ABSTRACT
Until the turn of the millennium Israeli cinema did not engage in a serious positive way with Jewish religious themes or with the various Jewish religious communities that exist in Israeli society. The main conflict presented in the films is that between the desire for personal autonomy and freedom, and the Orthodox institutions and traditions that stifle that desire. Grovais's characterization of his DVD films holds true for the Charedi women's films as well. Until 1992 Israel had only one, public, television channel. Religious programming and religious staff – nine men out of about one thousand professional employees – working on that channel were confined to a specific department – Jewish Heritage – which was poorly funded and produced low-quality programs of very limited interest to the general public. In 1992 the television market was opened up with the introduction of two commercial channels. In that decade religious themes began to appear in documentary and drama programs as well.
