Noa Koler’s ‘Happy Place’ wins big in Israeli TV awards, rescheduled after Iran war

Kan snags 27 prizes in belated 2025 awards; winning Best Investigative Program, Uvda’s Ilana Dayan says government ‘machine’ working to erase memory of Oct. 7 failures

The Israeli Academy of Film and Television’s 2025 television awards ceremony took place Sunday night after being postponed due to the US-Israel war with Iran during March and part of April.

The ceremony was held at Expo Tel Aviv and broadcast on the Kan public broadcaster.

Kan led with 27 awards, followed by Yes with 12 and Keshet with 6.

“Happy Place,” Noa Koler’s dark comedy about a speech therapist — played by Koler — who is experiencing a midlife crisis, was the night’s big winner, taking home 10 awards, including Best Drama Series, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress for Koler, and multiple acting honors.

The documentary series “Corinne Allal: Farewell Tour” was next in line, earning six awards, followed by comedy series “Bloody Murray,” with five wins.

Omer and Ben, the sons of the iconic singer Allal — who died in 2024 — joined her partner Ruti Allal and the production team onstage to accept the award for Best Documentary Series.

Satire show “Eretz Nehederet” won four awards, including Best Satire and Sketch Show, Best Writing, Satire, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects and Special Makeup.

The late actor Alon Abutbul, who collapsed and died at a beach last summer, was honored with two awards: Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role in Yes TV’s “The German,” and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy-Drama or Sitcom for Kan’s “Yekumot,” also known as “AKA.”

His sister-in-law accepted one award on his behalf, reading a message from his children, while the second award was accepted by “Yekumot” creator Roy Kafri, who won for Best Actor in a Comedy.

Tiki Dayan won Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in Kan’s “Happy Place,” and Rotem Sela received the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy-Drama or Sitcom for her role in Yes Studio’s “Bloody Murray.”

Kan’s “My Nephew from Hell” won three awards in the children’s and youth categories, while Kan’s “Cramel” was named Best Drama Series for Children and Youth.

“Tehran” producer Shula Spiegel presented the award won by “Cramel” and paid tribute to her late creative partner, Dana Eden, who died unexpectedly in Athens a few months ago during “Tehran” filming.

“I take every opportunity to honor the memory of my beloved partner,” Spiegel said. “On Wednesday, I stood onstage alone for the first time, and once again reality struck. You weren’t there, dear Dana. Nearly 20 years of extraordinary partnership, years of creating together.”

A memorable moment during the evening was when news anchor Lucy Aharish — who faced right-wing threats earlier this year over criticism she voiced of the government — presented the award for Best Investigative Program to Ilana Dayan of Keshet’s “Uvda,” and spoke about what she described as the weakening of the media over the last few years, and the role of the press in a democratic society.

“Since October 7 [2023] these years have required all of us to engage in some soul-searching — about what truly matters here, about what we chose to focus on, about what we neglected, about the questions we failed to ask, and especially about what we normalized simply because we gave it a platform,” said Aharish. “The responsibility for what is happening here does not rest solely with the leadership that brought us to these days. It also rests with us — with every one of us. It lies in what we say, what we broadcast, and, above all, in what we want to leave behind for our children.”

After Dayan was presented with the award for “Uvda,” the investigative journalist, who has conducted in-depth interviews with several former hostages, spoke about seeing shocking, difficult materials related to Hamas’s October 7 onslaught. She specifically recalled viewing footage several months ago of hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Alex Lubanov, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino and Almog Sarusi in the Gaza tunnels, before they were murdered by their terrorist captors, and knowing that those materials had to be broadcast.

“These materials must be exposed and published — above all because an entire machine is working to erase the greatest failure this country has ever known,” said Dayan, referring to pro-government media and social media’s approach to October 7.

“Even amid the madness engulfing us, there is right and wrong, truth and falsehood, and there are facts,” said Dayan. “The journalist’s one duty — indeed, our mission — is to uncover them.”

She called Israel a wounded society after three years of war and trauma, “with broken politics, terrifying Jewish terrorism, and horrifying violence within our own ranks,” and called upon Israeli society to try and find moments of grace, “to linger over acts of solidarity and beauty that defeat the cynicism.”