Rama Burshtein ( he, רמה בורשטין) is an American-born

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

filmmaker best known for her 2012 debut feature, ''

Fill the Void ''Fill the Void'' ( he, למלא את החלל - lemale et ha'ḥalal) is a 2012 Israeli drama film written and directed by Rama Burshtein. It focuses on life among the Haredi Jewish community in Tel Aviv, Israel. Hadas Yaron stars as Shira Me ...

''.

Early life

Burshtein was born in New York in 1967, and moved to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

when she was one year old. She attended the

Sam Spiegel Film and Television School The Sam Spiegel Film and Television School is a film and television school in Israel that was founded in 1989. It was renamed in honor of Sam Spiegel in 1996, with the support of the Sam Spiegel Estate. The school has been the subject of some 19 ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, graduating in 1995. Burshtein became an

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

when she was 25 years old.

Career

Prior to ''

'', Burshtein was part of a collective of

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

women film-makers who funded, produced, directed, and wrote films for themselves. According to Burshtein, it took her 15 years to complete her debut film, ''Fill the Void'', with numerous delays over writing, casting, and editing. It took her a year to find actress

Hadas Yaron Hadas Yaron ( he, הדס ירון; born April 12, 1990) is an Israeli actress. She began acting as a child and made her film debut as a supporting actress in the 2006 film, ''Out of Sight''. Yaron played lead character Shira Mendelman in the 2012 ...

to play the main role of Shira, and another year in post-production because of insecurities over the editing process. ''Fill the Void'' starred Chayim Sharir, Hadas Yaron, Hila Feldman, Ido Samuel, Irit Sheleg, Razia Israeli, Renana Raz, Yael Tal, and Yiftach Klein. It is the story of a religious Jewish woman who must make a decision about whether or not to marry her late sister's husband. ''Fill the Void'' premiered at the

69th Venice International Film Festival The 69th annual Venice International Film Festival, organized by Venice Biennale, took place at Venice Lido from 29 August to 8 September 2012. The festival opened with the Indian director Mira Nair's ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'', and clos ...

. Lead actress

won the

Volpi Cup The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

for her work. Burshtein won three

Ophir Awards The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...

for directing, writing, and producing for her work on the film. The film was picked up for

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

distribution by

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produc ...

. It was released in 2013, to great critical acclaim, receiving a score of 81 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. In 2013, Burshtein was invited to direct a short film in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the

Venice International Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. Her film, along with those of 69 other directors, was collected in a work entitled Venezia 70 - Future Reloaded, and premiered at the

70th Venice International Film Festival The 70th annual Venice International Film Festival took place in Venice, Italy from 28 August to 7 September 2013. American film director William Friedkin was presented with a lifetime achievement award. Italian film director Bernardo Bertolucc ...

. Burshtein's second film, ''

The Wedding Plan ''The Wedding Plan'' ( he, לעבור את הקיר, Laavor et hakir, lit=Through the Wall) is a 2016 Israeli romantic comedy film written and directed by Rama Burshtein. The film premiered at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival in the ...

'' (''Through the Wall'' in Hebrew), was again set in an Israeli Orthodox Jewish community, about a young woman determined to still get married on the date of her planned wedding after her fiancé leaves her. The film stars Noa Koler, who won the best actress award at the 2016

Haifa International Film Festival The Haifa International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place every autumn (between late September and late October), during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, in Haifa, Israel. History The festival was inaugurated in 1983 and w ...

Family life

She has three sons and a daughter with her husband, Aharon Burshtein.

Filmography

* ''

'' (2012) * '' Venezia 70 - Future Reloaded'' (2013) * ''

(Through the Wall)'' (2016)

References

External links