Jump to content

Amichai Chasson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amichai Chasson
Born (1987-06-09) June 9, 1987 (age 37)
Ramat Gan, Israel
OccupationPoet, writer, film director, screenwriter, curator
LanguageHebrew
NationalityIsraeli
EducationSam Spiegel Film and Television School

Amichai Chasson (also Amichai Hasson, Hebrew: עמיחי חסון; born 1987) is an Israeli poet, curator and filmmaker. Since 2015, Chasson has served as the artistic director and chief curator at Beit Avi Chai cultural museum in Jerusalem.[1][2]

Biography

[edit]

Amichai Chasson was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, in 1987, to an Orthodox Jewish family. His father is from Tripoli, Libya, and his mother (granddaughter of Samuel S. Bloom) is from New York City, United States.[3] Chasson attended state-religious schools in Bnei Brak, and after high school, he moved to the hesder yeshiva in Yeshivat Otniel.[4] He studied at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School and the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem.[5]

He lives in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem, with his wife Dr. Miriam Chasson (the daughter of Author Emuna Elon and Rabbi Binyamin Elon, the sister of filmmaker Ori Elon). The couple has two sons and a daughter.[6]

Journalism and literary career

[edit]

He has worked as a journalist and literary critic for the papers Yedioth Ahronoth, Makor Rishon, and Maariv, and as a speechwriter for then President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin.[7] He is an editor of the poetry journal Meshiv Haruach; and is a broadcaster for the public radio channel Kan Tarbut – Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation ("Hitbodedut," a weekly discussion show together with Yair Assulin).

His first book of poetry, "Talking with Home" (Hebrew: מדבר עם הבית), was published in 2015, and won the Minister of Culture's prize that year. In 2018, his second book, "Bli ma" (Hebrew: בלי מה), was published by the veteran Bialik Institute Press. His poems often deal with the tension between his religious faith and artistic sensibilities, and stand on the border between cultures, identities, sources and places.[8]

In 2018, Nechama Rivlin presented the First Lady's Prize, the Dr Gardner Simon Prize for Hebrew Poetry, to Amichai Chasson, for his book "Bli ma", at a ceremony at the President's Residence in Jerusalem.[9][10][11] A year later, the book was placed on the shortlist of finalists for the Brenner Prize for poetry.

In 2013, he co-directed the documentary film "Footsteps in Jerusalem", a tribute to David Perlov.[12] In 2018, he released a documentary film about the poet Avoth Yeshurun,[13] called "Yeshurun in 6 Chapters" (Hebrew: ישורון: 6 פרקי אבות), which premiered at the Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival that same year.[14]. He has written and directed a number of films and TV series, including "The Conductor" ("Hamenatzeach") and "Iron Dome" ("Kipat Barzel"). In 2019, he participated in the Intellectual Incubator for Documentary Filmmakers convention at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.[15]

Chasson served in a number of public offices, including jury judge for the Sapir Prize in Literature in 2020, and in 2021 serving as a member of the Israel Film Council [he] and Mifal HaPais Council for the Culture and Arts.

Awards and recognition

[edit]
Amichai Chasson in a Beit HaNassi ceremony on December 19, 2018

Published works

[edit]

Poetry

[edit]
  • 2015 – Medaber eem ha bayit/Talking with Home (Even Hoshen Publishing)
  • 2018 – Bli Ma/Emptiness (Kvar Series, Bialik Institute)
  • 2022 – Shirim Al Saf/Liminal Poems (Kvar Series, Bialik Institute)

Edited books

[edit]
  • 2019 – Man walks in the world: conversations with Abraham Joshua Heschel (Yedioth Sfarim Publishing)
  • 2017 - Nanopoetics: A Tribute to Allen Ginsberg (Poetry Place Publishing)
  • 2015 - Respite on a Green Island: A Tribute to Zelda (Meshiv Haruach Publishing)
  • 2014 - Company Required for the Holiday Season: Short Stories (IndiBook Publishing)

Filmography

[edit]

Director

[edit]
  • 2013 – Footsteps in Jerusalem: a tribute to In Jerusalem (Documentary film)
  • 2016 – On the Six Day (graduation movie in Sam Spiegel Film School)
  • 2018 – Yeshurun in 6 Chapters (Documentary film)

Screenwriter

[edit]
  • 2017 – Kipat Barzel (TV drama)
  • 2018 – HaMenatzeah (TV drama)

