Rama Burshtein

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Rama Bushtein-Shai
רמה בורשטיין שי
Rama Burshtein.jpg
Born1967 (age 5657)
EducationSam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem
Occupation(s)Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active2012-the present
Notable workFill the Void
SpouseAharon Burshtein (divorced)
Children4
Awards3 Ophir Awards for directing, writing, and producing Fill the Void

Rama Burshtein-Shai (Hebrew : רמה בורשטיין שי) is an American-born Israeli filmmaker best known for her 2012 debut feature, Fill the Void . [1]

Contents

Early life

Burshtein was born in New York in 1967, and moved to Tel Aviv when she was one year old. [2] She attended the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, graduating in 1995. [1]

Burshtein became an Orthodox Jew when she was 25 years old. [1]

Career

Prior to Fill the Void , Burshtein was part of a collective of Orthodox Jewish women film-makers who funded, produced, directed, and wrote films for themselves. [3]

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 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. [4]

Fill the Void premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. Lead actress Hadas Yaron won the Volpi Cup for her work. [5] Burshtein won three Ophir Awards for directing, writing, and producing for her work on the film. The film was picked up for North American distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. It was released in 2013, to great critical acclaim, receiving a score of 81 on Metacritic. [4]

In 2013, Burshtein was invited to direct a short film in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Venice International Film Festival. 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. [6]

Burshtein's second film, The Wedding Plan (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. [7] The film stars Noa Koler, who won the best actress award at the 2016 Haifa International Film Festival. [8]

In 2022 she directed the television series, Fire Dance . The Haredi drama is set in Tiberias and stars Yehuda Levi. [9]

Family life

She has three sons and a daughter with her former husband, Aharon Burshtein. [2] Following her divorce from Aharon, she remarried in 2020 and now goes by Rama Burshtein-Shai. [10]

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mira Nair</span> Indian-American filmmaker

Mira Nair is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spheres. Among her best known films are Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, the Golden Lion–winning Monsoon Wedding, and Salaam Bombay!, which received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yehuda Levi</span> Israeli actor and male model (born 1979)

Yehuda Levi is an Israeli actor, model and TV presenter. Regarded as one of the best performers of his generation in Israel, he is recognized for his versatile work across independent films, television and the stage. He has received numerous accolades, including three Best Actor awards from the Israeli Academy of Television for his performances in Yossi & Jagger (2002) and Very Important Person.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moran Atias</span> Israeli actress and model (born 1981)

Moran Atias is an Israeli actress and model. She gained fame in the Italian films Gas, Oggi sposi, and Mother of Tears. She is best known for her work with Paul Haggis in the 2008 TV series Crash and the 2013 film Third Person. She also starred on the FX television series Tyrant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman</span>

Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, also Shtainman or Steinman, was a Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. Following the death of Yosef Shalom Elyashiv in 2012, he was widely regarded as the Gadol HaDor, the leader of the non-Hasidic Lithuanian Haredi Jewish world. Along with several other rabbis, Shteinman is credited with reviving and expanding the appeal of European-style yeshivas in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigal Avin</span> American-Israeli writer and director

Sigal Avin is an American-Israeli writer and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clara Khoury</span> Palestinian American actress

Clara Khoury is an Israeli American actress. She works in film, television and theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">69th Venice International Film Festival</span> 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 closed with the Out of Competition film The Man Who Laughs, directed by Jean-Pierre Ameris. Terrence Malick's film To the Wonder was met with both boos and cheers from critics at its premiere.

<i>Fill the Void</i> 2012 film

Fill the Void 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 Mendelman, an 18-year-old girl who is pressured to marry her older sister's husband, following the death of her sister in childbirth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hadas Yaron</span> Israeli actress

Hadas Yaron 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 Israeli drama film, Fill the Void. In September of that year, she received an Ophir Award and became the first Israeli to win Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival.

Yehonatan Indursky is an Israeli filmmaker and the creator of the successful Netflix series Shtisel.

