Avigail Sperber (; born August 24, 1973) is an Israeli cinematographer and film and television director. She is founder and owner of Pardes Film Productions. Sperber is also a social activist, and the founder of Bat Kol, a religious organization for lesbian

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tr ...

Biography

Sperber was born in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem, the daughter of Hannah and Rabbi

Daniel Sperber Daniel Sperber (Hebrew: דניאל שפרבר; born 4 November 1940) is a British-born Israeli academic and Orthodox Jewish rabbi. He is a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and an expert in classical philology, history of Je ...

, winner of the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic study. She studied at the Horev Ulpana (girls' religious school) and did Sherut Leumi instead of mandatory military service. In 1998 she completed her studies at Ma'aleh Film School. Her graduation film, ''Four Men Entered the Grove'', won the best film award of her graduating class. Another film she directed, ''Yan's Tea House'', won the best documentary film award at the

Haifa International Film Festival The Haifa International Film Festival () is an annual film festival that takes place every autumn (between late September and late October), during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, in Haifa, Israel. History The festival was inaugurated in 1983 an ...

. In 1999, Sperber directed ''My Sister Benchia'', the story of Benchia-Ariela, an Ethiopian girl she met during her national service, whom her family adopted. The film was broadcast on Channel 2. Sperber worked on the production of the film ''Campfire'', in casting and as the director, Yosef Cedar's, personal assistant, while studying screenwriting at Idit Schori's screenwriting school. Her graduation work was about religious lesbians. Following her work on this script, she founded Bat Kol, an organization for religious lesbians. It was the first religious

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

organization in Israel. The organization provides support for religious lesbians. Sperber also founded Shoval, which is a dialogue and advocacy group that works for LGBT acceptance in religious society, and operates a support and counseling hotline. These organizations created a new discourse in religious circles, forcing the community to deal with the issue. She was cinematographer on her ex-girlfriend

Netalie Braun Netalie Braun (Hebrew: נטעלי בראון; born June 12, 1978) is an Israeli poet, writer and filmmaker. She won the 2017 Ophir Award for the best short documentary film. Career Braun completed her BA in literature and philosophy, and an MA ...

's short films ''Gevald'' and ''Metamorphosis''; on the

Ibtisam Mara'ana Ibtisam Mara'ana-Menuhin (, ) is an Israeli Arab politician, film director, and producer. She was a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party from 2021 to 2022. Upon her election, she made history as the first Knesset member in a mixed Jewish-Mu ...

's film ''Badal''; on Hannah Azoulay-Hasafri's documentary series ''My Tiny Empire''. In 2008 she directed the film ''Halakeh'', which premiered at the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia van Leer, Lia Van Leer, and has since become th ...

and was broadcast on Channel 1. In 2010 she produced and directed ''Hatalyan'' with

, a documentary of the story of

Shalom Nagar Shalom Nagar (; 1936 or 1938 – 26 November 2024) was a Yemeni-born Israeli prison guard best known for executing Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Nagar immigrated to Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces' Paratroopers Brigade. After ...

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...

's executioner. The film won the Best Documentary award at the

, and was one of three outstanding films at IDFA. In 2014, she directed ''Probation Time'', a documentary about her break-up with her partner and their son's difficulties dealing with the new situation, and her family's coping with her adopted sister, who dealt with juvenile delinquency. The film won the

DocAviv Docaviv (), also known as the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival, is the only film festival in Israel dedicated to documentary films, and the largest film festival in Tel Aviv. It is run by a non-profit organisation of the same name ...

jury award, and Sperber also won the cinematography award. The film was broadcast on YES Docu as a mini-series. In September 2017, Sperber was awarded the Minister of Education Award for Jewish Culture in the film category. Sperber came out as a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

at age 25. She has two sons.

Filmography

Director

Production

Cinematography

Awards

, - , 2017 , , Minister of Education Award for Jewish Culture , , , - , 2014 , ''Probation Time'' , Best Film,

, , , - , 2014 , ''Probation Time'' , Best Cinematography,

, , , - , 2014 , ''Probation Time'' , Best Film, Forum of Documentary Filmmakers Awards , , , - , 2014 , ''Probation Time'' , Best Cinematography, Forum of Documentary Filmmakers Awards , , , - , 2013 , ''Superwomen'' , Best Cinematography,

, , , - , 2011 , ''Hatalyan'' , Best Film, Documentary Film Competition , , , - , 2011 , ''Hatalyan'' , Best Cinematography, Documentary Film Competition , , , - , 2010 , ''Hatalyan'' , Special Honorable Mention, IDFA , , , - , 2010 , ''Hatalyan'' , Best Documentary,

, ,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperber, Avigail 1973 births Living people Israeli cinematographers Israeli women film directors Israeli women film producers Israeli lesbian artists Israeli LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ television directors LGBTQ film producers Lesbian Jews Israeli activists Israeli LGBTQ rights activists 21st-century Israeli LGBTQ people Israeli television directors Israeli women cinematographers Women television directors LGBTQ Orthodox Jews Film people from Jerusalem Activists from Jerusalem