Azoulay-Hasfari was born on June 29, 1960, in Beersheba, Israel. Both of her parents immigrated to Israel from Morocco. She studied at residential school called “Mae Boyar” in Jerusalem. Upon completion of her high school education, Azoulay-Hasfari served her compulsory service in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in the military theater. After her military service she went on to study theater and acting at Tel Aviv University.
Theater
In the early 1980s, Azoulay-Hasfari left Tel Aviv University. She became one of the founding members of the Simple Theater Group, a multi-cultural team that enabled artists to express their cultural worldview and to become the central focus of their projects. The theater group focused on representing the real experiences of people within local history, such as the first generation of holocaust survivors, and second generation of Mizrachim in Israel. Azoulay-Hasfari worked on all aspects of this theater group: She participated in fundraising, screenwriting, production and acting.
While working with the theater group, Azoulay-Hasfari performed in many plays, including Tashmad (1983), which won Best Play at the annual Acco Festival; Azoulay-Hasfari won Best Actress. However, after many years of success, The Simple Theater Group dissolved, and Azoulay-Hasfari moved on to mainstream theater and cinema.
Dina (Dimona Theater, Boston Center for the Arts[6][7]).
In 2019, Hanna has been awarded the America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF) Culture & Arts Award (Theater category).[8]
Film
One of Azoulay's first movie scripts was Sh'Chur (1994), which was directed by Shmuel Hasfari. It is a semi-autobiographical story of a Moroccan family immigrating to Israel, and it received international awards and recognition.[9]Sh’Chur has also been included as required material for film studies, as well as anthropology and sociology coursework, and women's studies.[10][11][12]
After the successful completion of her work writing the screenplay for "Sh’chur”, she was one of the founders of the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition,[2] and then later took a year to return to her studies, where she focused on sociology and anthropology. It was at this time she found an interest in her own heritage, and she came to the realization that the roles she was required to play in mainstream cinema did not necessarily represent real characters. As a result, she decided to learn about her own family history and began writing screenplays and working on movies that tell about the lives of invisible women, and incorporate untold stories that revolve around social justice issues.
Most recently, Azoulay-Hasfari produced, wrote, directed and acted in her film called Orange People,[13] which is based on the biography of Azoulay's mother.[14]Orange People was awarded the Jury Award for Best Film in 2013 at the International Women's Film Festival, in Rehovot.[15] As a result of the success of this film, Azoulay was asked to speak at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in honor of International Women's Day.[16]
Azoulay-Hasfari has acted in many Israeli films, including Rage and Glory (Daphna), Nadia (title role), Dead End Street (Ilana), The Quarry (Esther), Girls (Shuli Hazan), Sh'Chur (Heli), Lovesick on Nana Street (Levana), Schwartz Dynasty (Ronit), Shiva (Simona), with Ronit Elkabetz.[17]
Azoulay-Hasfari was the main creator for the documentary series Proletariat[18] and My Little Empire, which encourages the empowerment of women through entrepreneurship. She has also written scripts for several episodes of the TV series Jerusalem Mix.[19]
Azoulay-Hasfari's many appearances in Israeli television series include:
She has also acted in several German Television series.[22]
Social Agenda
Azoulay is a Mizrahi artist and social activist. She utilizes issues concerning gender, identity and social status from Israeli society to inspire unique characters, and develop stories that reflect real lives and social injustices. Examples of her work that bring light to social justice issues are films such as Sh’chur, Orange People, Proletariat, and My Little Empire, which highlight struggles experienced by marginalized women.
In March 2015 the film Orange People was screened at the international conference for women's status at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Azoulay delivered a speech addressed to the international community condemning the phenomenon of young girls being forced into marriage around the world.[16]
She continues to work on social justice issues as a pro bono chairperson of Beit Ruth, an Israeli organization focused on providing at-risk girls and young women opportunities to excel academically, emotionally and physically. She is responsible for campaigning, fundraising, and negotiating financial and policy agreements within the public and private sector.[23]
Azoulay-Hasfari is currently living in Jaffa, Israel. She is married to the playwright and director Shmuel Hasfari, with whom she has three children.[26]
^Loshitzky, Yosefa (January 1996). "Authenticity in crisis: Shur and new Israeli forms of ethnicity". Media, Culture & Society. 18 (1): 87–103. doi:10.1177/016344396018001006. ISSN0163-4437.
^Keren, Michael (2005). "Review of Identity Politics on the Israeli Screen". Israel Studies Forum. 20 (1): 88–91. JSTOR41805198.
