At the age of nineteen, Ohayon produced, directed and edited her first film, LO NAIM (1980), followed by a variety of fiction and non-fiction films. Her work includes the critically acclaimed film, LAHATZ / PRESSURE (1984), which won the 1984 Best Israeli Film Award and aired on American and European television.
Ohayon moved to Los Angeles in 1987, where she directed her American debut suspense thriller, SALAMANDER (1987), which aired on ShowTime/The Movie Channel.
In 1992, Ms. Ohayon directed the award winning feature length documentary, IT WAS A WONDERFUL LIFE (1993), which explores the plight of upper-middle class women who became "hidden homeless" and live out of their cars. The film was narrated by Jodie Foster. In addition to worldwide television airings, it has played in international festivals and in theaters in Los Angeles and throughout the US, and aired nationally on PBS. Among the film's numerous awards is a Gold Award at the Houston Film Festival. IT WAS A WONDERFUL LIFE continues to garner outstanding reviews and community accolades wherever it screens.
In 1996-1997 Ohayan directed an episode for the Warner Brothers action/adventure series "The New Adventures of Robin Hood", and two (fiction) episodes for the new ShowTime series, "Women". She also produced and directed documentary segments for the PBS children's series, "Adventures from the Book of Virtues".
In 1997 she completed her feature length documentary, COLORS STRAIGHT UP. The film won the Golden Spire Award for the Arts at the San Fransisco Film Festival, as well as the Cine Golden Eagle Award in Washington D.C., the Silver Plaque at the Chicago Film Festival, and a Special Merit from the National Black Programming Consortium. It was nominated for an Academy Award.
2005 saw the release of Ohayon's COWBOY DEL AMOR, a documentary feature about Ivan Thompson, a 60 year old New Mexico based matchmaker who, for a $3,000 fee, will help a U.S. man find a Mexican woman to marry.
In 2007, Ohayon released STEAL A PENCIL FOR ME, a compelling documentary feature about the power of love and the ability of humankind to rise above unimaginable suffering. In 1943 Amsterdam, under Nazi occupation, Jack, an unassuming accountant, first meets Ina at a birthday party - a 20-year-old beauty from a wealthy diamond manufacturing family who instantly steals his heart. But Jack's pursuit of love will be complicated; he is poor and married to Manja, a flirtatious and mercurial spouse. When the Jews are being deported, the husband, the wife and the lover find themselves at the same concentration camp; actually living in the same barracks. When Jack's wife objects to the "girlfriend" in spite of their unhappy marriage, Jack and Ina resort to writing secret love letters, which sustain them throughout the horrible circumstances of the war.
For her body of work, Ohayon received the 1996 Artist Grant from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. She is a board member of Cinewomen, and her goal as a filmmaker is to make films that open hearts and minds.
Nominated for Achievement in Documentary Features 1997: COLORS STRAIGHT UP - Producer (w. Julia Schachter)
1 nomination