Ma'aleh Film wins prize

I have often written about student films or "shorts".  They are in some ways a wonderful reflection of what the younger generation is talking about and thinking about.  

Just recently, Efrat Kaufman's Why Does the Sun (22 minutes, 2011), a film from the Ma'aleh Film School (for religious filmmakers), was awarded 1st prize at the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival!   This is a sweet film about a religious girl, studying at a girls' school (ulpana) where she just can't walk the straight and narrow.  The principal gives her a warning, calling her "unsuitable" for the school -- due to her tardiness, absences, the length of her skirt, and the fact that she's hanging around with a fellow, who even though he's religious, is a low life in the eyes of the principal!  The ending is a fantasy which makes the film into a whimsical look at the issues of fitting in for a girl at a very classical and rigid boarding school.

The film is available from Ma'aleh Film School.