The Ma'aleh School of Film and Television

A modern adaptation of the biblical story of Jephthah’s daughter, whom her father, the judge Jephthah the Gileadite, sacrificed as a burnt offering. The film tells the story of an Ethiopian family in the early 1980s walking through the desert to Sudan on their way to the Promised Land. The journey is filled with hardship, and the family depends on the father to lead them. When he is attacked by robbers, his daughter is forced to perform a noble act.

Shosho, who is secular, and Naama, who is religious, got divorced 2 years ago. Their four-year-old daughter has become dependent on her pacifier, and Shosho and Naama are trying to wean her off it. But Naama understands dependence. She cannot wean herself from the old dream of life with Shosho.

Yaeli, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish young woman, carries a terrible secret that may destroy all her chances of future happiness. David, a brilliant and eligible yeshiva student, seems interested in meeting Yaeli, but her father, in an attempt to protect her from pain and humiliation, refuses to give his permission for the two young people to meet.

Olivia (12), just moved with her family from New York and arrives for her first day of school. She struggles to find her place within the hierarchy of her new school. Finding herself caught between the popular students and her shy classmate, Alem, Olivia must ultimately make a choice about who she is and how she will navigate her newfound circumstances.