Orit Fouks Rotem

Orit Fouks Rotem (Hebrew: אורית פוקס רותם, born September 12, 1983) is an Israeli film director, who directed the film Cinema Sabaya, winner of the 2022 Ophir Award, and will be the Israeli nominee for the Academy Award at List of submissions to the 95th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.
== Biography ==
Fouks Rotem grew up in Hadera, Israel. Her mother Revital Fouks is the mayor's adviser of women's affairs and her father is a grocer in Pardes Hanna-Karkur. She was accepted to Sam Spiegel Film and Television School and moved to Jerusalem.She graduated from the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel School with honors in 2012, winning her class’ ‘Promising Director’ Award.
== Career ==
Her first film was made during her studies as a student and was "Home Visit", about an aging lifeguard and his daughter who feels he should move to assisted living. The film describes the visit to the nursing home in preparation for the father's move to the place.
Fouk's film “Staring Match” from 2011 was screened at many festivals including the San Sebastián International Film Festival, the Munich International Student Film Festival, and the Montreal World Film Festival. The film won several awards: Commendation - Jerusalem International Film Festival, Israel 2012, Best Short Film Award - Galilee Short Film Festival, Israel 2012, Promising Creator Award - International Film Festival for Women's Films, Rehovot 2012, Screenplay Award - International Student Festival "A, Israel 2012.
In 2017, her film "You remain silent" was released, a short feature film about her father who owns a grocery store. The film was released as part of a tribute film by several graduates called Voice over. The film is the second chapter in the "Jerusalem Trilogy of Sam Spiegel Graduates" initiated by Renen Schorr, founder and director of the school, which is dedicated to the short masterpieces of Israeli cinema in the sixties.
In 2019, a short feature film "Veil" was released. The film is about Dana's bachelorette party, two days before her wedding. During the party, lies and secrets are revealed, with the climax of the film being a random meeting with Hamis, an African refugee who works there. The film was selected for The Oslo Short Film Festival, Jerusalem Film Festival, Brussels Short Film Festival and various other festivals around the world.
=== Cinema Sabaya ===
The film released in 2021 is the director's first full-length film. The film describes a videography workshop with the participation of Jewish and Arab women from the Hadera area and the Triangle in Israel. The film is based on a photography workshop for Jewish and Arab women, in which her mother who was the adviser to the mayor of Hadera for women's status, participated in. As part of the research for the film, Rotem, herself, conducted photography workshops for women.
Cinema Sabaya won the Best Debut Film Award at the Jerusalem Festival and five Ophir Awards: Ophir Award for Best Feature Film, Ophir Award for Best Director to Orit Rotem Fouks , Ophir Award for Best Supporting Actress awarded to Joanna Said, Ophir Award for Best Costume Design awarded to Reitz Ben Dahan, Ophir Award for Best Casting awarded to Emanuel Meyer. The film won the Weil Bloch Award for 2021. The film is nominated to represent Israel in the best foreign film category.
Category:1983 births
Category:Israeli film directors
Category:Israeli people