Twice a year, during the holidays of Passover and Sukkot, the public bulletin boards that line Israel’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods undergo a dramatic transformation. A colorful, eye-catching set of posters pops up alongside the ubiquitous black-and-white death notices. These posters announce special screenings of a wide range of films over the course of the two weeklong holidays. The mainstream ultra-Orthodox press also promotes these films, which are shown in municipal community centers, synagogue halls and schools.

These films are unique in Israel, and perhaps the entire world. The cast consists entirely of women, as does the audience, and the writing and directing is almost completely done by women, too. The plots do not deal with tangled romances or crime. They are mostly family and historical dramas or comedies of various sorts.

Films like "Fill the Void," made by ultra-Orthodox filmmakers about their communities, have been screened in cinemas and festivals around the world. In contrast, these Israeli films by and for women are produced by a shadowy industry and are not marketed outside the ultra-Orthodox community. The industry does not receive any funding from Israel’s various film foundations and the films do not participate in competitions. Nor are they sold on DVD. It is almost impossible to find pirated copies of them online.

​Al-Monitor spoke to a non-ultra-Orthodox video editor who has worked on quite a few of these films for ultra-Orthodox directors. The editor, who asked for anonymity, said, “There are two reasons why these films receive no exposure outside of ultra-Orthodox circles. First of all, I don’t think that the plots meet commonly accepted cinematic standards. Second, [the cast members] speak in very ultra-Orthodox language. As an editor who has seen just about everything, even I don’t always understand the nuances.”