The Holy Land

Any film that opens with footage of the Israeli flag in flames, the voice of a Russian émigré expressing disgust with a country where women are treated like dogs and the image of a rabbinical student masturbating before joining his family for the Shabbat seder is nothing if not attention grabbing. But Israeli-born director Eitan Gorlin's bold and surprising film is far from prurient sensationalism. Inspired by his time spent working in a Jerusalem bar, Gorlin offers a serious, if unconventional, perspective on the violence that continues to tear the Holy Land apart. The voice belongs to baby-faced Ukrainian prostitute Sasha (Tchelet Semel), who lap dances for...