La Petite Jerusalem
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Karin Albou
Fanny Valette
Elsa Zylberstein
Bruno Todeschini
Hedi Tillette De Clermont-tonnerre
Sonia Tahar
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, "La Petite Jerusalem" is the nickname of a low-income, concrete housing neighborhood with a substantial number of Jewish -- and Jewish immigrant -- residents. Among the thousands of men, women and children living there, one small household shelters a Tunisian-Jewish family of eight: Laura, a French born, 18-year-old philosophy student, her older sister Mathilde, their Tunisian mother, Mathilde's husband Ariel and the couple's four young kids. Struggling to find her own voice inside a crowded house, Laura refuses Ariel's orthodox ethical codes and renounces her mother's superstitious background. Instead, the young woman embraces her studies in Kantian philosophy and decides to close her heart to strangers. Although fully committed to her intellectual and philosophical life (to the point of following Kant's daily, hour-long walking ritual), Laura eventually runs into a classic disruption: an ex-journalist, Algerian-Muslim émigré named Djamel, who also works as a custodian in the local high school. Deeply attracted to his background and persona, Laura is forced to rethink her postulation that all romantic love is, in actuality, a harmful illusion. As Laura begins a yet-unstable affair with Djamel, Mathilde's efforts to revive the sagging intimacy of her marriage backfire when she learns about Ariel's infidelity. Having followed the rule of religion throughout her life, Mathilde now turns to an unnamed woman counselor whose interpretation of Jewish law legitimizes sexual pleasure within marriage and also opens her eyes to different ways of enacting religious faith.
Director
Karin Albou
Cast
Fanny Valette
Elsa Zylberstein
Bruno Todeschini
Hedi Tillette De Clermont-tonnerre
Sonia Tahar
Michadl Cohen
Aurore Cltment
Frantois Marthouret
Saida Bekkouche
Salah Teskouk
Crew
Karin Albou
Laurent Brunet
Karim Canama
Nicolas De Boiscuillé
Julien Gayot
Yann Jouannic
Laurent Lavole
Isabelle Pragier
Maya Serrulla
Gilles Sionnet
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Winter January 27, 2006
Released in United States May 5, 2006
Released in United States on Video September 12, 2006
Released in United States January 2006
Shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival (World Cinema Now) January 5-16, 2006.
Released in United States Winter January 27, 2006 (LA)
Released in United States May 5, 2006 (Los Angeles)
Released in United States on Video September 12, 2006
Released in United States January 2006 (Shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival (World Cinema Now) January 5-16, 2006.)
