Joel Silberg

Joel Silberg, also written Yoel Silberg, (1927 - 2013) was a movie director and screenwriter in Israel and the United States. His films in Israel include so-called Bourekas films. He then directed films in the U.S. during the 1980s, including Breakin' and Lambada. Both have been described as exploitation films. In 2008 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Israel Film Academy.

Silberg was born in Palestine in 1927. He was the son of actor Ben Zion Silberg. He began his career directing at London's Old Vic theater. He co-wrote Kazablan (film) in 1974.

Career

Breakin was shot in Los Angeles and reflects a different style of break dancing and street dance culture than the Bronx, New York film Beat Street. The film, directed by Sam Firstenberg, was a Cannon Films productions. Roger Ebert gave this film 1 1/2 stars, stating that it was a rather predictable story. The sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, was released 7 months later, and it received poor critical reception. Later on, the subtitle "Electric Boogaloo" would enter the pop-culture lexicon as a snowclone pejorative nickname to denote an archetypical sequel.

Author Kimberly Monteyne referred to films such as Rappin' as "hip hop-oriented exploitation extravaganzas".

Death

According to the IMDb entry on Solberg he died on February 18, 2013 in Israel, aged 83.