Anat Zuria
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Anat Zuria (; born 1961) is an Israeli independent film director, creator of the films ''Purity'', ''Sentenced to Marriage'', ''Black Bus'', ''The Lesson'', ''Conventional Sins'', and ''Reinvestigation''.


Filmography

Between 2002 and 2010 Zuria created a documentary trilogy, dealing with women's stories within the
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
religious world. The three films all dealt with sexuality, independence and other social taboos which were never before documented in Israeli cinema. The first film in the trilogy, ''Purity'', tells the story of three religious women whose life and identity were challenged by the purity laws (''
niddah A niddah (alternative forms: nidda, nida, or nidah; ''nidá''), in traditional Judaism, is a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the ...
''). The film exposes for the first time a feminist critical viewpoint on sexuality in
Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...
. ''Sentenced to Marriage'', the second film in the trilogy, is a documentary courtroom drama which takes place in the rabbinical courts in Israel. The film follows the story of three young women who struggled to get a ''get'', a divorce, from their husbands. Over the span of two years, the film documents the legal drama of divorce in light of the Jewish religious laws. ''Black Bus'', the third film, documents the phenomenon of
gender segregation Sex segregation, sex separation, sex partition, gender segregation, gender separation, or gender partition is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their gender or biological sex at any age. Sex segregation can si ...
in Jewish religious society. The film features the story of two young ultra-Orthodox who paid a personal price for their attempts to work against the laws of segregation. Her current film, ''The Lesson'', follows the story of an Egyptian woman fighting for her independence. ''The Lesson'' was shown at
Haifa Film Festival The Haifa International Film Festival () is an annual film festival that takes place every autumn (between late September and late October), during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, in Haifa, Israel. History The festival was inaugurated in 1983 an ...
in 2012.


''Purity''

Zuria wrote and directed the film. Its producer was Amit Bruier and editor was Era Lapid. Cinematography was by Nurit Aviv, Tulik Galon, and Shiri Bar-on. It features an original score by Jonathan Bar Giora. This documentary film broke taboos and examined how the laws of (family purity) shape women’s lives and sexuality within Orthodox Judaism. It won prizes such as: *
Jerusalem International Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia Van Leer, and has since become the main Israeli ...
, Jerusalem, July 2002: ''Mayor Award for Best Documentary Film'' *
YAMAGATA International Documentary Film Festival The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan ( ). It was first held in October 1989, which makes it one of the longest- running documentary film festivals in the world ...
, Japan, October 2003: ''Special Prize & Citizens’ Prize'' * Société Civile des Auteurs Multimedia (SCAM) Prize for "''Discovery of the Year''", France, 2004


''Sentenced to Marriage''

Zuria wrote and directed the film. The producer was Amit Bruier and the executive producer was Sigal Landesberg. Era Lapid was the editor. Cinematography was by Roni Cazanelson. The original score was by Jonathan Bar Giora. This documentary, which was released in 2004, criticized the rabbinical courts in Israel for the first time. The film is a legal drama following three women whose husbands refuse to grant a divorce to their wives, refuse to pay child support, and attend court only haphazardly due to the rabbinical court's understanding of the Jewish laws. The documentary shows a court system weighted heavily against women's favour. The film caused much discussion in the Israeli media and was shown in the
Israeli parliament The Knesset ( , ) is the unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the president and prime minister, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government, among other things. In addition, the Knesset ...
; a special screening was held as well in the New York
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
. It won the following prizes: *
Hot Docs The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...
, Canada, 2005: ''Best Documentary'' award *
Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia van Leer, Lia Van Leer, and has since become th ...
, Israel, 2004: ''Wolgin Award for Best Documentary''


''Black Bus''

Zuria wrote and directed the film, which was produced along with Sigal Landesberg, and edited by Ara Lapid. Cinematography was by Roni Cazanelson. The documentary shows the religious segregation within the
ultra-Orthodox Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...
members of Israel's society. The film depicts the stories of two young women from a Hasidim background who tried to battle for their independence. The film won the First prize at Haifa Film Festival and was shown in the
Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
as well as other festivals.


''The Lesson''

Zuria wrote and directed the film, which was produced together with Sigal Landesberg. It was edited by Ara Lapid. Cinematography was by Roni Cazanelson. A film between a documentary and fiction, it follows the story of Layla Ibrahim, a Muslim woman learning to drive in the streets of Jerusalem. The film won the "Best documentary" award at Haifa International film festival, 2012.


''Conventional Sins''

''Conventional Sins'' is a film exposing sexual abuse of children in the ultra-Orthodox community: a decade after he was banished from the
Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...
community he grew up in, Meilech reopens the diary he wrote when he was 15. The diary describes the abuse he went through at the hands of a network of ultra-Orthodox pedophiles. Together with a group of young actors who themselves grew up in the Hasidic community, Meilech attempts to reconstruct parts of the diary and tell his story, which the Hasidic community did everything to silence. It was the Winner of Best Documentary at the
Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia van Leer, Lia Van Leer, and has since become th ...
.


References


External links


Office website
* Anat Zuria
Film ReviewEretz Acheret
Magazine * Rivkah Luvitch
"It Is Necessary to Establish a System of Alternative Courts, Loyal to the Halakhah and Faithful to Changes in the Reality"Eretz Acheret
Magazine * "The Lesson" Facebook page, in Hebrew: https://www.facebook.com/hashiur * "Purity" main theme o
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuria, Anat Israeli documentary film directors Israeli feminists Living people 1961 births Israeli women film directors Women documentary filmmakers