<i>Felix and Meira</i> 2014 film

Felix and Meira is a 2014 Canadian drama film directed by Maxime Giroux, and starring Martin Dubreuil, Hadas Yaron, and Luzer Twersky. It is about an improbable affair between two Montreal residents - one a married woman from a devoutly Jewish family and community, and the other a single French Canadian man with his own family issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilla Vidor</span> Israeli stage and screen actress

Hilla Vidor is an Israeli actress. Her early career was in the Habima Theatre where she played varied roles. In 2008 she won a prize for her roles in Anna Karenina and Autumn Sonata. Since 2009 she has concentrated mainly on cinema and television. In 2013 she won the award for best actress at the Haifa International Film Festival for her role in the movie Funeral at Noon.

<i>Shtisel</i> Israeli television drama series

Shtisel is an Israeli television drama series about a fictional Haredi family living in Geula, Jerusalem. Created and written by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky, the series premiered on 29 June 2013 on yes Oh. It commenced distribution via the online streaming service Netflix in 2018. The first two seasons have 12 episodes per season, and the third season has 9 episodes.

Leah Gottfried is an American Orthodox Jewish actress and filmmaker, best known for creating and starring in the web series Soon By You. In 2017, she was featured in The Jewish Week's "36 Under 36", an annual list of influential Jews under age 36.

<i>The Wedding Plan</i> 2016 film by Rama Burshtein

The Wedding Plan 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 Horizons section.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Aloni</span> Israeli actor (born 1984)

Michael Mark Aloni is an Israeli actor, director, writer and television presenter. Regarded as one of the best performers of his generation in Israel, he is recognized for his versatile work across independent films, television and the stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samira Saraya</span> Palestinian film, television and theater actor, filmmaker, poet, rapper, and spoken word artist

Samira Saraya is an Israeli Palestinian film, television and theater actor, filmmaker, poet, rapper and spoken word artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli pavilion</span>

The Israeli pavilion houses Israel's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals. Jewish Israeli artists first participated in the 24th Venice Biennale in the Erez Israel, Artisti Palestinesi pavilion. Israel first participated in the 25th Venice Biennale in 1950.

Nili Rachel Scharf Gold is an Israeli-American professor of modern Hebrew language and literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the study of modern Hebrew literature, she draws in her research on approaches from psychoanalysis, urban history, diaspora and migration studies, and studies of collective and individual memory. She has published prize-winning books on the Israeli Hebrew poet, Yehuda Amichai, and on the cultural, social, and architectural aspects of the city of Haifa. She has promoted an awareness of modern Hebrew culture in the United States by sponsoring conferences about, and public readings and lectures by, a range of Israeli writers and filmmakers.

Fire Dance an Israeli television drama series created by Rama Burshtein. The Haredi drama stars Mia Irvin, Yehuda Levi and Noa Koler. It is a Yes Studios original series and was broadcast in Israel on Yes Drama. It is streamed internationally by the Jewish streaming service, ChaiFlicks.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wax, Emily (8 June 2013). "Rama Burshtein is first ultra-Orthodox woman to direct for general audience". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 Eisner, Jane (3 May 2013). "An Unconventional Look at Orthodoxy". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  3. Dawson, Nick (23 May 2013). "Rama Burshtein on Fill the Void". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Fill the Void". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  5. Anderman, Nirit. "Israel's Hadas Yaron wins best actress at Venice Film Festival". Haaretz. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  6. "RAMA BURSHTEIN". La Biennale. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  7. Goodfellow, Melanie. "Dakota Johnson, Michel Hazanavicius titles head to Italy" . Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  8. "The award winners- Haifa International Film Festival 2016". haifaff.co.il. Haifa International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  9. Rama Burshtein Is the Queen of Complicated Haredi Love Stories Kveller. 14 March 2024
  10. Rama Burshtein Jewish Women's Archive. 23 June 2021

Further reading

Rousseau, Daphne (November 27, 2016). "How an ultra-Orthodox Israeli director keeps Jewish law on set". The Times of Israel.