Mizrahi, Moshe (director)

Moshe Mizrahi, a native of Alexandria , immigrated with his family to Mandatory Palestine in 1946. In the early 1950s, he visited the Maghreb countries and France as an emissary of the Jewish Agency and Ha-shomer Ha-Tsair . From 1958 he alternately lived in Israel and in France, where he took his first steps in cinema. His career as a director began with the production of a mini-series in the style of Hitchcock for French television at the intersection of comedy and thriller genres. He was followed in 1970 by Mizrachi’s first full-length feature film “ The Client in the Dead Season ”, based on the story of his first wife Rachelle Fabien ^[3] . This first work has already entered the main competition program of the Berlin Film Festival and won a special prize of journalists and a prize of the Catholic jury, and was nominated for Golden Globe for the best film in a foreign language ^[4] .

His second film, Stansa Sophia , Mizrachi shot a year later also in France based on the novel . This film, devoted to the topic of women's rights to independence, lasted only three weeks in French broadcasts, but took part in the International Film Festival in Atlanta and later went to the film libraries of American universities. It was shown in Israel only in 2009 ^[3] . The following two Mizrahi films, shot in collaboration with producer Menachem Golan in Israel - “ I Love You, Rose ” (1972) and “ House on Shlush Street ” (1973) - were nominated for an Oscar for the best film in a foreign language ; “I love you, Rosa” and another film from 1973, “ Abu el Banat ”, were included in the main competition program of the Cannes Film Festival ^[4] . The style in which these pictures were shot was strikingly different from the “ burekas films ” that had gained popularity in Israel in those years, especially in terms of the image of Eastern Jews. In an interview, Mizrahi calls the tradition of Sephardic images that has developed in Israeli cinema as offensive, and Salah Shabati , which has become the apogee of “burekas”, is disgusting ^[3] .

Returning to France, Mizrahi shot two successful films, in which the main role was played by Simone Signoret : " All Life Is Ahead " and " Dear Stranger ". The first of these tapes, based on the book by Goncourse laureate Romain Gary , was praised by Gary himself ^[3] and won an Oscar for the best film in a foreign language; Mizrahi remains the only Israeli director to receive this award. ^[5]

In the 1980s, Mizrachi collaborated with American filmmakers, in particular, with Tom Hanks in the lead role in the film “ We always say goodbye ”, which takes place in Mandatory Palestine ^[3] . In 1992, the American mini-series “Warburg: A Man of Influence”, shot by Sam Waterston , became the winner of the FIPA festival prize. In 2001, Mizrahi was awarded the Israel Film Academy Award (“Ophir”) for his career achievements ^[4] ; He also received a similar award at the Haifa Film Festival . In 2008, after more than a decade off, his new film, “ Weekend in Galilee ”, was released on screens, transporting the plot of Uncle Vanya by Chekhov to Israeli soil ^[5] .

Mizrahi was married to an actress and director second time ^[3] . He died at the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv in August 2018 after complications due to pneumonia ^[6]

• 1969 - Lohr (mini-series)
• 1970 - Client in the off season
• 1971 - Sofia Stansy
• 1972 - I love you, Rose
• 1973 - Abu el Banat
• 1973 - House on Schlusch Street
• 1975 - Man Rachel
• 1977 - All life ahead
• 1980 - Dear stranger
• 1981 - Life Goes On
• 1983 - Youth
• 1985 - War and love
• 1986 - We always say goodbye.
• 1988 - Gvozdoed
• 1992 - Warburg: The Man of Influence (mini-series)
• 1996 - Women
• 2007 - Weekend in the Galilee

Awards

• 1970 - a special prize from journalists at the Berlin Film Festival (“ Client in the off season ”)
• 1978 - “Oscar” for the best film in a foreign language (“ All life ahead ”)
• 1978 - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for the best film in a foreign language ("All Life Is Ahead")
• 1992 - FIPA festival silver prize in the nomination “Television series” (“Warburg: a man of influence”)
• 2001 - The Israel Film Academy Award (“Ophir”) for career achievements

Nominations

• 1970 - Golden Globe nomination for the best film in a foreign language (“Client in the off-season”)
• 1970 - participation in the main competition program of the Berlin Film Festival ("The Client in the low season")
• 1972 - participation in the main competition program of the Cannes Film Festival (" I love you, Rose ")
• 1973 - Oscar nomination for best film in a foreign language ("I love you, Rose")
• 1973 - participation in the main competition program of the International Film Festival in Chicago (“ House on Shlush Street ”)
• 1974 - Oscar nomination for best film in a foreign language (“House on Schlush Street”)
• 1974 - participation in the main competition program of the Cannes Film Festival (" Abu el Banat ")
• 1978 - Golden Globe nomination for the best film in a foreign language (“All Life Ahead”)
• 1980 - participation in the main competition program of the International Film Festival in Chicago (" Dear stranger ")