The Filmmaker

From filmmaker Michèle Ohayon:

I am hoping the film will open the eyes of those who doubt the Holocaust existed. But, more importantly, I want to make this time in history accessible to all generations through this intimate love story.

Her three favorite films:

The Killing Fields
A Woman in the Dunes
West Side Story

Her advice for aspiring filmmakers:

Keep filming no matter what. Don’t think about it—just do it.

Filmmaker Bio

Michèle Ohayon
Director, Producer

Michèle Ohayon is an award-winning director, writer and producer. Born in Casablanca, Morocco and raised in Israel, Ohayon graduated from Tel Aviv University with a degree in film and television. In 1984, she received the Israeli Best Film Award for Pressure, one of the first dramatic films on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1987, where she directed a succession of critically acclaimed dramatic and documentary features. Her award-winning, feature-length documentary It Was a Wonderful Life explores the plight of upper-middle-class women who live out of their cars and become the “hidden homeless.” Narrated by Jodie Foster and with music by Melissa Etheridge, the film aired nationally on PBS and Oxygen.

Colors Straight Up, Ohayon’s second feature-length documentary, received a nomination for the 1997 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature as well as numerous other awards. Colors Straight Up aired on PBS and then around the globe.

In 2005, Ohayon completed the documentary-comedy Cowboy del Amor, which garnered nominations and awards at festivals around the U.S. She is working on The Richard Clarke Project, which tells the story of the United States’ pursuit of security.

Read about the making of STEAL A PENCIL FOR ME >>

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