Hartford Jewish Film Festival: The Women’s Balcony

 

Hebrew with English subtitles, Israel, 2016

Dramatic Comedy, 96 minutes

Director: Emil Ben Shimon

 

This tight-knit Orthodox community has gathered to celebrate a bar mitzvah when disaster strikes; the women’s balcony comes crashing down. A young, charismatic Rabbi steps in and offers to help rebuild the synagogue, but is he also questioning why the balcony fell in the first place? Are the women not modest enough? Are they not observant enough? As the women fight to maintain their place in the synagogue, a rift is created within the once close-knit community. Featuring some of Israel’s top women comics, this rousing, good-natured tale is a warm, humorous, and poignant portrait of a modern Orthodox community whose unity is imperiled by an arrogant interloper. Emil Ben Shimon’s feature debut is a comical feminist narrative, at once rebellious and respectful in spirit, about finding the right path to happiness and the subjectivity of righteousness.

 

Visit www.hjff.org for more information or tickets.