Assaf Bernstein

Assaf Bernstein (born 8 July 1970) is an Israeli film writer, director, and producer.

Life and works

Bernstein was born in Israel.

He directed the 2007 film The Debt (Hebrew: HaChov or HaHov), starring Gila Almagor, about three former Israeli Mossad agents who must confront a secret from their past. He also wrote and co-produced the film, and later helped write the 2010 U.S. English-language remake, also titled The Debt, starring Helen Mirren in the Gila Almagor role.

Before that, he had directed the 2001 Israeli TV movie "Run," about a young Ethiopian boy who had immigrated to Israel whose body is found in a trailer park trash pit. While few seem to care about the death, the two "mis-matched" police officers assigned to investigate learn more and more about the outcasts of Israel, and in the process, much about themselves as well.

Bernstein began his film career with two documentary short subjects, "It Belongs to the Bank" (1999), a "social documentary" that follows a woman bailiff's journey through Arab villages and urban slums as she seizes property from Israel's poor; and "Holy for Me" (1995), a "spoof" on tours, guides, and visits to the holy sites of Jerusalem, which won the 1995 Best Short Film award at the Jerusalem Film Festival.