Romi Aboulafia () is an Israeli

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

Early life

Aboulafia was born in

Tel Aviv, Israel Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, to a

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

family. She started acting at the age of six and was cast for a lead role in the award-winning Israel drama ''Shabatot VeHagim''. She was enlisted as a soldier in the

IDF Spokesperson's Unit The IDF Spokesperson's Unit (, ''Dover Tzahal'', abbr. Dotz) is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general and member of the ...

Career

Acting

In 2010, she starred in

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them ...

’s ''The Debt'' alongside

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

Jessica Chastain Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with Feminism, feminist themes, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Jessica Chastain, various ...

, and

Sam Worthington Samuel Henry John Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is an Australian actor. He is known for playing Jake Sully in the ''Avatar'' franchise (2009–present), Marcus Wright in '' Terminator Salvation'' (2009), and Perseus in '' Clash of the Titan ...

. The film was released by

Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...

in 2011. That year, she also starred in the Israeli LGBTQ cult indie ''Joe + Bell'' by director Veronica Kedar. In 2012, she starred in Nony Geffen's '' Not in Tel Aviv'', which won the Jury Award at

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

, as well as in Endemol Shine’s strip-club-thriller ''Allenby''. In 2014, she participated in the television series ''Very Important Man'' alongside Yehuda Levi, as well as starring in the German film ' alongside her mother-in-law

Hana Laszlo Hana Laszlo (; born 14 June 1953) is an Israeli actress, television presenter and comedian. In 2005, she won a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film '' Free Zone''. She has also received four Ophir Award n ...

. In 2018, she starred in Endemol Shine’s ''Harem'' alongside Alon Abutbul.

Filmmaking

After her two years of mandatory army service, Aboulafia moved to the UK to study film. She earned a MFA from the

London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London, United Kingdom, and is situated in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

and directed her thesis film ''Eyes'', which was shot in Israel. Throughout her acting career she's also worked as a film editor. In 2019, she began developing a television series for Endeavour Content with her husband Ben Giladi and Hagai Levi.

Modeling

At the age of eighteen, Aboulafia became the first spokesmodel for Israeli fashion brand Castro. Aboulafia presented the company for one season before deciding to leave the country to study film. Castro spokesmodels that followed include

Gal Gadot Gal Gadot (; born 30 April 1985) is an Israeli actress. She gained recognition for portraying Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe films (2016–2023). In 2018, Gadot was named one of ''Time''s 100 most influential people and ranked by ''F ...

and Bar Refaeli.

Personal life

Aboulafia married Israeli film and television producer Ben Giladi in 2016. The two have a child together and live in London. She is the daughter-in-law of Israeli actress and comedian

, sister-in-law of actor Mark Ivanir and the niece of television executive

Orly Adelson Orly Adelson (born 1957) is an American-Israeli television producer who served as president of Dick Clark Productions and ITV Studios America. Biography Adelson was born in Israel and completed her education in sociology and musicology at the ...

References

External links

*
Romi Aboulafia
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aboulafia, Romi Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Actresses from Tel Aviv Film people from Tel Aviv Israeli film actresses Israeli female screenwriters Alumni of the London Film School Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli Mizrahi Jews