Ayala Ben Nachum Sharot
Independent Filmmaker
Other Roles: Director
Areas of Focus: Animation, Documentaries, Feature Films, Foreign Films
Website: www.ayakaya.com
Biography
Ayala Sharot is an Israeli animation director, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker whose work combines animation and nonfiction to explore memory, family, and inherited fear. Her previous animated documentary, Broken Branches, established her distinctive approach to personal and historical storytelling. She is currently developing A Mother’s Land, an animated documentary feature spanning four generations of one family. Her recent short film, No Witches in the Valley, serves as a proof of concept for the feature. Alongside her independent films, Ayala creates animation for museums, visitor centers, and documentary productions. She currently serves as Chair of the Israeli Animation Guild.
Films
No Witches in the Valley (2025)
Role: Director
As Miriam lies on her deathbed, her estranged son Danny and pregnant granddaughter Ayala confront the painful legacy of a family shaped by the socialist ideals of the kibbutz. Moving through memory, loss, and intergenerational trauma, they search for understanding while reclaiming a woman’s voice that has been erased from the family’s history.
Broken Branches (2014)
Role: Director
Broken Branches is an animated documentary in which filmmaker Ayala Sharot brings to life the memories of her grandmother, Michal Rechter. At only fourteen, Michal left her home in Poland and traveled alone to Palestine on the eve of the Second World War. Her family was meant to join her the following year, but the outbreak of war changed everything. Through colorful animation, the film depicts Michal’s lonely and abrupt passage from childhood into adulthood.
Foreigners (2006)
Role: Director
Foreigners is an animated documentary based on interviews with ten young people from nine countries who have made London their home. Through a mosaic of personal vignettes, the film portrays the city as both exciting and alienating, while exploring cultural difference, belonging, and contemporary British identity. The documentary interviews are reinterpreted through a combination of rotoscoping, sketch-based imagery, and hand-drawn animation, juxtaposed with scenes of everyday life in London.
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