Wedding Night
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Wedding Night
In the ultra-Orthodox community men are educated not to look at women or think about them and a girl practices modesty in clothing, actions and thoughts. Marriage requires complete strangers to suddenly encounter their partner for the first time in an intimate situation with only rudimentary information. According to Jewish law, they are required at that first intimate encounter to consummate the marriage. The forbidden becomes permitted, the impure pure, and modesty turns into full exposure. What was considered sinful transforms to the Holy of Holies.
The film draws a portrait of a society and a place: women and men speak bravely about their hidden feelings during matchmaking, the engagement period, the guidance of brides and grooms, the canopy, the special “Yihud” room, until the morning after marriage.
Festivals and Awards:
Docaviv Film Festival 2023, Tel Aviv, Israel
Director: Rachel Elitzur
Producer: Avigail Sperber
Production Company: Pardes Production
Cinematographer: Avigail Sperber
Editor: Noit Geva
Soundtrack Editor: Rotem Dror
Original Soundtrack: Karni Postal
Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television, Yes Docu, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Script: Rachel Elitzur
Subtitles: English, Hebrew
Film Name in Hebrew: ליל כלולות
Category: Education / Family / Identity / Israeli Society / Judaism and Jewish Culture / Minorities / Religion / Women
Tag Words: Bridal Guide Consumate Consumate Marriage engagement Forbidden Groom Guide Jewish Law matchmaking modesty Ultra Orthodox Weddings Yihud Room
In the ultra-Orthodox community men are educated not to look at women or think about them and a girl practices modesty in clothing, actions and thoughts. Marriage requires complete strangers to suddenly encounter their partner for the first time in an intimate situation with only rudimentary information. According to Jewish law, they are required at that first intimate encounter to consummate the marriage. The forbidden becomes permitted, the impure pure, and modesty turns into full exposure. What was considered sinful transforms to the Holy of Holies.
The film draws a portrait of a society and a place: women and men speak bravely about their hidden feelings during matchmaking, the engagement period, the guidance of brides and grooms, the canopy, the special “Yihud” room, until the morning after marriage.
Festivals and Awards:
Docaviv Film Festival 2023, Tel Aviv, Israel
Director: Rachel Elitzur
Producer: Avigail Sperber
Production Company: Pardes Production
Cinematographer: Avigail Sperber
Editor: Noit Geva
Soundtrack Editor: Rotem Dror
Original Soundtrack: Karni Postal
Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television, Yes Docu, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Script: Rachel Elitzur
Subtitles: English, Hebrew
Film Name in Hebrew: ליל כלולות
Category: Education / Family / Identity / Israeli Society / Judaism and Jewish Culture / Minorities / Religion / Women
Tag Words: Bridal Guide Consumate Consumate Marriage engagement Forbidden Groom Guide Jewish Law matchmaking modesty Ultra Orthodox Weddings Yihud Room