It has become part of the experience of the “intermediate days” of Sukkot and Passover, which are considered holidays on which labor is allowed by Jewish law (unlike the Sabbath). In fact, these are the only days when an ultra-Orthodox family can venture on a family outing together. In recent years the preferred leisure activity of ultra-Orthodox women, which in the past had been visiting a park, has become going to a movie. 

A movie? For an ultra-Orthodox family? Until a few years ago, the concept of “seeing a movie,” to say nothing of an “ultra-Orthodox movie” did not exist in the ultra-Orthodox lexicon. The film industry was considered entirely improper by ultra-Orthodox leadership and a target for all-out cultural war. 

But something has changed. The Edison Cinema — a building that for years drew ultra-Orthodox protests and was a symbol of secularism in Jerusalem — has become an apartment building for especially stringent ultra-Orthodox families. Still, in the meantime, a new industry of ultra-Orthodox theatre and film has developed.  Every year, a new ultra-Orthodox movie becomes the talk of the “intermediate days.” There isn’t a phone call that doesn’t start with the question, “Have you seen the new movie yet?”

Behind these new ultra-Orthodox movies stand several ultra-Orthodox women filmmakers. The most prominent among them is Dina Perlstein, whose movie “To Fill the Void,” which she produced with director Rama Borstein, has won several awards. Alongside her is the creator who is already considered a veteran, Tali Avrahami, whose name has become a brand among the ultra-Orthodox thanks to her movie, “Bombay.”