Shemi Zarhin

Shemi Zarhin was born in 1961 in Tiberias

Shimon "Shemi" Zarhin was born on 9 August 1961 in Tiberias, where he grew up. His brother is the actor Lior Zohar.

He served in the IDF in Unit 8200. After his discharge he studied film at Tel Aviv University, where he made the short film Grandpa's Last Magic. He then worked as a film critic for the newspaper Hadashot.

He wrote scripts for films such as Tel Aviv Stories in 1992 and Family Secrets in 1997. His first feature, Lilsada, came out in 1995 and won the screenplay prize at the Montreal festival. His later films include Dangerous in 1998, Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi in 2003, Aviva My Love in 2006 and The World is Funny in 2012.

He went on to make The Good Words in 2015, The Silence in 2022 and Hemda in 2024. He teaches screenwriting and directing at the Sam Spiegel school in Jerusalem. His first novel, Some Day, was translated into English, and he received the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works in 2019.