Hadar Friedlich

Voices from the Heartland: Slaves of the Lord

Hadar Friedlich

Maya Eshet, Irit Sheleg

In a Jewish Orthodox village in Israel, Tamar, a twelve-year-old girl, prepares for her Bat-Mitzvah (confirmation), which will take place on Passover. Becoming convinced that she is impure, and growing increasingly scared and depressed, she forces herself into an endless ritual of cleaning, while attempting to silence the whispering inner obsessional thoughts that are detailing every inch of her relentless guilt, over and over again. To make matters worse, Tamar's only friend, Rachel, lures her into sinful mischief: peeping into the Mikveh (bath house), turning a light on during the Sabbath. The girls even dare to secretly bathe at the Mikveh when Tamar gets her first period. Will Tamar succumb to her fears? A dark and unflinching portrayal of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and the inner turmoil of an adolescent girl.

Beautiful Valley

Hadar Friedlich

Batia Bar, Gili Ben Ouzilio

The world of Hanna Mendelssohn, an 80 year old widow, disintegrates as the Kibbutz which she helped to found undergoes privatization.

Grief

Hadar Friedlich

A day in the life of a Jerusalem taxi driver, on which he buried his son who committed suicide while in the army. Having no family, he finds himself at work as usual. He meets with blunt reality as it exists in Israel and with grief.