Work­ing in fem­i­nist film the­o­ry, this book adopts a cul­tur­al stud­ies approach, con­sid­er­ing the cre­ation of a female-cen­tered and the­mat­i­cal­ly fem­i­nist film cul­ture in light of struc­tur­al and ide­o­log­i­cal shifts in Israeli soci­ety. Author Rachel S. Har­ris sit­u­ates these changes in dia­logue with the cin­e­mat­ic his­to­ry that pre­ced­ed them and the ongo­ing social inequal­i­ties that per­pet­u­ate wom­en’s mar­gin­al­iza­tion with­in Israeli society.

While no one can deny Israel’s West­ern wom­en’s advance­ments, fem­i­nist film­mak­ers fre­quent­ly turn to Israel’s less impres­sive under­bel­ly as sources for their inspi­ra­tion. Their films have focused on sex­ism, the neg­a­tive impact of mil­i­tarism on wom­en’s expe­ri­ence, rape cul­ture, pros­ti­tu­tion, and sex­u­al abuse. These films also tend to include sub­jects from soci­ety’s geo­graph­i­cal periph­ery and social mar­gins, such as female for­eign work­ers, women, and refugees.

This book con­sid­ers the ways social and polit­i­cal pow­er have affect­ed the rep­re­sen­ta­tion of women and looks to how fem­i­nist film­mak­ers have fought against these inequities behind the cam­era and in the sto­ries they tell. Stu­dents and schol­ars of film, gen­der, or cul­tur­al stud­ies will appre­ci­ate this approach­able monograph.