Foreign hand

Directed by Moshe Mizrrachi, Slush Street is set in 1946 and tells the story of the last days of British rule through the eyes of a widow, played by Almagor. And if that8217;s about a reality lost in time, Yossi Somer8217;s Dyybuk is a more recent film based on an old Jewish love tale.

8220;Israel has always been a melting pot of cultures,8221; says Almagor, 8220;and our artistic endeavours are all trying to reflect this8221;. Wearing her hair back tightly, her chiselled face acquires a ring of seriousness, no doubt from the years of social work she has been putting in, helping terminally ill children through the Gila Almagor Wishes Foundation and the Cancer Association of Tel-Aviv.

Yes, Almagor is big time back home, using her celebrity status to 8220;give back something to the people who have given me so much.8221; That is why the President is ever ready to take her phone calls whenever she wants to bring over some children to visit the first family. No wonder she8217;s just been elected to the Tel-Aviv municipality, where she will be looking after all things cultural.

8220;Yes, that8217;s a big responsibility,8221; she smiles. 8220;But we in Israel don8217;t buy diapers before the baby is born. So I will get back, reorganise my time, and see how best to use the creative energy, we have in theatre and film.8221;Energy, of course, takes on a new meaning when one speaks of Almagor, who sleeps four hours a day and sticks to a gruelling 20-hour schedule. Having just completed shooting Shemi Zarchin8217;s Dangerous Affairs, she is now working on playing Medea for the Habimah National Theatre.

In 1966, for The Girl From Dead Sea, she did what Robert De-Niro did for Raging Bull gained 10 kilograms to do justice to her role.

It is this passionate desire to be the best that drove Almagor to join the National Theatre at 17. She took on films almost simultaneously, but found herself playing dumb-blondes. 8220;Yes I was famous but for the wrong reasons,8221; she laughs. Two years of studying in New York gave her the confidence of breaking away and going free-lance.

8220;That8217;s why I was, and am still able, to do things my way,8221; says Almagor, who assiduously avoided Hollywood for fear of being type cast. 8220;When my time comes, what8217;ll I say, that I spent my whole life painting my face with makeup?8221; Just so. For that8217;s what led to The Summer of Aviya in 1987, her first book describing a time she spent as a 10-year-old with her mother, a holocaust survivor. It has already won the Silver Bear at Berlin. Her second book, Under The Domim Tree.

In recent years, several retrospectives of her films have been held 8212; Cinemateque in Toronto, Montpelier Film Festival, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, to name a few.

8220;Festivals and awards area recognition of your work,8221; Almagor is frank. 8220;But at this stage of my life, there is more. I wake up every morning, forget about awards, and get to work 8212; see the number of children I have to meet and see what I can do for them.8221;

Now that8217;s a woman with a mission.