A Beautiful Valley

A Beautiful Valley (Hebrew: עמק תפארת‎) is a 2011 Israeli drama by Hadar Friedlich. It was her feature directorial debut.

The film premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July 2011 where it received the award for Best Full-Length Debut. In a controversial decision by the festival management, however, the prize was revoked at the last minute following a complaint of alleged conflict of interest by one of the jury members. It was also nominated for a 2011 Ophir Award in the Best Actress and Best Cinematography categories, received a Special Jury Mention at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and won the Critic's Prize at the Cinémed Montpellier Film Festival.

Plot

Hanna Mendelssohn (Batia Bar), an elderly widow, is a proud founding member of her kibbutz and has devoted most of her life to its development. When it is threatened with bankruptcy and privatized, she is forced out of her job as the community's gardener, turning from a hardworking productive member of society into a dependent burden. Although she still believes in the values of social equality and cooperation that characterized the kibbutz in its early years, Hanna struggles to maintain her usefulness and sense of worth in a society undergoing a sudden and profound transformation.

Cast

Batia Bar as Hanna

Gili Ben-Ozilio as Yael

Hadar Avigad as Naama

Eli Ben-rey as Shimon

Hadas Porat as Odeda

Ruth Geller as Miriam

Critical reception

Jay Weissberg of Variety said Friedlich's debut "tackles a forgotten subject with sensitivity".

Contents

Plot

Cast

Critical reception

References