Atalia

For other uses, see Atalia (disambiguation).

Atalia is an Israeli film of 1984, adapted from a story by Yitzhak Ben Ner.

Crew

• Film Director: Akiva Tevet
• Screen Writer:Tzvi Kratzner (in cooperation with the author Ben Ner)
• Producers: Danny Schik, Nathan Hakeny
• Main Actors: Michal Bat Adam (see [1]), Yiftah Katzor
• Supporting Actors: Yossi Polak (see [2]), Dan Toren

The film was mostly shot on location at Kibbutz Yakum.

Plot summary

Atalia, a 40-year old war widow, who lost her husband in the Six-Day War, lives in a kibbutz with her adolescent daughter. She is lonely and feels outcast, and eventually enters into a liaison with her daughter's classmate - Matti, an idealistic 19-year old boy who had been rejected by the army. The two find some happiness in each other's arms, but their love in foredoomed in the puritanical Kibbutz society.

Significance of the name

The original Athalia had been a Biblical queen of Judea, whom the Bible presents as a tyrannical usurper and idolater. Used, though not commonly, as a female first name in Israel, Athalia is a secularist name associated with the sector of Israeli society which tends to rebel against old traditions and conventions and seek new ways. This meaning is obvious to Israeli audiences, and clearly has some relevance to the film's themes.

External links

• Atalia at IMDb
• Hebrew account and Bat Adam's photo in the Israeli Film Fund website