Rama Burshtein-Shai – World Changer from Jerusalem

Proud to be J · World Changers from Jerusalem

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Rama Burshtein-Shai

Film Director & Screenwriter

Born in New York in 1967 and raised in Tel Aviv.
Graduated in 1995 from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem.
Became an Orthodox Jew at 25, a journey that would shape her entire body of work.
Was part of a collective of Orthodox women filmmakers who funded and made films for women in their own community.
Her debut feature, Fill the Void (2012), took about 15 years to complete.
Fill the Void premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival, where Hadas Yaron won the Volpi Cup for best actress.
The film won three Ophir Awards, Israel's Oscars, for directing, writing and producing.
It was released in North America by Sony Pictures Classics, carrying a story from the religious world to global audiences.
Was invited to direct a short film for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary in 2013.
Her second feature, The Wedding Plan / Through the Wall (2016), earned Noa Koler best actress at the Haifa Film Festival.
Created Fire Dance (2022), a drama series set in Haredi society.
Her productions follow Jewish law on set, including no filming on Shabbat.
Her films open a respectful window into the inner lives of religious women – a bridge between worlds that rarely meet on screen.

From the vision of Isaiah · Isaiah 62:5

“As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.”

וּמְשׂוֹשׂ חָתָן עַל כַּלָּה יָשִׂישׂ עָלַיִךְ אֱלֹהָיִךְ.

Her films are stories of brides, longing and joy – the same image Isaiah uses for God's love for Jerusalem.

Support & connect: Filmography (IMDb) · Through the Wall – The Match Factory

Verse in English from the King James Version. Facts compiled from public sources, October 2026.