Ben Stiller has signed for the HBO pilot "All Talk", which will focus on a Jewish family living in Washington D.C. The pilot -- whose tone has been described as "politically, religiously, culturally, intellectually and sexually irreverent" - is written by author Jonathan Safran Foer. In addition to starring in the pilot, Stiller is on board to direct and executive-produce.

Israeli film "Footnote", directed by Joseph Cedar, was among nine movies on the shortlist for the Oscars' best foreign language film nominations announced on Wednesday. In May, Cedar won the best screenplay prize in Cannes for "Footnote" about the rivalry between a father-son pair of Talmudic scholars. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the rights to distribute the film in North and South America. 42-year-old Cedar also won an Oscar nomination for his 2007 film "Beaufort" about the Israeli army's withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

The Israeli Opera will perform "Carmen" at the foot of Masada in June. The Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili will reprise the title role, which she has also sung at La Scala in Milan, and at New York's Metropolitan Opera. The Masada production is set in the Wild West. There will be five performances of the production, which involves about 2,500 performers, stage technicians and other staff. The company's experience with mounting operas at the site Were a huge success. Those performances drew thousands of foreign visitors and were seen by more than 120,000 people.

The Scorpions will be returning to Israel on May 7 for one performance at Tel Aviv's Nokia Arena. This time the German rock band will only perform its ballads, which are very popular among Israeli's since the 1980s. The Scorpions are considered one of the most successful heavy metal bands in the history of music, thanks to the sweet ballads characterizing the band.

Veteran singer Yaffa Yarkoni died Sunday at a Tel Aviv hospital at the age of 86. Yarkoni suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the past few years and was one of the most prominent and popular performers in Israel. Yarkoni began her career as a dancer. In the War of Independence she was drafted to the army and later joined one of first military bands. Her numerous performances during Israel's battles earned her the title of "War Singer".

Atarim, Tel Aviv's inshore tourist site development company, is negotiating the establishment of a huge cinema complex on the Tel Aviv port site with the Globus Group company. Yoram Globus and Atarim CEO Itamar Shimoni have toured the site several times to look into the feasibility of the project, which is estimated at tens of millions of dollars. Some 12 million people visit Israel's cinemas every year. Globus is looking for locations for major centers after opening a cinema complex in Haifa's Congress Center.

It's not kosher, you can't use it to light candles -- and it actually collapsed within minutes, but the menorah placed at the Israel Museum's entrance hall is probably one of the most impressive Hanukkah candlesticks ever seen in Israel. A large audience arrived Sunday afternoon to watch the huge menorah, made out of 25,000 domino pieces, fall. Five-year-old Dan Ben-Simchon won a raffle and was the one to make the first piece fall, creating a magnificent chain reaction. The menorah was built by Nissim Lopez and Yogev Levy, who have turned the Domino Rally game into a time-consuming habit.

For the first time since its establishment in 1984, Canadian circus arts and street entertainment company Cirque du Soleil will perform in Israel from August 8 to 18 with its fascinating show "Alegria". Israeli producer Shuki Weiss, together with international producer Mark Liberberg, said it took a long time to bring the show to Israel.

Iranian filmmaker Tahmineh Milani abruptly left the 42nd International Film festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Thursday following an Israeli director's inclusion in the jury she was part of. While the festival organizers claimed Milani had left due to her father's illness and said they were unaware of any political circumstances, Iranian media reported that the real reason was the criticism directed at Milani in her homeland following the appointment of Israeli director Dan Wolman to the jury. In an interview, Milani herself did not object to Wolman's presence on the jury.

A flash mob took place in Mammilla Center, Jerusalem last week. A group of Israeli's assembled suddenly in the middle of Mamilla to perform an unusual and exciting dance and then dispersed, back into the crowd.

Barbra Streisand has yet to respond to the offer to perform in Israel, but has accepted an offer to perform in a special event honoring the Jewish state. The legendary American singer and actress, who rarely performs at such events, will take the stage at the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) annual gala on December 8 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The evening is being organized by Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl, who personally asked Streisand to perform and recruited musical producer David Foster as well. The event will be ho

Three rare oil paintings of synagogue interiors by Marc Chagall are going on the auction block in New York City. Sotheby's auction house said Friday the paintings came to the market for the first time in 66 years from a descendent of art collector and original owner Max Cottin, who acquired them from the 1945 exhibition at the Gallery of Jewish Art in New York. Only six finished oil paintings of synagogues by Chagall are known to exist.

This week the inaugural Tel Aviv Fashion Week kicked off where an appearance from designer Roberto Cavalli has boosted its chances of getting on the international fashion map. Cavalli was feted during his Sunday night arrival at a cocktail party for he and his wife, Eva, at the Ramat Gan home of the Italian Ambassador. As with any Hollywood party, it was filled with a mix of luxury retailers, social fashionistas, photographers and reporters, including a flock of international journalists from the U.S., Britain, Mexico, Russia and Japan

Israel Fashion Week opened Sunday night at the residence of the Italian ambassador with a cocktail reception honoring Italian designer Roberto Cavalli. The week's activities will begin Monday morning at Tel Aviv's Hatahana old railway station, and will feature a display of fashion designer Yaniv Persy. Thereafter, events will continue for three days, and feature 18 fashion exhibitions.

It was 55 years ago that Charlton Heston famously donned the ol' tunic to play Moses in "The Ten Commandments". Once again, Hollywood will revisit the life of Moses, this time with Steven Spielberg at the helm. Spielberg is in official talks with Warner Bros. to direct the spectacle film. Incidentally, Warner Bros.