIS & Baltics (Exponenta), Greece (Spentzos), South Africa (Film Finity), Israel (United King), Middle East (Front Row), Hong Kong (Golden Scene), India (Lionsgate) and Taiwan (Cai Chang).
Financing is provided by Piccadilly Pictures and Maven Pictures, and has been arranged by Embankment, ICM Independent and CAA Media Finance. Celine Rattray for Maven, and Ian Hutchinson, Robert Whitehouse and Christopher Figg for Piccadilly, are Executive Producers.
Golda is produced by Michael Kuhn (Florence Foster Jenkins, The Duchess) for Qwerty Films, Jane Hooks and Nicholas Martin. The film shoots for 6 weeks in London and on location in Israel.
Israeli director Nattiv won an Academy Award® for his ground-breaking short film Skin, which he then developed into a full-length feature starring Jamie Bell. In 2018 he founded New Native Pictures with Jaime Ray Newman. New Native serves as a production company on Golda.
