משתמשת:פונטיין/MIHAL BREZIS

Mihal Brezis ( In Hebrew: מיכל ברזיס; Born in Jerusalem, 1977) is an Israeli/French film director, and an Academy Award Nominee for her short film " AYA" ( In Hebrew: איה ) , co-directed with her partner Oded Binnun( In Hebrew: עודד בן נון).

Background

Mihal was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem, where she grew up in addition to Boston and Paris. Her religious upbringing served as inspiration for her graduation film “Sabbath Entertainment” (Tribeca, Locarno). It also influenced the recurring theme in her short films, dealing with identity and double lives.

Mihal Brezis graduated with honors from the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, where she met her life and work partner Oded Binnun.

In parallel to filmmaking, she studied Economics and Gender at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and serves as senior vice-president of Israeli content company Armoza Formats, which she helped establish together with Avi Armoza.

Film career

"AYA", starring Sarah Adler and Ulrich Thomsen, was nominated for an oscar for “Best Live Action Short” in 2015, and garnered exceptional recognition when released commercially in theatres, stand-alone as a short, to audience and critical success. The film, which was co-written with Tom Shoval a fellow graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film School, won the Ophir Award, the Israeli Academy Award for best short film.

In 2017, Mihal directed her international feature debut "The Etruscan Smile", produced by Oscar winning producer Arthur Cohn and starring Emmy Award winning actor Brian Cox. The film features an acclaimed international cast, including Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction, After Hours), Thora Birch (American Beauty), JJ Field (Captain America), Peter Coyote (Bitter Moon) and Treat Williams (Hair).

Mihal Brezis’ previous award-winning works include the shorts “Sabbath Entertainment”, “Tuesday’s Women” and “Lost Paradise”, which won over 40 international awards in festivals worldwide and were acquired by leading international broadcasters.

Reviews

• “Boston Globe” review on the 2015 Oscar nominated Short Films, including AYA, Peter Keough, JANUARY 30, 2015
• ”Washington Post" review of 2015 Oscar Nominated Shorts ,  Michael O'Sullivan, January 29, 2015
• "The times of Israel" review :"For ‘Aya,’ a long journey from Israel to Sunday’s Oscars",  Anthony Weiss, February 21, 201

Further reading

• " Aya" on IMDB
• "Etruscan Smile" on IMDB
• "Aya" on www.israelifilms.co.il

Further reading- in hebrew

• About AYA’s theatrical release, Oron shamir, City mouse, November 7, 2012