Michal Bat-Adam

Michal Bat-Adam
Michal Bat-Adam, on right
Born	Michal Breslavy (1945-03-02)March 2, 1945 Afula, Israel
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, Film producer, actress, musician, teacher
Years active	1972–present
Spouse(s)	Moshé Mizrahi

Michal Bat-Adam (Hebrew: מיכל בת-אדם‎) is an Israeli film director, producer, screenwriter, actress, and musician. She is the first Israeli woman to direct a feature film. Her films deal with complex and conflicted relationships, especially relationships within families. She also explores the line between sanity and mental illness. Many of these movies contain autobiographical elements.

As an actress, she has been noted for her work, especially for strong performances in the films of her husband, Moshé Mizrahi.

Michal Bat-Adam (originally named Michal Breslavy), was born in Afula, Israel to parents Yemima and Adam Rubin, who had immigrated from Warsaw in 1939. While she was a young child, the family lived in Haifa. Yemima suffered from mental illness, and had trouble caring for her family. When Michal was six and a half years old, she was sent to join her older sister Netta at Kibbutz Merhavya in the Harod Valley. While living there, both sisters changed their last name to Bat-Adam ("daughter of Adam"). At 17, Michal left the kibbutz and returned to care for her mother.

Originally wanting to be a musician, Bat-Adam studied at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music. After developing an interest in theater, she auditioned and was accepted to the Beit Zvi School of Performing Arts in Ramat Gan and turned her attention to acting. During her early acting career Bat-Adam performed in leading roles at the Habimah National Theater, the Cameri Theater and the Haifa Theater.

In 1972 Bat-Adam was cast in the title role in Moshe Mizrahi's film I Love You Rosa. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and entered into the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. The role launched Bat-Adam's career as a film actress.

After a short-lived first marriage, Bat-Adam and Mizrahi married. She continued to act in several of Mizrahi's movies, including; The House on Chelouche Street (1973), Daughters, Daughters (1973), and Women (1996). She appeared in Mizrahi's Academy Award-winning French film, Madame Rosa in 1977.