‘Forget Manhattan! Try Jerusalem,’ Israel tells Woody Allen

JERUSALEM (AFP) ― He’s had “Manhattan,” “Midnight in Paris” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” and now Israeli officials are trying to convince legendary U.S. film-maker Woody Allen to set a movie in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Both President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat are part of the effort, their offices said, with Barkat even holding a pow-wow with Allen and his one-time muse Diane Keaton earlier this year.

“President Peres always encourages producers and directors to come and make films in Israel,” an official in his office told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“When President Peres met with Woody Allen in New York in March this year, the issue was raised and he encouraged Woody Allen to come and make a film here,” he added.

Barkat’s spokesman said the mayor also sat down with Allen and Keaton in Manhattan to try to draw him to Jerusalem.

“The mayor met Woody Allen a few months ago at a restaurant with Diane Keaton in Manhattan,” municipality spokesman Barak Cohen said.

“He invited him to come to Israel, but also told Woody that we would love for him to entertain the possibility of filming in Jerusalem and would do everything possible to facilitate him coming here,” he said.

Cohen said the bid to lure Allen came in the context of a larger project to convince directors and producers to consider filming in Jerusalem.