Moshé Mizrahi ( he, משה מזרחי; 5 September 1931 – 3 August 2018) was an Israeli

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Biography

He was born in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, migrated to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

in 1946, and studied filmmaking in France in 1950. He directed the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-winning 1977 film ''

Madame Rosa ''Madame Rosa'' (french: La vie devant soi) is a 1977 French drama film directed by Moshé Mizrahi, adapted from the 1975 novel ''The Life Before Us'' by Romain Gary. It stars Simone Signoret and Samy Ben-Youb, and tells the story of an elderly ...

'' starring

Simone Signoret Simone Signoret (; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a ...

. The film, which was about a former prostitute in Paris who survived Auschwitz, won the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

on behalf of France. He directed 14 films in both

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, three of which were nominated for the

; '' I Love You Rosa'', ''

The House on Chelouche Street ''The House on Chelouche Street'' () is a 1973 semi-autobiographical film by Israeli director Moshé Mizrahi, filmed in Hebrew, Egyptian Arabic and Judeo-Spanish (a.k.a. Ladino, a Jewish language mostly derived from Old Castilian). The film was n ...

'' and ''Madame Rosa'', with the last of these winning the award. In September 1994, he was honored by the Haifa Film Festival for his lifetime contribution to Israeli cinema. His landmark film '' Les Stances à Sophie'' went practically unseen until it was re-released in 2008 and its jazz soundtrack album of the same name (but lacking the accent) was profiled in ''

The FADER ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' by

Alexander Geoffrey Frank Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. As of March 2009, Mizrahi was living in Tel Aviv, leading film-making workshop in

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

's film school. His wife,

Michal Bat-Adam Michal Bat-Adam ( he, מיכל בת-אדם; born March 2, 1945) is an Israeli film director, producer, screenwriter, actress, and musician. Her films deal with complex and conflicted relationships, especially relationships within families. She als ...

, is a film director as well as an actress and played lead roles in several of Mizrahi's films. Today, she teaches acting classes at Tel Aviv University. He died of pneumonia on 3 August 2018, at the age of 86.

Partial filmography

*'' Les Stances à Sophie'' (''Sophie's Ways'', 1970) *''

The Customer of the Off Season ''The Customer of the Off Season'' ( he, אורח בעונה מתה Ore'ach B'Onah Metah) is a 1970 Israeli drama film directed by Moshé Mizrahi. It was entered into the 20th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Claude Rich as Customer * ...

'' (1970) *'' I Love You Rosa'' (''Ani Ohev Otach Rosa'', 1972) *''

Daughters, Daughters ''Daughters, Daughters'' ( he, Abu el Banat) is a 1973 Israeli film directed by Moshé Mizrahi. It was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Cast * Shaike Ophir - Sabbatai Alfandari * Zaharira Harifai - Bianca Alfandari * Joseph Sh ...

'' (1973) *''

'' (1973) *'' Rachel's Man'' (1975) *''

'' (''La Vie devant soi'', 1977) *'' Une jeunesse'', based upon the novel of the same title by

Patrick Modiano Jean Patrick Modiano (; born 30 July 1945), generally known as Patrick Modiano, is a French novelist and recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is a noted writer of autofiction, the blend of autobiography and historical fiction. In ...

*' (''I Sent a Letter to my Love'') (1980) *'' Every Time We Say Goodbye'' (1986)

References

External links

* 1931 births 2018 deaths People from Alexandria Israeli Jews Israeli film directors Egyptian emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Egyptian Jews Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Deaths from pneumonia in Israel {{Israel-film-director-stub