On the militarized border between Israel and Lebanon, a generation of Arab and Jewish women find themselves on the front lines of a confrontation between modern Western value systems and the traditions with which they were raised. Aliaa and Aisha, both native Israelis from conservative Arab Muslim families, are learning about different gender, familial, and political values, personal behavior, even fashion in an arena that promotes open communication and exploration much more than they or their families were ever exposed to before. Do they adopt new norms, seeing themselves as the generation of change, or do they prefer to continue their traditional way of life? By exploring the intersection between traditional and modern values, Arabs and Jews, Islam and Judaism, feminism and patriarchy in Acre, Israel, this film will contribute to research on human rights, gender status, and family in a heterogeneous society undergoing immense change.

Producer/director Melinda Levin and I (assistant camera, sound recordist) started filming two days before Israel and Lebanon began fighting. We shot observational footage and several interviews before returning to the U.S. The photo above was taken the day we left with a subject from the film and her family.