Type:
Feature Film
Director:
Diane Crespo & Stefan C. Schaefer
Year:
2007
Time:
89 minutes
Produced by:
Diane Crespo & Stefan C. Schaefer
Written by:
Stefan C. Schaefer
Edited by:
Erin Greenwell
Language:
English
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Winner! Audience Award
- Berkshire Int'l Film Festival, 2007
Winner! Best Narrative Feature
- Brooklyn Int'l Film Festival, 2007
"A gem of a film, beautifully shot and perfectly cast."
- Mary Glucksman, Filmmaker Magazine
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Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. A young Orthodox woman, Rochel, is about to begin her first year as a special education teacher at the local public school. She is also about to embark on what her father and mother call the "most exciting time of her life" – the process of finding a husband via the time-tested method of using a "shadchen," or matchmaker. As the school year gets underway, Rochel meets Nasira, a Muslim woman of Syrian descent. Nasira is also a first-year teacher. The two young women – Rochel in long skirt and conservative blouse, Nasira in headscarf – stand out in this public school context. The principal, a secular Westchester Jew, is forever reminding them that although they are some of her smartest, most gifted teachers, they are also stunted by their outmoded customs, religions, and by their patriarchal worldviews. She tells them of her experiences in the women's movement and her desire to see them reach their full potentials. As the school year progresses, Rochel and Nasira realize they share much in common, not least of which is that they are both going through what the outside world would call "arranged marriages." As their friendship deepens, they are exposed to their respective worlds. They prepare for school at one another's houses, meet one another's families, and discuss commonalities and differences.
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