This week, I attended the opening ceremony of the Women's International Film Festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque. It was an exciting event because it is a festival directed by two young women – Lihi Sabag and Shira Meishar -- and it celebrates films by up-and-coming women filmmakers in Israel. An award was given to the theater and film actress Hannah Azoulai-Hasafari (well-known for her roles in Nadia, Sh'chur, Lovesick on Nana St.), who spoke candidly about her beginnings in Beersheva, about her Moroccan mother who was illiterate but filled with wisdom, and about her own filmmaking. She is well-known for her activism concerning issues of social justice. Her mother was forced into a marriage at the age of 13 and Azoulai-Hasafari’s feature film, The Orange People, is a condemnation of child marriage. The audience loved her, myself included!
A new
Israeli film was chosen for this opening night. The film, Wild
Things (Hebrew title: Stav), by Klil Kovesh, is a
debut film about compassion, friendship, and hope for the future.
Stav, a young woman who lives on a kibbutz in the north of Israel, was recently released from prison for having a stash of weed. She is unable to find anyone willing to employ her on the kibbutz, so she takes a job as an assistant teacher, helping a boy named Yonatan, whose mother has had a breakdown and is living in an institution. Stav and Yonatan do some crazy things together, drawing them closer, all of which helps Yonatan to come out of his shell.
No spoiler intended, but the ending is highly unexpected and adds a surprising critical element to the film. Although not a complex story, the film is well done—it should be commended for its directing, pacing, and compelling characters.
Wild
Things is available
from Go2Films.
