KVELLER
‘Kissufim’ on Netflix Is a Timely and Harrowing Movie About What it Means to Be Israeli
Lior Zaltzman
September 4, 2024

In “Kissufim,” the first feature-length movie from Israeli director Keren Nechmad, actress Swell Ariel Or plays a character that has some similarities to her iconic “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” protagonist, Luna. Like “Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” which takes place between the 1910s and 1940s, “Kissufim” is a period piece, taking place in 1977 in Kibbutz Kissufim, which nears the Gaza border. Or plays a young independent woman with dreams and aspirations of self-fulfillment, but unlike Luna, Eli doesn’t get to see any of those dreams come true. Or’s character Eli is based on Elian Gazit, who was killed by a grenade on a visit to Gaza’s market in 1980. READ MORE