Brides of Allah

Israeli director Natalie Assouline chronicles the lives of women who are serving time in prison for involvement in terrorist attacks in Israel, trying to uncover the motivations behind their actions. The film is structured as a journey into an unknown world: at every turn we receive new information and experience new emotions that make it impossible to remain coherent. We find ourselves liking these women, but we feel discomfort in the fact that we do. We get close to them, and a moment later we are thrown clear, horrified by their actions and their lack of remorse, fascinated at the same time… There is no black or white in this film, only painful shades of gray.

Director: Natalie Assouline
Cinematography: Natalie Assouline, Gonen Glazer, Asher Ben Yair, Avigayil Sperber
Editing: Sarah Salomon
Production: Talia Kleinhendler, Ayelet Ephrati
Festivals: Berlin, DocAviv, Thessaloniki
Source: Talia Kleinhendler, Israel, First Hand Films, Switzerland
Support: Cinema Project – The Rabinowitz Foundation, Yes Docu, the Jerusalem Cinematheque, ZDF Arte