Fresh from a debut at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, this
documentary by filmmaker Yael Luttwak is sure to get audiences here
talking. Luttwak, a Jewish-American, set herself a bold and often
thankless task, forming a weight-loss group in Jerusalem for women
whose backgrounds cross the political spectrum: Palestinian, Bedouin
and Jewish, including settlers.
Attempting to transcend politics by focusing on these women's shared
goals was never going to be straightforward, and personal bitterness
inevitably encroaches on the hard-earned harmony of the group, but
easing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through dieting was never quite
the intention.
Luttwak hopes to break through the layers of fear and
misunderstanding isolating these women, while offering a much-needed
reminder of the irrelevance of our Western obsession with body image.
To see the group let down its guard, dancing together in a moment of
fun - however temporary - makes a brighter future seem just that little
bit closer.
