(Israel, 2004, 93 min., Hebrew w/ English subtitles)
Directed by Gidi Dar
Gidi Dar's groundbreaking feature is the light-hearted and charming fable of Moshe and Mali, devout Jews struggling financially and longing for a child. With the approach of Sukkot, the fall harvest festival, they pray for a miracle. When two suspicious characters from Moshe's secular past arrive, the couple welcomes them into their sukkah as a test of faith and commitment. Shot on location in an ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood usually off-limits to cameras, the film is a rare glimpse into an ostensibly unfamiliar world that upon closer inspection looks surprisingly like our own.
