Igal Bursztyn

Igal Bursztyn was born in 1941 in Manchester

Bursztyn was born in Manchester, England, in 1941. His family moved to Warsaw in 1949 and immigrated to Israel in 1957. His father worked as a chemist at the Weizmann Institute, and his mother was a librarian there.

He served in the artillery. He studied mathematics at the Hebrew University and then philosophy at Tel Aviv University. In 1967 he studied film at the London School for Film Techniques.

He wrote literary and film criticism for several newspapers, including Haaretz and Maariv. His first film, the short comedy Louise, Louise!, came out in 1968. His later work includes documentaries and feature films such as Belfer, Everlasting Joy and The Glow.

He has taught at Tel Aviv University since 1973 and became an adjunct full professor in 2008. He also wrote books on film, including Intimate Gazes in 2009. He was married to actress Yael Drouyanoff, with whom he had 2 children, and is now married to Ruta Cohen.