'Footnote' star: Oscars like representing Israel at the Olympics

With only two days to go before the Oscar ceremonies in Los Angeles, one of the stars of the Israeli film “Footnote,” which will battle it out this year in hopes of taking home a statue for Best Foreign Film, is admitting to some nerves.

“It would be a huge surprise if we win, and it’s very important to remain humble at this stage,” Shlomo Bar-Aba, a legendary Israeli comedian and one of the film’s leading men, told Israel Hayom. Bar-Aba arrived at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday morning in preparation for the star-studded ceremony that will take place this Sunday night.

“I admit I’m not doing a very good job dealing with everything and I feel almost like this is some big practical joke,” said Bar-Aba. “Camera crews from all the TV stations accompanied me to the airport, like some sort of prince. I’m a little embarrassed by the whole situation. It feels like representing Israel at the Olympics, and people will be mad if I come home without a medal.”

Bar-Aba knows that in just 48 hours he will walk the Kodak Theater’s red carpet, shoulder to shoulder with some of the world’s biggest film stars, but said that the reality has yet to completely sink in. “This whole thing feels like some sort of hallucination. I need to stop myself from taking out my camera and asking to take photos with everyone.”

Of the four other films competing in the category against Joseph Cedar’s “Footnote,” Bar-Aba said he has only seen one, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation.” He said that the movie, which took the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film and is widely considered a favorite to win on Sunday night, is “an excellent film and it’s interesting that both films deal with family conflicts.”

“Footnote” explores a father-and-son rivalry between two Talmudic scholars at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. Bar-Aba plays the father, and Israeli heartthrob Lior Ashkenazi plays his son. “A Separation” chronicles a divorcing couple in modern-day Tehran who watch as the dissolution of their marriage becomes entangled in family drama, scandal and secrets.

As Israel and Iran, two countries poised on the brink of war, go head to head on the red carpet, the world has watched, rapt. Regarding any potential political conflicts that could put a stain on Sunday’s glittering ceremony, Bar-Aba said, “Let’s hope that the conflict stays within the family. In general, we have much more influence and power than we think. Let’s hope that the rivalry remains only in the cultural realm.”

Cedar, the director of “Footnote,” is also already in Los Angeles in preparation for the ceremony. On Thursday, he gave a lecture at a private gathering of students from the University of Calif., Los Angeles.

The Israeli delegation gathered later in the day for a photo shoot and a toast. Missing from the group was Ashkenazi, who is scheduled to arrive in Hollywood on Friday.

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