Born in 1964 in Haifa Israel and grow up in Jerusalem.
After exercising as a professional photographer in Tel-Aviv, he leaves Israel in 1985 and settled in Paris. Since he is sharing is time between Europe and Israel. Known for his controversial films, Sivan directed more than 10 worldwide awarded political documentaries and produced many others. His cinematographic body of work was shown and awarded various prizes in prestigious festivals. Beside worldwide theatrical releases and TV broadcasts, Sivan's films are regularly exhibit in major art shows around the world. He publishes and lectures on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, documentary filmmaking and ethics, political crimes and representation, political use of memory, genocide and representation, etc. He is the founder and artistic director of the Paris based documentary films production company momento! and the film distribution agency Scalpel. He is the founder and Chief Editor of South Cinema Notebooks - a journal of cinema and political critic edited by the Sapir academic college in Israel where he lectures regularly. In the last years Sivan was Reader (associate professor) in media production at the school of Arts and Digital Industries (ADI), at the University of East London (UEL) were he was co-leading the MA program in Film, video and new media.
presently Sivan in an Honorary Fellow at Univerty of Exeter UK, he is teaching at the Master in Film at the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam and he is member of the editorial board of the Paris based publishing house La Fabrique Editions.

Documentary Films
2012 Common State, potential conversation [1] 124 minutes, colour, Video.
2009 Jaffa, the orange's clockwork 88 minutes, colour, Video.
2004 I Love You All / Aus Liebe Zum Volk (co-directed with Audrey Maurion) 98 minutes, b/w & color, 35mm.
2003 Route 181, Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel (co-directed with Michel Khleifi) Documentary, 272 minutes, colour, Video.
1999 The Specialist, portrait of a modern criminal 128 minutes, b/w, 35mm.
1995 Aqabat-Jaber, Peace with no Return? 61 minutes, colour, 16mm.
1994 Jerusalem(s), Borderline Syndrome Docu-drama, 64 minutes, colour, 16mm.
1993 Itgaber, he will Overcome 2 x 85 minutes, colour, video.
1990 Izkor, Slaves of Memory 97 minutes, colour, 16mm.
1987 Aqabat-Jaber, Passing Through 81 minutes, colour, 16mm.
 

Other visual media works
2012 Towards a common archive, testimonies of Zionist veterans of 1948 Multi screens video show.
2012  IssueZero : Montage Interdit Berlin Documentary Forum 2 New practices across disciplines. Haus der Kulturen der Welt www.hkw.de
2010  Documentary moments 1 : Renaissance Berlin Documentary Forum 1 New practices across disciplines. Haus der Kulturen der Welt www.hkw.de
2009  Fragmented memory of spectatorship Top 10 documentary programme IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam http://www.idfa.nl

AWARDS

Jaffa, the orange's clockwork
Best Archive film International Jury’s Prize Memorimages, Roues, Spain (2010)
Best Editing Soleluna Int. doc. film festival on Islam and the Mediterranean Palermo (2010)
International Jury’s Prize, Filmmaker Milan (2009)
Young jury special mention Filmmaker Milan (2009)
I Love You All
Special Jury Award, Taiwan International Documentary Festival (2005)
Jury Award, Festival Internazionale FILMMAKER Doc 9, Milan (2004
Route 181, Fragments of a journey in Palestine-Israel
First Prize Human Rights Film Festival, Paris, 2004
Mayor Prize Yamagata, Japon 2005
The Human Rights Award - Special Mention, Bafici Argentina 2003
The Specialist
Best French Documentary, SCAM (French authors Society) France 2001
Adolf Grimme Golden Price, Germany, 2001
France Cinema prize, Florence, Italy 1999
The Vatican 3rd Millennium Prize, Rome, 1999

RETROSPECTIVES AND ART SHOWS

Retrospectives & Tributes
2013   3X3 TIFF (12th Transilvanian film festival) Cluj, Rumania
2013   Retrospective SoleLuna, Palermo, Italy
2013   Tribute to Eyal Sivan, acknowledged for his creativity and form finding   Vision Du Reel  International Film Festival, Nyon, Swizerland
2013   Israel/Palestine in Eyal Sivan's cinematography, UCLA, Los Angeles
2012   14^th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival- Images of the 21st Century
2012   DocPoint 11th Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland
2011   Exground filmfest 24th International Film Festival Wiesbaden, Germany
2009   IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
2007   Tribute to Eyal Sivan Cinemateca Nacional de Venezuela
2005   Praise of Resistance Cinemateca de Buenos Aires, Argentina
2004   Filmmaker Milano

TV Documentaries
2007 Citizens K, the twin brothers 54 minutes, colour, Video
2005 Faces of the Fallen 52 minutes, colour, Video.
1991 Israland 58 minutes, colour, video.

Short films
2001 On the Top of the Descent Fiction 32 minutes colour, Video.
1997 Burundi, under Terror Photomentary, b/w, 13 minutes, 35mm.
1996 Itsembatsemba, Rwanda one Genocide later Photomentary, b/w, 13 minutes, 35mm.




2008 Happy birthdays, towards a common archive - fragment 1
Multi screens video Installation, 23 minutes, Colour, Video.
2001 Scalpel / Skalpel (concept & artistic director) TV magazine, 14 x 42 minutes, colour, Video.
1994 Jerusalem, Jerusalems. Conception and direction of a 4h 30 Theme evening Arte
1988 Progressive list for Peace TV spots 11 x 2 minutes





Itsembatsemba, Rwanda one genocide later
Jury’s special mention, International Film Festival Bilbao, 1997
Merit Award, San Francisco Film Festival, 1997
Izkor, slaves of memory
Procirep Prize & jury's special mention, FIPA 1991
Investigation Prize Documentaries European Biennale, Marseilles 1991
Golden Lens, Tel Aviv Film Festival 1991
Aqabat-Jaber, passing through
Jury's Great Prize, Cinéma du Réel Film Festival, Paris 1987
Golden Crown, Festikon, Amsterdam 1988
Prix Air France-Radio France, Belfort Film Festival, 1988
Best social-political Documentary International Film Festival, Oakland 1988
Jury’s Special Mention Internationale Filmwoche, Mannheim 1988









Masterclass
2013   Masterclass 59th Flaherty Seminar, NY USA
2013   Atelier Vision Du Reel, Nyon Swizerland
2012   Masterclass Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece
2012   Masterclass Docpoint, Helsinki Finland
2010   Masterclass Documentarist, Istanbul Turkey
2009   Masterclass IDFA, Amsterdam Holland









2005   Second Present - Dislocated Memory House of contemporary art Trafo Gallery, Budapest, Hungary. (http://www.trafo.hu)
          The Trouble with Talkies ADi Space, Rivington Place, London. http://www.doubleagents.org.uk/archives/114
2004   Time suspended, Witte de With Rotterdam, Netherlands
          Contemporary Arab Representations Fundacio Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona
          Territories, Frontiers, the Architecture of Warfare Index,
           Swedish contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm
           Manifesta 5 European Biennial of Contemporary Art San-Sebastian                      
2003   Strangers: the first ICP Triennial of Photography and Video 
           International Centre of Photography, New York and Steidl, Göttigen
2002   Documenta 11 documenta, Kassel