Katya Chelli

Katya Chelli trained to be a classical ballerina, but back problems put an end to her dreams. After studying foreign languages (French, Russian, German, Spanish), she turned to film editing. She arrived in France in 1985 and worked in the film editing department for many years, first as assistant editor on feature films with directors such as Robert Altman, Costa Gavras, Nikita Mikhailkov and then as editor before switching to documentaries. In 2019, she directed her first documentary film, HEALING HEARTS, aired on Planète +, France, and on BBC Arabia. It tells the story of Israeli and Palestinian doctors working hand in hand in Hadassah Ein Keram Hospital in Jerusalem to save the lives of children born with heart defects. She is currently working on the writing of her next film about her close friend, the renowned Israeli author Amos Oz, based on his literary work.