Oren Moverman. Photo: Twitter.

JNS.org – Israeli-American director Oren Moverman won the coveted International Federation of Film Critics Award for Special Presentations for his film Time Out of Mind at the Toronto International Film Festival, which ended on Sunday.

The film stars Richard Gere as an eccentric homeless man in New York who tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Jena Malone). Gere has received widespread praise for his role.

Gere first brought the screenplay to Moverman a year and a half ago and asked him to direct it, after the two worked together on the Bob Dylan biographical musical film “I’m Not There” in 2007.

“Richard had this obsession with the main character in the screenplay, a man who had nothing,” Moverman said.

“I grew up in the United States, but I am finding myself more and more involved with the Israeli film industry, and I am also involved with the production of [Israeli director] Joseph Cedar’s upcoming film, which is being shot in New York,” he said.