Ophir Prize-Winning Film ‘Gett’ to Represent Israel at Oscars
by JNS.org
JNS.org – The movie Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem, about an Israeli woman whose intransigent husband refuses to grant her a certificate of divorce (in Hebrew, a “gett”), will represent Israel at the 2015 Academy Awards.
The movie won Best Picture at Sunday’s Ophir Awards ceremony, the Israeli version of the Academy Awards, making it the Israeli entry for the U.S. competition.
The plot of the film focuses on the woman’s efforts to have the rabbinical court end her marriage, but with the husband’s whereabouts unknown, the case goes into limbo.
Under Israeli law, only rabbinical courts can divorce two Jews. These courts have been widely criticized for making divorce especially difficult for women.
“Viviane and her lawyer must face the uncompromising attitude of Elisha, the husband,” reads the movie’s synopsis on filmsdistribution.com.