|
Kino International opens Keren Yedaya's OR (My Treasure) on June 1, 2005, in New York City.
Kino International is proud to announce the theatrical release of Keren Yedaya's feature-film debut OR (My Treasure), winner of the prestigious Camera d'Or award for Best first film at last year's Cannes Film Festival. After its U.S premiere at the 2004 New York Film Festival, OR is scheduled to open in New York City on June 1, 2005, in exclusive engagements at the Cinema Village (located at 22 East 12th st) and the Makor Theatre (located at 35 W. 67th st).
A French/Israeli co-production, OR has won numerous awards at international film festivals since its Camera d'Or-winning debut last spring, including a Best Film prize at the Jerusalem Film Festival, a Best Actress award—given to Dana Ivgy—at the 2004 Israeli Oscars and the highly regarded European Discovery of the Year award—given to Keren Yedaya—at the European Film Award ceremony, also last year. Directing with a firm hand and rare austerity, first-time helmer Yedaya created a uniquely affecting story centered on the lives of Ruthie (Ronit Elkabetz), a reckless working-class mother, and her conscientious teenage daughter Or (Dana Ivgy).
Ruthie is a stunning woman in her early 40s; she lives with her daughter in a small Tel Aviv flat. After spending twenty years earning her living as a prostitute, Ruthie listens to Or's pleas and takes a job which her daughter has found for her—as a cleaning lady in an upper class house.
Overcome with joy at her mother's decision, Or alternates between a succession of petty jobs—washing dishes in a restaurant, cleaning staircases, collecting deposit bottles—and spending time with Ruthie. Although Or has become the grounding force in her mother's universe, both women share intense moments of mutual admiration and treat each other as equals. Whether showering together or sleeping under one blanket, Ruthie and Or grow inseparable and become each other's most sacred companion; when with one another, their emotions are almost always intertwined.
As economic dismay catches up with both of them, it becomes clear that Ruthie is tempted to return to her old occupation, one that enticingly intersects sexual empowerment with the much needed monetary compensation and emotional solace. And although Ruthie's decision might impact Or, who has fallen in love with the son of a neighbor but is asked to give him up for being “unsuited” for him, Ruthie is the one who bears the biggest risk. She seems to have forgotten how to take care of herself, and has turned her profession into a path to self-destruction.
Disillusioned with her current situation, and unable to change her mother's precarious path, Or herself drifts into prostitution and is now willing to do anything in order to improve their current situation.
Bravely uninterested in elaborating overarching narratives to contextualize prostitution as a category, Keren Yedaya chooses instead to focus on the depiction of a unique bond between mother and daughter—two women who strategically take on the role of prostitutes at different points in their lives. In OR (My Treasure) collective categories only inform, not determine, possible instances of individualities. |
