Director’s Statement

Smadar is a woman I’ve known my whole life growing up in the small town of Kiryat Atta in Israel. The town we are from is called a “periphery city” in Hebrew, as it is built on the outskirts of Haifa, a bigger city. I recently learned that the term “periphery” in English means something that is outside of the main focus, marginal. Our town is made of immigrants: Moroccans, Russians, Ethiopians, groups with lower socio-economic backgrounds and it is not a place where you can find many opportunities.

A woman like Smadar easily becomes a small town celebrity but in the bigger world she is still transparent, definitely never the star of a movie. Women at Smadar’s age become sexually invisible in media and I wanted to focus on her extreme passion for sex, in dissonance to her despise to men.

She’s a seamstress, but she’s a lot more than that. Everyone goes in and out of her house exposing their entire lives and secrets to her, including myself. You walk in for an alteration and stay for the wisdom and laughs. Her style, presence and irregularity in our small town goes along with her ability to integrate and be so loved at the same time.

Smadar’s life has known much pain and loneliness but she keeps this childish openness to her that makes everyone feel comfortable and the same way she knows everyone’s gossip, everyone knows hers. I’ve known her story without hearing it from her first, which made it more of a necessity to hear it in her words and understand her world beyond her male encounters. Women that cheat are more likely to get punished socially and become an easy gossip target or mockery, but rare to be understood and forgiven.

Client’s bags and her hoarding habits consume her and the house but she is never able to refuse anyone. With the mass of work piling up in her house and the emotional piles barricading her from honest relationships, Smadar is in constant search of quiet and redemption.