Actress Bar Belfer’s life was cut tragically short after she died Sunday at the age of 37, a representative for her family said in an announcement.
"With great sadness, we share in the deep mourning for the late actress Bar Belfer. At this difficult and painful time, the family wishes to allow her time and space to digest the loss and deal with the grief in privacy,” the announcement said.
Belfer, who was born in 1989 and grew up in Ramat Hasharon, became famous for her debut role in the 2006 film, Someone to Run With. She made a huge impression in the movie, an adaptation of the novel by David Grossman, which was directed by Oded Davidoff. She played a Jerusalem teenager who disappears into the underside of the city’s life, taking refuge in a halfway house for runaways, as a boy (Yonatan Bar-Or) who works in the pound tries to find her to reunite her with her lost dog.
The movie opened the Jerusalem Film Festival 20 years ago, and Belfer was nominated for an Ophir Award for Best Actress. It was later made into a television miniseries, and she won an award from the Israeli Academy of Film and Television for her performance.
After the release of the film, she joined the army and was a reporter and editor for Army Radio.
Resumes career after incredible recovery from accident
It was while she was serving in the IDF that she was injured in the car accident. Her ability to walk, talk, and speak was impaired, and she also suffered from amnesia. As part of her recovery, she studied music and wrote her own songs, which she performed in concerts, including one at the Tel Aviv Port.
By 2016, she had resumed her acting career and appeared in the television series Mama’s Angel and The Malevolent Bride. She also acted in the film Don’t Forget Me and some short films. She also worked on the KAN show, KAN Tarbut.
In a 2018 interview quoted on Mako, she spoke about her attitude toward the accident that changed her life: "I'm not minimizing it, but that's life. I sound terribly optimistic - and no, I had a hard time, and I suffered - but now, when everything is going well, and everything is normal, and I'm doing well in life, and I live with my lover in an amazing place, and I work an amazing job, and I make art, then everything is fine. Why think about it?"
She is survived by her husband, Shahar Cohen, and their daughter. Her funeral took place on Monday.