Michal Bat-Adam facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Michal Bat-Adam
Bat-Adam in 2011
Born	Michal Breslavy (1945-03-02) March 2, 1945 (age 80) Afula, Mandatory Palestine
Occupation	Director, screenwriter, producer, actress, musician, teacher
Years active	1972–present
Spouse(s)	Moshé Mizrahi

Michal Bat-Adam (Hebrew: מיכל בת-אדם; born March 2, 1945) is an Israeli film director, producer, screenwriter, actress, and musician. Her movies often explore complicated family relationships. She also looks at the difference between being healthy and having mental health challenges. Many of her films include parts of her own life story.

As an actress, she is known for her strong performances. She especially shined in movies made by her husband, Moshé Mizrahi.

Early Life and Beginnings

Michal Bat-Adam was born in Afula, Israel. Her parents, Yemima and Adam Rubin, moved from Warsaw in 1939. When Michal was young, her family lived in Haifa. Michal's mother, Yemima, faced health challenges that made it hard for her to care for the family.

When Michal was six years old, she went to live with her older sister Netta at Kibbutz Merhavia. While living there, both sisters changed their family name to Bat-Adam, which means "daughter of Adam." At 17, Michal left the kibbutz and returned home to help her mother.

Michal first wanted to be a musician. She studied at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music. Later, she became interested in theater. She tried out for the Beit Zvi School of Performing Arts in Ramat Gan and was accepted. She then focused on acting. Early in her acting career, Bat-Adam played main roles in big theaters like the Habimah National Theater and the Cameri Theater.

Filmmaking Career

Bat-Adam, 1984

In 1972, Bat-Adam played the main character in Moshe Mizrahi's film I Love You Rosa. This movie was nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Foreign Language Film. It also played at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. This role helped start Bat-Adam's career as a film actress.

After a short first marriage, Bat-Adam and Mizrahi got married. She continued to act in many of Mizrahi's movies. These included The House on Chelouche Street (1973) and Daughters, Daughters (1973). She also appeared in Mizrahi's Oscar-winning French film, Madame Rosa in 1977.

In the late 1970s, Bat-Adam began writing and directing films while living in Paris. Her first movie was Moments (1979). It was made with both French and Israeli teams. This film explored a very close and intense friendship between two women. Bat-Adam not only wrote and directed it but also acted in it. The movie received good reviews and a lot of attention for showing such a complex relationship.

After Moments, Bat-Adam made two films that were based on her own life. The Thin Line (1980) was about a mother dealing with mental health challenges. Boy Meets Girl (1982) was filmed on Kibbutz Ma'ayan Tzvi. This movie drew from Bat-Adam's memories of being a young girl left by her parents at a kibbutz.

In the late 1980s, Bat-Adam directed two movies based on books: The Lover (1986) and A Thousand and One Wives (1989). She also worked on a TV drama called The Flight of Uncle Peretz (1993). Later, she returned to making films with parts of her own life, like Aya: Imagined Autobiography (1994) and Maya (2010).

Michal Bat-Adam still makes movies and acts. She also teaches at Tel Aviv University and Camera Obscura. She gives poetry readings and has recorded a CD where she reads poetry with music.

Films as an Actress

• Ha-Pritza Hagdola (1970)
• I Love You Rosa (1972) - Rosa
• The House on Chelouche Street (1973)
• Daughters, Daughters (1973) - Esther Alfandari
• Ha-Diber Ha-11 (1975)
• Rachel's Man (1975) - Rachel
• Madame Rosa (1977) - Nadine
• La fille de Prague avec un sac très lourd (1978) - Milena
• Moments (1979) - Yola
• Real Game (1980)
• Hanna K. (1983) - Russian woman
• Silver Platter (1983)
• The Ambassador (1984) - Tova
• Atalia (1984) - Atalia
• The Lover (1985) - Asia
• The Impossible Spy (1987, TV Movie) - Nadia Cohen
• Aya: Imagined Autobiography (1994) - Aya
• Women (1996) - Rebecca
• Rita Shem Zemani (2007)
• BeTipul (2008, TV Series) - Tami Savyon (final film role)

Films as a Director

• Moments (1979)
• The Thin Line (1980)
• Boy Meets Girl (1982)
• The Lover (1986)
• A Thousand and One Wives (1989)
• The Deserter's Wife (1991)
• The Flight of Uncle Peretz (1993)
• Aya: Imagined Autobiography (1994)
• Love at Second Sight (1999)
• Life Is Life (2003)
• Maya (2010)
• Hila (2023)

Awards and Recognition

Michal Bat-Adam has received several important awards for her work:

• Best Actress award from the Israel Film Institute for I Love You Rosa (1972) and Atalia (1984).
• Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress awards from the Israel Film Institute for Moments (1979) and The Thin Line (1980).
• Ophir Award for Lifetime Achievement (2019). This award celebrates her long and important career.
• Israel Prize for film art (2021). This is one of the highest honors in Israel.

See also

• List of female film and television directors
• List of Israeli submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film