Directed by Eytan Fox

With Ido Rosenberg, Maya Dagan, Svika Pick

Israel, 2010

150 min.

Hebrew with English Subtitles

Doused in sequins and charm, this enthralling new miniseries has been called Israel’s answer to Glee—and for good reason. Infectious pop songs and high-energy choreography explode onto the screen between colorful plot twists, hearty doses of high school ennui and candid explorations of LGBT life in contemporary Israel. Acclaimed director Eytan Fox (The Bubble SFJFF 2007, Yossi & Jagger) brings us the story of Meir, a young man searching for his mother, Miriam, who mysteriously abandoned him on his 10th birthday. Meir clings to her memory through their mutual love of theatricality, dress-up and 1970s Israeli pop star Svika Pick, whose portrait hangs above the family mantle. (Pick, who penned the song that launched to stardom Israeli drag queen Dana International at Eurovision 1998, appears as himself and provides the series’ sugary soundtrack.) Convinced that Miriam fled to Tel Aviv to become Pick’s backup singer, Meir heads for the big city, leaving behind a love triangle involving a hunky basketball player and his BFF, Shuli. In the city Meir befriends Ori, an Israeli Idol contestant who moonlights in drag as Miss Sunshine. Soon Meir, slathered in rhinestones, emerges from his cocoon as Mary Lou and becomes one of Tel Aviv’s most celebrated drag queens. Winner of an Israeli Emmy Awardfor best miniseries in 2010, and shown here in one fabulous screening. —Shira Zucker