Je danserai si je veux

In Between. A drama about three Palestinian housemates in Tel Aviv, Israel. Aptly named film as all three are to some degree caught between a liberal 'western' secular culture and their Muslim faith and associated family values. Laila is a chain smoking heavy drinking free spirit. When she falls for a pot smoking seemingly hedonistic guy, how will he expect her to behave when she meets his family? Salma's parents are trying tirelessly to find her a perfect husband. She rejects all would be suitors because she has not told her parents that she is a lesbian. Noor is from a very strict family and is already engaged to be married. But will living with these free spirits change something within her? A brave portrayal of oft-colliding cultures (the director has received death threats for apparently glorifying female emancipation). A powerful and original 8 out of ten.

A study in tolerance and values as they clash - tradition vs. contemporary; old vs. new; parents vs. older children; male dominance vs. female independence. We see good/bad on both sides - rape, drugs (legal & illegal), abuse, lack of understanding. Families, men & women trying to find love & answers. Centered about a Palestinian community in Israeli Tel Aviv.

Got into a cinema not expecting much, but I was rewarded with refreshing story I think many can correlate in some way, disregarding the context of where the story is taking part.

It shows us three girls and their current life stories, focuses on contrast between traditional and religious on one side, and liberal on other. We follow them through Tel Aviv's nightlife where they enjoy being free, escaping their daily lives, but we also see them in front of their religious and conservative families, partners and friends. It realistically portraits a life of urban 20-somethings and their life choices and plans. It had moments where the whole cinema was laughing, and the ones when you could hear laugh from some, like-minded to the lifestyle portrayed in the scenes. But, I think everyone got disturbed by some scenes and were made to question how selfish can we be about our life choices and how much should we impose them on others.

Girls bring out the weight of their situations to the viewers throughout the film. Soundtrack is fitting greatly, giving life to scenes, but remaining an independent weaver.

Film is not exaggerating in any way, and it tastefully makes us conclude we all need to share more empathy and understanding.

...that's what jumped into my head as the ending credits rolled. Bar Behar / Lo Po Lo Sham packs a wallop: It's a powerful feminist film that shows us a little-known world: that of twenty-something Palestinians – from both the Palestinian Authority and inside Israel – who move to Tel Aviv to escape the confines of their conservative, patriarchal society.

Despite their differing backgrounds – one Christian, one secular Muslim, and one traditional Muslim – the three roommates stand by each other through their respective patriarchy-based crises with exquisite nurturing and tenderness. Must see.

This Israeli production about Palestinian roommates in Tel Aviv presents a rich and moving array of the quandaries faced by young women on the uneven ground between traditional values and self-determination in a modern, urban landscape.

Leila, a young lawyer, and Salma, who begins the story as a sous chef and then takes a job as a bartender but also moonlights as a rave DJ, are modern young party girls who drink, smoke cigarettes, and do occasional pot and coke when their male friends are offering. Into their apartment moves Noor, an ostensibly traditional Muslim girl who never appears in public without a hijab, and is affianced to an activist who works in an NGO devoted to helping Muslims get by. He's not happy that she's studying computer science at university, and hopes she'll stay at home to raise their children eventually.

All three women collide with their culture's - and especially families' - traditional expectations. Salma's parents introduce her to various unappealing bachelors; Leila meets and dates a filmmaker who has studied and worked in New York but turns out to have some sticking points about her choices. Noor hits the hardest wall, but the way her initially unsympathetic roommates come together for her is beautiful and very satisfying.

Although this story centers on young women, and most of the men are forgettable at best or unpleasant (save for a queen-y gay friend of Leila's and, surprisingly, Noor's father, in a pivotal scene late in the movie), I wouldn't call it a "chick movie." It's well written and acted, and I found it not a great stretch to recognize that some men and families oppress young women in the U.S. in ways that are not so different, even today.

"In Between" is a lovely and solid piece of work.