2016 | Israel | NR | 87 min.
Men are not permitted at the Bedouin ceremony
that opens “Sand Storm,” welcoming
(with varying levels of enthusiasm) the arrival
of a second wife. The older women, including
first wife Jalila, wear fake mustaches,
symbols of both strength and vulnerability.
Jalila is the caged-tiger energy center of
this emotionally intelligent first feature from
Jewish Israeli Elite Zexer; she glowers and
smolders and paces magnificently, delivering
tongue-lashings not just about the younger
newcomer, but also about the newly discovered
secret lover of her daughter, Layla. Suliman,
the story’s husband and father, has given
his eldest child many modern advantages—a
cell phone, driving lessons, an education—but
he still seems willing to sacrifice Layla’s promising
future to an arranged marriage with
a village man she barely knows. Much more
than a familiar feminist story about a teenage
girl trapped between her deep attachment to
a traditional family and a desire for love and
freedom, “Sand Storm” is one of our top picks
at the festival. In Person: Director Elite Zexer.