Hanna Azoulay Hasfari

Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari (; born June 29, 1960) is an Israeli actress, screenwriter, playwright, film director and a two-time winner of the Ophir Award. She is a women's rights activist, and has dedicated her career to promoting awareness regarding social justice issues and cultural diversity. In 2015, she was invited to speak at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in honor of International Women's Day, where she presented a screening of her film Orange People, in condemnation of child marriage.

Early life Azoulay-Hasfari was born on June 29, 1960, in Beersheba, Israel. Both of her parents immigrated to Israel from Morocco. She studied at residential school called “Mae Boyar” in Jerusalem. Upon completion of her high school education, Azoulay-Hasfari served her compulsory service in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in the military theater. After her military service she went on to study theater and acting at Tel Aviv University.

Theater In the early 1980s, Azoulay-Hasfari left Tel Aviv University. She became one of the founding members of the Simple Theater Group, a multi-cultural team that enabled artists to express their cultural worldview and to become the central focus of their projects. The theater group focused on representing the real experiences of people within local history, such as the first generation of holocaust survivors, and second generation of Mizrachim in Israel. Azoulay-Hasfari worked on all aspects of this theater group: She participated in fundraising, screenwriting, production and acting.

While working with the theater group, Azoulay-Hasfari performed in many plays, including Tashmad (1983), which won Best Play at the annual Acco Festival; Azoulay-Hasfari won Best Actress. However, after many years of success, The Simple Theater Group dissolved, and Azoulay-Hasfari moved on to mainstream theater and cinema.

Azoulay-Hasfari appeared in numerous stage productions in leading theaters in Israel, including the Cameri Theater, the Haifa Theatre, Be'er Sheva Theater and Beit Lessin Theater. She has acted in many key roles including Alma in Tashmad (Samuel Hasfari); Julie in Pack of Lies (Hugh Whitmore); Amelia in The House of Bernarda Alba (Garcia Lorca); Mary & Huda A Trumpet in the Wadi (an adaptation of Sami Michael's book by Samuel Hasfari); various roles in Yellow Time (adaptation of David Grossman’s project); various roles in The King (Samuel Hasfari); Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare); Miranda in The Tempest (Shakespeare); Shulamit in Nathanya (Shmuel Hasfari); and Rachel in Valentine (Rami Danon and Amnon Levy).

She has also written numerous plays, such as:

Match Void (Cameri Theater, Red Lion Theater in London); Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement; Beit Lessin, the Jewish Theatre, NOTTARA theater in Bucharest, Romania and Boston Center for the Arts, Satu Mare theater in Romania); Mimuna (Beit Lessin) Dina (Dimona Theater, Boston Center for the Arts ).

In 2019, Hanna has been awarded the America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF) Culture & Arts Award (Theater category).

Film One of Azoulay's first movie scripts was Sh'Chur (1994), which was directed by Shmuel Hasfari. It is a semi-autobiographical story of a Moroccan family immigrating to Israel, and it received international awards and recognition. Sh’Chur has also been included as required material for film studies, as well as anthropology and sociology coursework, and women's studies.

After the successful completion of her work writing the screenplay for "Sh’chur”, she was one of the founders of the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition, which is based on the biography of Azoulay's mother. Orange People was awarded the Jury Award for Best Film in 2013 at the International Women's Film Festival, in Rehovot. As a result of the success of this film, Azoulay was asked to speak at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in honor of International Women's Day.

Azoulay-Hasfari has acted in many Israeli films, including Rage and Glory (Daphna), Nadia (title role), Dead End Street (Ilana), The Quarry (Esther), Girls (Shuli Hazan), Sh'Chur (Heli), Lovesick on Nana Street (Levana), Schwartz Dynasty (Ronit), Shiva (Simona), with Ronit Elkabetz.

She also acted in several American films, including Delta Force 3: The Killing Game and The Human Shield.

Television Azoulay-Hasfari was the main creator for the documentary series Proletariat and My Little Empire, which encourages the empowerment of women through entrepreneurship. She has also written scripts for several episodes of the TV series Jerusalem Mix.

Azoulay-Hasfari's many appearances in Israeli television series include:

Esti HaMekho'eret First Degree Love Braids and The Arbitrator Polishuk False Flag (Hulu)

She has also acted in several German Television series.

Social Agenda Azoulay is a Mizrahi artist and social activist. She utilizes issues concerning gender, identity and social status from Israeli society to inspire unique characters, and develop stories that reflect real lives and social injustices. Examples of her work that bring light to social justice issues are films such as Sh’chur, Orange People, Proletariat, and My Little Empire, which highlight struggles experienced by marginalized women.

In March 2015 the film Orange People was screened at the international conference for women's status at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Azoulay delivered a speech addressed to the international community condemning the phenomenon of young girls being forced into marriage around the world.

In 2018 Azoulay received an honorary degree from the Open University of Israel for developing the legacy of the Mizrahim in Israel and for contributing to women's status and to Sepharadic women in Israel through her art.

In 2018, Azoulay became one of the founders of the Gesher political party, led by Orly Levy-Abekasis.

Personal life Azoulay-Hasfari is currently living in Jaffa, Israel. She is married to the playwright and director Shmuel Hasfari, with whom she has three children.

Awards