Ms. Vinig, the film festivals “Seret” and “jfbb” showed “Entangled” on Sunday at the Jewish Museum Berlin, a feature film by the ultra-orthodox director Dina Perlstein from Israel. What was special about this event?
Usually Dina Perlstein and other ultra-orthodox directors only show their films within the Charedic community. That a film that was produced explicitly for Charedian women is also shown to the outside world is something new. For the first time in this context, »Entangled« was presented at »Seret« in London at the end of June. An attempt was made in 2015 to include an ultra-orthodox women’s film in the program, but at the time the director Rechy Elias only wanted to show it to an all-female audience in London, and “Seret” canceled the screening again because of this.
»Entangled« was received positively in Berlin, although the film is also a challenge for secular viewers. It’s about an ultra-orthodox woman who works in the high-tech industry in Israel and is blackmailed with family secrets by dubious Russian women. The film only shows women in leading roles and lasts three hours. Why so long
In the Charedic community, television and internet are not allowed at home. When a woman goes to the cinema, it’s an event. The mother, the grandmother, the daughters, the daughters-in-law, the cousins: everyone is taken along. I have seven children, including four daughters. If I watch a movie with you in the cinema, that’s almost 500 shekels. That is a lot of money, in return the viewers demand that they be offered something. Therefore, many Charedian films are produced abroad to show the world to the audience. A film is like a plane ticket. And the directors are dependent on the audience. If there are men in a Charedian women’s film or the film only lasts 90 minutes, then the audience is angry and the director hears: »Make films for the general public – like Yehonatan Indursky with› Shtisel ‹or Rama Burshtein. But films for Charedim? Just according to our rules. “
How did the film develop for the ultra-orthodox audience?
It started with male-for-male productions – short films that were sold on CDs. The men paid 40 to 60 euros for it and watched the films at home. But then the rabbis stepped in against personal computers and these productions stopped. Ultra-Orthodox women’s cinema has been on the rise since 2007, and cinema time is four times a year: Sukkot, Hanukkah, Passover and during the summer holidays.
When did you first see a Charedian film for women?
About 20 years ago in Jerusalem, that was a film by Rechy Elias. It was an unbelievable experience for me, the audience alone was fascinating. It was then that I decided to become a film critic. I also did my PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Charedian films. Sometimes I am asked why I am not politically active. To which I reply: I am a Charedian woman who writes about films. That alone is political engagement.
Increasingly, Charedian women are studying at universities in Israel …
… and I attribute that directly to the Charedian women’s film. The young women see doctors and lawyers on the screen, and they want to emulate these role models. The Charedian women’s film is a kind of quiet feminism, although at first glance it looks very conservative. But the very fact that there is Charedian cinema is revolutionary – the content is secondary.
Ayala Goldmann spoke to the Charedian film critic.
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