Sharon Amrani (August 20, 1970 – September 10, 2001)
Sharon Amrani was an Israeli film director and screenwriter.
He was born in Holon to Ziona and Giora Amrani. After his military service, he spent a year at the Ein Zurim Yeshiva.
He graduated from Sam Spiegel Film and Television School with honors in Jerusalem in 1998. His graduating project, “Lag Ba’Omer”, supervised by director Shemi Zarhin and starring Yaacov Cohen, won the award for Best Film of that year, along with Nir Bergman’s film “Seahorses”. The film screened at 30 international festivals, won 3 prizes and an honorary mention at the Jerusalem Film Festival, and is included in the list of the 10 best Sam Spiegel films in history.
Amrani was recognized as one of the major promises of Israeli cinema.
When he completed his studies, he wrote and directed the drama “Farewell My Cousin” for HOT (2001), which was received to great acclaim and featured Alon Abutbul in the starring role. He was later asked by Udi Leon, who created “Meorav Yerushalmi”, to write the opening episode and direct the pilot, which later won the Ophir Award.
Simultaneously he wrote a new series entitled “Four”, which revolves around four defining moments in the life of a family (from birth to death).
All of Amrani’s films dealt intensively with the melodrama of family, and were inspired and fueled by the biography of Amrani’s extended family, who were immigrants from Persia.
On September 10, 2001, Sharon Amrani drowned on the Tel Aviv shore.
On a special memorial evening in his honor, Renen Shor, the Headmaster of Sam Spiegel, said: “Sharon was the master of family melodrama. He was the salt of the earth.”
The Makor Fund for the encouragement of Israeli drama has decided to name an annual award on his behalf, to be given to an outstanding dramatic work at the Haifa Film Festival. The Gesher Foundation and the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School have also dedicated awards in Mr. Amrani’s name.
