Published: 2 July 2019
Last updated: 5 March 2024
"WE JUSTIFY MAKING MOVIES because we understand that this is the way of expressing ourselves in this generation,” says Eitan Alpert, chief executive and a former student of Torat HaChaim, an ultra-Orthodox film school in Israel.
Recognisable by their distinctive appearance – men in black suits and hats with beards and payot (long side curls) and women that are conservatively dressed and bewigged – ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredim, are not naturally perceived as film-makers.
So it is a surprise to discover that many have been making films with considerable zeal, viewed by both religious and secular audiences, for some time.
Torat HaChaim is one of the few places where Haredim can study film. Set up in 2005 it now has just over 100 students, divided almost equally between men and women – who study separately from each other.
FULL STORY 'Another way of looking': the rise of ultra-Orthodox cinema (Guardian)
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Revolution within the Haredi sector? Ultra-Orthodox women on Instagram (Jerusalem Post)
In contrast with Haredi women who are unusually interested in getting their name out on Instagram, Haredi men who view themselves as key opinion leaders tend to focus their efforts on Twitter
Photo: Menashe Lustig in Menashe, a 2017 film about an ultra-Orthodox man raising his son alone in New York (supplied)
