Unraveling the Gender–Religious Dichotomy in Twenty-First-Century Israeli Cinema

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the evolution of representations of what I call the “gender–religious dichotomy” in Israeli cinema, identifying a shift from an “external gaze” to an “internal gaze.” Historically, the secular-masculine lens of the 1970s and 1990s framed the religious establishment in Israel as a coercive, patriarchal “other,” equating female liberation with secular rebellion. By analyzing a corpus of foundational films, this study demonstrates how the cinematic lens has solidified this mutually exclusive categorization, which frames the religious sphere as an inherently oppressive domain. Conversely, the twenty-first-century “theological wave,” driven by filmmakers writing from within the religious world, facilitates a “semiotic decolonization” of this binary framework. By reclaiming the cinematic apparatus, these creators have transformed the religious sphere from a site of patriarchal coercion into a domain of internal agency. This “faithful critique” allows feminine subjectivity to flourish within the sacred, marking a pluralization of Israeli cinema where religious commitment and personal liberation no longer need to be seen as mutually exclusive.