  | Human
Odysseys | | | Purity |
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| Israel, 2002, Video, 63 min. Hebrew -
English (English sub). |
Scriptwriter
& Director: Anat Zuria
Producer: Amit Breur
Cinematographers: Nili Azlan, Nurith Aviv, Shiri Bar-On
Editor: Era Lapid
Music: Jonathan Bar Giora
Production Company: Amythos Films | Debut |
A rare and special look
into the world of Jewish religious married life and sexuality,
a topic which has hardly been documented: The story of a purification
ritual, a hidden path of struggle for religious women in the
framework of strict, masculine religious law, that shapes the
life of a couple and of female sexuality. The story of a subtle
female rebellion within the religious world, expressed through
the personal point of view of the director Anat Zuria, and the
other women in the film, her friends Natalie, Katie and Shira.
Their openness to the camera breaks a profound taboo of silence
rooted in two thousand-year-old laws and contemporary social
pressures.
“I had a hard time understanding basic terms such as impure
and pure. I never believed I was impure during menstruation,
nor did I believe I was pure when I emerged from the Mikveh
drenched, in chlorine. But life with an Orthodox partner enriched
me with 20 years of ritual bathing and 20 years of a cycle of
separation from my partner. This baggage of 20 years of Purity
is the source of this film” |
| Festivals and awards: Jerusalem IFF 2002 - Jewish Experience Award, IDFA 2002, Women's Film in Milano 2002, FIPA France 2003 - Best Documentary, Yamagata - Special Award and Audience Award, One World Prague 2003 - Best Director Award, DocFest Munich - Special Documentary Award, Montréal 2003, Monte-Carlo 2003, MEDIAWAVE – Budapest 2003, The Forum – Feinberg 2003, PSBT Gender and Sexuality IFF India 2007
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| Produced with the Support of: Noga Communications
- Channel, Israel 10, Programma MEDEA
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World distribution: F For Films –
Email: Seguy@f-for-films.com
Source: Amythos Films – Email: amit@amithosyfilms.com
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