Summer Shade | Confrontation between Gender and Religion

A young Israeli girl and four Hasidic teenagers confront over the only water source around.

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Summer Shade
Writer & Director Shira Haimovici
https://www.shirahaimovici.com/summer-shade

"A deeply personal exploration of adolescence and the difficult moments that define us, Shira Haimovici’s צל בקיץ (Summer Shade) is a provocative look at a scarcely explored Israeli conflict that gives voice to a growing number of women. A coming-of-age tale that is incredibly specific to young girls growing up in Israel, Haimovici’s film is gorgeous, poetic, and brave its unyielding authenticity to the rising tension from Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish men and the inevitable gender aggressions caused by a clash of world-views. Delicately addressing religious boundaries, Summer Shade unapologetically confronts social and cultural issues with an emotional awareness that few filmmakers have been able to grasp.

The events that take place in Haimovici’s film are based on her own experience. One summer day while the now London-based filmmaker was visiting back home in Israel, she and her friends from Jerusalem drove out to a pond on the outskirts of the city to dodge the summer heat. It was a wonderful day in the watering hole until it was suddenly disrupted by a young Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man who told them they must leave since he “wants to do his Tevilah” (Judaism ritual immersion).

Confused and unsure of what to do, they left the pond feeling like outsiders. It wasn’t until Haimovici did some googling that she realized how common the occurrence was. She discovered that there was already an organized group of women who protested the behavior weekly because in many cases humiliation and even violence would sometimes occur. As a filmmaker, Haimovici felt compelled to shed light on what was happening since, being a local issue, it wasn’t something that the larger population was privy to.

“That pond was just a pond I visited for the first time in my life”, the director explains, “but I began to wonder – what would happen if it was the pond of my childhood? What if it was the beach near my house? The garden where I grew up? The frustration of those who fight for women’s equality in the ponds became clearer than ever, strong, and inspiring for me and led me to write my grad film Summer Shade.”

Wanting to give the film an even more personal touch, she chose to tell her story through the eyes of a teenage girl based on herself and how she grew up in a country where the conflicts are numerous and deep. On the cusp of adulthood, Gal played by first-time actress Netta Roe compellingly confronts those who discriminate against her gender, ultimately ushering her violently out of childhood in the process.

“Women’s Exclusion from public properties and gender-based discrimination are crucial and urgent topics in Israel and that’s why I believe in its urgency to put it on the screen,” says Haimovici. In her quest to tell an authentic story, Haimovici enlisted the help of Ayala Herschler, a talented ultra-orthodox writer and film student at Ma’aleh Film School. Joining Haimovici to work on the screenplay, the Ultra-Orthodox characters in Summer Shade were written with such depth and nuance that their portrayal could not be defined by good and bad, leaving much for the audience to decide for themselves. While the young women in the film are richly drawn and portrayed in an almost whimsical way, the men juxtapose that female fragility with such contrast that you can’t help but pick a side.

Evocatively challenging gender discrimination from the Ultra-Orthodox community, Haimovici story doesn’t shy away from a truth that too many young Israeli women face every day. Gorgeously shot and wonderfully nostalgic, Summer Shade is the kind of film that leaves a powerful impression.

Winner of the Best International Short Film Winner award at Little Wing Film Festival, Summer Shade was also an official selection of BFI London Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest and more." - S/W Curator Chelsea Lupkin

Cast
Netta Roe
Tamoz Levi
Yuli Yildis
Yehonatan Vilozny
Mendi Barsheshet
Yoav Bavly
Roni Shper Milo

Reproduced on this channel with the permission of the filmmakers.

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