Kadosh

In the very first scene, the film gets to the heart of the conflict from which the drama will develop. A man gets up in the morning, carefully and quietly so as not to wake his wife, and celebrates the dressing ritual of an orthodox Jew in a long shot facing the camera. From washing his hands and face to putting on the prayer shawl and the final prayer "Blessed are you ... who did not create me as a woman". This formula of thanksgiving dramatically destroys the network of relationships between people (the notion of the higher status of men is still widespread). The film is set almost entirely in Jerusalem's segregated ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Me'a She'arim. Gitai is always about borders that have to be overcome in order to reconcile people and nations, in this case the border between different ways of thinking, towards openness and tolerance. A political, oppressive, sad, great movie. (Birgit Flos)

Photo: Austrian Film Museum