OMER MANOR

Documentary Filmmaker and DOP

Omer Manor is a Tel Aviv-based documentary cinematographer and filmmaker, known for capturing deeply personal and socially significant stories through a cinéma vérité lens.

His work includes Holding Liat (2025, Berlinale Documentary Award winner), a film about an Israeli-American family’s fight to free their daughter after she was taken hostage on October 7 (co-cinematography with Yoni Brook), Rabbi Capoeira (DocAviv 2024), which follows Miki Hayat, an ultra-Orthodox man bridging cultural divides through capoeira, and One Last Visit, a documentary exploring the final weeks of a 99-year-old woman’s life and her complex relationship with her daughter.

Omer favors a cinéma vérité approach, often using prime lenses to bring a cinematic quality to his documentaries. He collaborates extensively with acclaimed director Tomer Heymann on projects that delve into significant social issues through deeply personal narratives, including an ongoing documentary filmed in segregated Hebron. Omer also works closely with Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Hilla Medalia on several impactful stories, and with Israeli and international filmmakers such as Noam Pinchas, Paula Eiselt, Brandon Kramer, Karin Kainer, and Liran Atzmor.

Omer started his career as a camera assistant and focus puller, gaining solid technical experience that rooted in his filmmaking. He later earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Art History (summa cum laude) and an MFA in Documentary Cinema, both from Tel Aviv University.

With extensive experience filming in conflict and disaster zones—including Ukraine, Turkey, and Israel, with hundreds of shooting days in the occupied West Bank—Omer captures powerful stories of resilience amidst adversity. He also films for ABC News, where his frontline war coverage contributed to the team’s 2024 Emmy Award-winning reporting on the war in the Middle East for ABC World News Tonight with David Muir.

Omer’s work invites audiences to connect with diverse lives and stories, encouraging empathy and deep contemplation. Through his films, he seeks to challenge perspectives, inviting viewers to engage with the complexity and beauty of human experience.

Selected Filmography

2025-6 (in production)

Issa’s House – Documentary feature about the last Palestinian house neighboring a Jewish settlement in segregated Hebron and a non-violent resistance movement. Directed by Tomer Heymann. Cinematographer.
⁠Waiting for the Sunrise – Documentary feature recounting the tragic story of Eden Yerushalmi, who was kidnapped from the Nova Festival and murdered by Hamas in captivity. Produced by Hilla Medalia, directed by Yula Gidron. Cinematographer.

2025

Holding Liat Feature documentary.Liat is one of the hostages taken on October 7. The film follows her relatives from right up close, with a focus on her father, as he tries to stay on the path of pacifism and humanity amidst war, trauma and diplomacy. Directed by Brandon Kramer. Cinematography: Yoni Brook and Omer Manor. Winner of Berlinale Documentary Award.

A Jew in America: Torn Identity– Docu-series examining the historical relationship between American Jewry and the State of Israel. Directed by Naftaly Gliksberg for HOT 8. Cinematographer.

We, The People Of Gush Katif Twenty years after the Gaza Disengagement, the film revisits families from Gush Katif through rare archival footage and new encounters. Moving between past and present, it opens space for empathy, complexity, and a deep, personal understanding of Israel’s divided narratives. Directed by Ayellet Heller for HOT 8.

2024

⁠Rabbi Capoeira – Feature documentary about an ultra-Orthodox man who uses capoeira to challenge the rigid boundaries of his community Yes Docu. Nominated for Best Israeli Documentary,DocAviv Film Festival 2024. Cinematographer and Co-Director with Barak Heymann.

2023

⁠On Parole – Documentary feature following a youth navigating life as he cycles in and out of juvenile detention. Directed by Neta Pat Ben Itzhak, selected for DocAviv 2023. Cinematographer.
⁠Iron Road – Video installation by Ira Eduardovna, Tel Aviv Museum. Line Producer.
⁠Tiberius Under the Red Line – Docu-series capturing the intense political dynamics in the remote northern Israeli city of Tiberias. Directed by Karin Kainer for Kan 11. Co-Cinematographer.

2022

⁠ABC 20/20 S44 E26 “The Last Hunt” – True-crime episode following a hunter accused of killing his wife on a hunting vacation in Zambia. Cinematographer.
⁠Murky Skies – Docu-series for Arte & ZDF revisiting the 1992 El Al cargo plane crash in Amsterdam, exploring the unresolved questions surrounding the incident. Directed by Noam Pinchas. Co-Cinematographer.

2021

One Last Visit – Short documentary chronicling the final three weeks in the life of 99-year-old Lena. Shortlisted for the Beijing Film Academy Awards. Winner of Best Director and Best Documentary, Brief Encounters Film Festival. Nominated best Israeli short, Israeli completion in TISFF and best international short in ISFVF. Director, Cinematographer, and Producer.
I Am Not – Directed by Tomer Heymann. Additional Cinematography.

2020

⁠Love It Was Not – A haunting look at the relationship between an Auschwitz survivor and an SS officer. Directed by Maya Sarfati. IDFA, DocAviv Grand Winner. Additional Cinematography.

2018

⁠Our Boys – HBO series recounting the real-life events and tensions leading up to the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict. Showrunner: Hagai Levi. Focus Puller.