Israeli film nominated for Golden Globe
‘Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem,’ about a Jewish woman’s quest for a divorce, to vie for Best Foreign Language Film
An Israeli submission to the Golden Globes, “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem,” has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Thursday.
The stark divorce drama from brother-and-sister duo Ronit and Shlomi Alkabetz earned rave reviews at Cannes earlier this year and picked up the Best Picture prize at the 2014 Ophir Awards, the Israeli equivalent of the American Academy Awards.
The film follows the five-year saga of a woman named Viviane Amsalem, played by Ronit Alkbatez, who has been trying unsuccessfully to obtain a Jewish religious divorce, or gett, from her emotionally abusive husband in Israeli rabbinical courts.
The lack of civil marriage in Israel means that the country’s Chief Rabbinate is the only authority to legally officiate weddings and grant divorces for Jewish Israeli couples, and will not grant a writ of divorce without the husband’s consent.
“Gett” critiques discriminatory divorce laws and the control Israel’s rabbinical courts exert over women seeking divorce.
The drama will be contending against submissions from Sweden, Russia, Poland and Estonia in the January 11 award ceremony in California.
Meanwhile, Showtime’s critically acclaimed TV drama “The Affair,” created by Israeli producer Hagai Levi, picked up three Golden Globe nominations: for Best Actress, Best Actor and Best TV Series.
