Ruthie and Or, a mother and her daughter, live in a small Tel Aviv flat. Ruthie has been a prostitute for the last twenty years. Or has tried many times to get her mother to quit working the street, without success. The daily routine of the 18-year-old Or is an endless succession of petty jobs: washing dishes in a restaurant, cleaning staircases and collecting deposit bottles while attending high school whenever she can. Ruthie's health is worsening. After an umpteenth visit to her mother at the hospital, Or decides that this time, things must change for good. Yedaya’s entry into feature filmmaking manifests her aspiration to return the raw roots of the medium. She utilizes the claustrophobic nature of the film frame to highlight the erosion that female bodies and spirits suffer in modern society. A tough, compassionate portrait of women on the edge that recalls Lukas Moodysson’s Lilya 4-Ever, Or marks the emergence of a major new talent. A member of numerous women’s rights associations, Keren Yedaya, 31, is also active in protest groups against the occupation of Palestinian territories. She asserts her films are extensions of her political commitment. Her filmmography consists of Elinor (’93), Lulu (’98), and Les Dessous (’01). Or is her first feature, and received the Camera D’or at Cannes for best first film. –Emily Condon