MOUNTAIN, a Danish Israeli co-production, opens the new year for the Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival on January 24. Making it’s initial debut at the Venice Film Festival and snagging a nomination for Best Film in the Horizons section, Mountain is the story of the sexual awakening of an Orthodox woman who lives with her family in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. Shot in a muted palette, it features Shani Klein in what has been described as a “breakthrough performance”.

Mountain was written and directed by Yaelle Kayam and the film reflects Ms. Kayam’s interest in geographic and cultural landscapes. The setting of the Mount of Olives figures significantly in Orthodox belief about the age of redemption. Those buried on the Mount of Olives are believed to be the first to be resurrected. Ms. Kayam notes that “the tension between a mountain that is a graveyard and a mountain that symbolizes salvation” inspired the film, in addition to a Talmudic story about a rabbi who loses interest in his wife.

A post-film discussion follows the screening with Doris Francis, Ron Duncan Hart, Gloria Abella Ballen, and Linda La Bove. Plan to stay for an exploration of the themes and questions raised by this enigmatic film.