Fill the Void

Eighteen-year-old Shira is the youngest daughter of a Haredi family in Tel Aviv. She is about to marry the young man chosen for her and the prospect excites her. On the night of Purim her sister Esther dies giving birth to her first child. The family collapses and Shira's engagement is postponed. Some time later a new proposal comes: that Shira marry her sister's widowed husband, so the baby stays inside the family. Rama Burshtein filmed from within the Haredi community, of which she is a member. The narrative neither defends nor exposes it; it takes the rules as given and focuses on Shira's own choice. The answer stays open to the end. Hadas Yaron plays Shira and won the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival in 2012. The film was submitted as Israel's Oscar entry. Who it's for: Viewers who like Israeli cinema, narratives set inside closed communities, and character-driven drama. Who it's not for: The narrative is slow and takes place almost entirely indoors. A viewer expecting criticism of the community's rules will not find it.