ADA – My Mother the Architect

Israel/USA 2024 | Director: Yael Melamede | English & Hebrew with English subtitles | 81 minutes

Documentary

Ada Karmi Melamede is one of the most accomplished architects of her generation in her native Israel and abroad. A true pioneer who, like many successful working mothers of her time, was forced to make impossible choices, Ada designed some of the nation’s most iconic public buildings and is a recipient of the prestigious Israel Prize. Her work gave physical form to some of Israel’s highest democratic ideals, most notably in the acclaimed Supreme Court building in Jerusalem, the Open University, Ben Gurion Airport, and numerous civic institutions around the country. In this heartfelt and elegantly made documentary, her daughter Yael Melamede, a filmmaker and former architect herself, movingly profiles a woman and artist deeply tested by the realities of career and motherhood, a unique mother-daughter bond, and a fragile nation grappling with unrealized dreams.

Winner: Best Cinematography, Jerusalem IFF 2024