Or (My Treasure)

Israeli director Keren Yedaya's remarkable debut feature, which won the 2004 Cannes Film Festival Camera d'Or, is a powerful study of a teenager's willingness to do anything to save her mother, a Tel Aviv prostitute who may be well beyond salvation. In an effort to keep her mother, Ruthie (Ronit Elkabetz), from returning to the streets after a lengthy stay at a hospital, Or (Dana Ivgy) collects empty bottles, does odd jobs around their apartment complex and works nights washing dishes at the cafe owned by their upstairs neighbors, Rachel (Katia Zimbris) and her husband. Or even gets Ruthie a housecleaning job for a friendly, well-to-do woman, but Or has no ill...