SENTENCED TO MARRIAGE (MEKUDESHET)

In 21st-century Israel, a country where there is no separation between church and state, there are no civil marriages and all marital contracts, and therefore all divorces, depend on the Jewish Rabbinical Court which stipulates that married women cannot get a divorce without the consent of their husband. Tamara, Michelle and Rachel, three young Israeli women have been struggling for years to obtain legal divorces with the help of a group of passionate and dedicated female advocates: graduates of Ohr Torah Stone's School for Women Advocates and members of the association Yad L'isha ("power to women").

Anat Zuria tracks these three modern, independent and well-educated women's desperate battle for freedom over a period of two years. Through audio recordings and hidden camera footage, she takes us behind the closed doors of the Israeli Rabbinical Courts. According to Jewish law husbands who leave their wives and children to live with other women can still refuse their legal wives divorce. The wives are denied other relationships and cannot move on with their lives. In some cases, women are forced to buy the divorce from their husband for large sums money. For years thousands of women have been living as "agunot", literally "chained women", in 21^st century Israel.

"A brave film, made with passion and commitment, that cries out against injustice, and which like some of the best documentaries gives a voice to the voiceless." (Jury Statement, Jerusalem Film Festival, Israel, 2004)

Award: Wolgin Award For Best Documentary, Jerusalem Film Festival