Curated exhibitions

[edit]
  • 2016 – Ronny Someck: Tow time Chai (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem[19]
  • 2018 – Joel Kantor: Night Guard (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem[20]
  • 2019 – Emerging from the shadows: the photographs of Sarah Ayal (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai and The Knesset, Jerusalem[21]
  • 2022 – Marek Yanai: On the Threshold (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem[22][23]
  • 2023 – Anatoli Kaplan: The Enchanted Artist (exhibition Curator and catalogue editor: David Rozenson, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem
  • 2024 - Pinchas Litvinovsky: You Must Choose Life—That is Art" (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Barry Davis, Post COVID, Jerusalem's culture scene is bruised but very much alive, The Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2021
  2. ^ Barry Davis, Enjoying music and art through Beit Avi Chai online – “The Beit Avi Chai staff is continuously updating our special website for this period, and launching a new series of interactive online classes, lectures, programs for children and families.", The Jerusalem Post, April 2, 2020
  3. ^ Vivian Eden, Of Yom Kippur and Baseball – Amichai Chasson’s poem ‘America’, Haaretz September 17, 2018.
  4. ^ Religious Jews Like Me Lost the Battle. The Extremists Won'
  5. ^ Fellows > Graduates: Mandel Program for Leadership in Jewish Culture in Mandel Leadership Institute
  6. ^ Amichai Chasson & Vivian Eden — A Dialogue Between Two Poets, Tupelo Quarterly, March 31, 2023
  7. ^ Amichai Chasson in Hebrew Writers Association in Israel
  8. ^ Poet Amichai Chasson in Poetry International
  9. ^ Greer Fay Cashman. IN JERUSALEM, at a ceremony at the President’s Residence, poet Amichai Hasson was awarded the Dr. Gardner Simon Prize for Hebrew Poetry for his book, The Jerusalem Post, January 1, 2019
  10. ^ First Lady Nechama Rivlin has passed away at 73 in The Embassy of Israel to the United States
  11. ^ Arutz Sheva Staff Israel's First Lady, Nechama Rivlin, passes away, Arutz Sheva, June 4, 2019
  12. ^ Footsteps in Jerusalem in Museum of Modern Art.
  13. ^ Yeshurun in 6 Chapters in The Hebrews Project
  14. ^ Yeshurun in 6 Chapters in Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival 2018
  15. ^ The Incubator for Documentary Filmmakers
  16. ^ הוכרזו הזוכים בפרסי שרת התרבות והספורט בתחומי היצירה הספרותית התשע"ה in Ministry of Culture and Sport of Israel
  17. ^ רעיית נשיא המדינה הודיעה היום למשורר עמיחי חסון על זכייתו בפרס על שם ד"ר גרדנר סימון לשירה עברית לשנת תשע״ח 2018 שיוענק לו על ספרו "בלי מה" in President of the State of Israel
  18. ^ משרד התרבות והספורט הכריז על הזוכים בפרסי היצירה לסופרים עבריים ע"ש לוי אשכול לשנת 2021 in Ministry of Culture and Sport of Israel
  19. ^ Barry Davis, Art: Seeing between the lines: Ronny Someck, in his ‘Two Times Chai’ exhibition, The Jerusalem Post, January 19, 2017
  20. ^ Barry Davis, Exhibition “Night Guard” places the public back in the day, on the kibbutz It was great for the kids, and you’re free on a kibbutz, The Jerusalem Post, December 17, 2018
  21. ^ Barry Davis, Art: Undercover through the lens, The Jerusalem Post, January 10, 2020
  22. ^ Jessica Steinberg, Veteran Jerusalem artist paints small city moments in new exhibit, The Times of Israel, May 22, 2022
  23. ^ Liane Grunberg Wakabayashi, Painter Marek Yanai: A hidden treasure in plain view The On the Threshold exhibition of Marek Yanai’s art continues at Beit Avi Chai until the end of July, The Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2022
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amichai Chasson.
[edit]
  • Amichai Chasson at IMDb
  • "Amichai Chasson". The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature.
  • Poet Amichai Chasson in Poetry International Web
  • Poems by Amichai Chasson in World Literature Today
  • Amichai Chasson in The Jewish Review of Books
  • Amichai Chasson’s “Rami Levy in Talpiot”, Israel in Translation – TLV1 Podcasts
  • Amichai Chasson’s poem, “America" in Israel Story
  • Gili Izikovich, Amichai Chasson’s new poetry collection comes out at a particularly fraught moment for Israeli society, Haaretz December 29, 2022
Retrieved from "http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Amichai_Chasson&oldid=1258250118"