A gripping political thriller, based on historical events from Israel's Black Panther movement. The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with lead actor Yaakov Zada-Daniel and Nazarian Center fellow, Dr. Ethan Pack.
Saturday, November 21, 20267:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Pacific Time)Fine Arts Theatre8556 Wilshire BlvdBeverly Hills, CA 90211
RESERVE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY TICKET to our sponsored screening of Double Panther. Limited free tickets are available.
We are proud to support the 38th Israel Film Festival, taking place from November 18-24, 2026 in Los Angeles.
For additional tickets to this event and other screenings, please visit the Israel Film Festival website.
This screening is supported by the Martin Cooper and Barbara Roisman-Cooper Fund for Israeli Film & Television.
In 1970s Jerusalem, criminal nightclub owner Yaakov Elbaz is recruited by Police Superintendent Avraham Turjeman to be an informant within Israel’s rapidly rising Black Panther movement. Though reluctant at first, after connecting with charismatic protest leader Saadia Marciano, Elbaz slowly begins to side with the Black Panther’s cause—civil rights for Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews—only for his double life to put it all in jeopardy. Caught between Turjeman’s ruthless demands and growing suspicion from the Panthers, Elbaz’s duplicitous game threatens to destroy everything.
Based on historical events and confidential police records, and starring Israeli Oscar-winner Yaakov Zada-Daniel, Double Panther is a moving political thriller about collective action and social justice in the early years of Israeli statehood.
Double Panther won two awards at the 2026 Haifa International Film Festival, the Jury Prize for Israeli Narrative Features and Best Actor (Yaakov Zada-Daniel).
Country: Israel Year: 2026 Director: Marco Carmel Running Time: 97 minutes Language(s): Hebrew with English subtitles
Yaakov Zada-Daniel is an award-winning Israeli stage, television and film actor. He portrays the main character in Double Panther and is best known for his role as Eli in the hit Netflix series Fauda.
Zada-Daniel's other work includes Carthago (2022),Girls Like Us (2024), and More Than I Deserve (2021), for which he received an Israeli Ophir award (the Israeli "Oscar"), along with many other film and television credits and awards.
He was born in Holon, Israel in 1979, and grew up in Kfar Nardim, a children's village in Arad. He served as a lone soldier in the IDF elite naval commando unit Shayetet 13 before joining the Duvdevan counter-terrorism unit, and later studied at the Yoram Loewenstein Performing Arts Studio with the support of a scholarship. In addition to his busy acting career, Zada-Daniel serves as a Goodwill Ambassador for SOS Children's Villages and supports organizations helping military veterans deal with PTSD.
Dr. Ethan Pack (moderator) been a Lecturer at UCLA since 2019 and has taught courses on Israeli literature, television and film sponsored by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center. In Spring 2027, he will once again teach his well-received course, “Israel and Palestine on Screen,” in the School of Theater, Film and Television. Ethan’s research focuses on Hebrew and Arabic literature, Middle Eastern film and Postcolonial Studies. He is working on a book manuscript entitled Routes of Displacement: Jewish Exile and Visionary Poetics. As a Research Fellow with the Center, Dr. Pack has moderated discussions with Israeli authors, playwrights and filmmakers at events and performances at UCLA and across Los Angeles. He also teaches courses on medieval Middle Eastern literature.