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Boris MaftsirProducer and director
Date of Birth: 05.07.1947
Country:  Israel |
Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Zionist Activism and Imprisonment
- Filmmaking Career in Israel
- Public Service and Holocaust Remembrance
- Family and Personal Life
- Filmography
- - "The Gesher Family" (1993): The Israeli theater group Gesher
Early Life and Education
Boris Mafzir was born in Riga, Latvia, on January 26, 1946, to Meir Mafzir, a carpenter, and Frida Mafzir (née Glazer), a seamstress. His mother's entire family perished in the Holocaust, and his father fought in the Latvian division of the Red Army. One of his father's brothers also died in the Holocaust.
Boris completed his schooling at the 25th Evening School in 1964 and the Riga Electromechanical College in 1966, specializing in semiconductors. He later enrolled in the correspondence program at the Moscow Polygraphic Institute, majoring in editing.
Zionist Activism and Imprisonment
From 1966, Mafzir engaged in illegal Zionist activities. In August 1970, he was arrested amid a wave of arrests of Jewish activists in the wake of the "Aircraft Affair." Sentenced to a year in prison, he was eventually granted permission to emigrate to Israel with his wife.
Filmmaking Career in Israel
In Israel, Mafzir joined Kibbutz Palmahim for two years before settling in Rehovot and Jerusalem. In 2012, he moved to Ness Ziona. In 1972, he enrolled in the first cohort of Tel Aviv University's Film and Television Department. He graduated in 1976 as a student of Israeli filmmaker Rami Levi, recipient of the Israel Prize.
Mafzir's graduation film, "The Relay," explored the life of Herzl Dauber, a Holocaust survivor who became a dairy farmer in Israel. From 1974, he worked as an assistant director on educational television. From 1977 to 1994, he produced for the Israeli state documentary film studio.
Public Service and Holocaust Remembrance
From 1994 to 1998, Mafzir served as director of the Israeli state documentary film studio. He then became head of the Culture and Arts Department at the Ministry of Education and Culture (1998-1999) and director general of the Ministry of Absorption (1999-2001).
As an independent producer and director from 2001 to 2003, Mafzir advised Yad Vashem on film and video materials for its new historical museum. From 2003 to 2005, he led the Jewish Agency's representation in Russia, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
From 2006 to 2012, Mafzir led Yad Vashem's project "Finding the Names of Jews Murdered During the Holocaust in the Former USSR." In 2008, he founded and headed the documentary film department at the WIZO (Women's International Zionist Organization) Academic College Haifa.
From 2013 until early 2020, Mafzir dedicated himself to preparing, filming, editing, and releasing a documentary project on the Holocaust in the former USSR.
Family and Personal Life
Boris Mafzir is married to Genia Mafzir, a genetic biologist. They have three daughters: Orit (1973), Yael (1982), and Tali (1984). Orit is a world-renowned belly dancer. Yael is a screenwriter and actress. Tali is a master's student at the University of Amsterdam.
Filmography
Mafzir has produced approximately 200 documentaries and television programs. He has also directed over 30 documentaries, including:
- "In the Name of the Catholic Monarchs" (1992): The expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492
- "The Gesher Family" (1993): The Israeli theater group Gesher
- "Peace to You, Jerusalem" (1997): The peace process in Jerusalem- "Almost Like Us" (2002): Russian immigration to Israel in the 1990s
- "The Fairest" (2003): The Israeli Opera
- "Tarab" (2009): A two-part journey exploring memory and identity
- "Following the Lost Memory" (2011): Yad Vashem's "Names" project
- "Guardians of Memory" (2014)
- "Shoah: Eastern Front" (2016)
- "Beyond the Nistru" (2016)
- "We Allow You to Die" (2016)
- "To the Last Step" (2016)
- "Memory Boxes" (2017)
- "Gotenland" (2018)
- "The Road to Babi Yar" (2018)
- "The Enigma of the 'Black Book'" (2020)
