Women’s Balcony

6 PM: Patio Reception, 6:30 PM: Speaker, 7 PM: Film

Directed by: Emil Ben-Shimon; Starring: Orna Banai, Itzik Cohen, Einat Sarouf; 2017 (96min); NR

New York Times & Los Angeles Times CRITICS PICK! 
Israel’s #1 Film of the Year!

“The Women’s Balcony is a feel-good, crowd-pleasing comedy that depicts what happens when extremism and traditional values collide” Danielle Solzman. A comedy/drama about community, old traditions and values and the power of women to keep all of these together in the face of modern extremism. An accident during a bar mitzvah celebration leads to a gender rift in a devout Orthodox community in Jerusalem, in this rousing, good-hearted tale about women speaking truth to patriarchal power

Guest Speaker: Shayna Weiss 

Dr. Shayna Weiss is the Associate Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. Previously, she was the inaugural Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Israel Studies at the United States Naval Academy. She earned her PhD from New York University in Hebrew and Judaic Studies. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in Israel at Bar Ilan University and Tel Aviv University, where she taught courses about Israeli history and society. She has also taught at Brooklyn College and New York University. Her research interests converge at the intersection of religion and gender in the Israeli public sphere, as well as the politics of Israeli popular culture. She is completing a book on gender segregation in the Israeli public sphere.