An-Najah National University 

Faculty of Graduate Studies 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 BETWEEN BORDERS AND SCREENS: 

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S 

PORTRAYAL IN PALESTINIAN AND 

ISRAELI CINEMA 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By 

Seneen Emad Izzat Issa 

 

 

 
 

Supervisor 

Dr. Hosni Mlitat 
 

 

 

 
This Thesis is Submitted in Partial of the Requirements for the Degree of Master 

of Comparative Literature, Faculty of Graduate Studies, An-Najah National 

University, Nablus, Palestine. 

2025 



ii 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

BETWEEN BORDERS AND SCREENS: 

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S 

PORTRAYAL IN PALESTINIAN AND 

ISRAELI CINEMA 
 

By 

Seneen Emad Izzat Issa 
 

 

This Thesis was defended successfully on 15/05/2025 and approved by: 

 

 



iii 

Dedication 

To the women of Palestine, whose lives weave through the tapestry of struggle and 

hope— 

Your spirit is the heartbeat of this work, 

Resilient as the olive trees rooted in ancient soil, 

Courageous as the sun rising over a land marked by sorrow and beauty. 

In every whisper of your stories and every echo of your defiance, 

You carve pathways through the darkness, 

Bringing light to where shadows have long concealed truth. 

May this research stand as a testament to your unyielding strength, 

A humble offering to the poetry of your lives, 

And a celebration of the endless grace with which you defy the world. 

 

 

 

 

 

  



iv 

Acknowledgment 

I am deeply grateful to those who have made this journey possible and profoundly 

meaningful. 

I offer my heartfelt thanks to my family, whose unwavering support and endless 

encouragement have been the foundation of this work. Your belief in me has guided me 

through every challenge and triumph. 

To my mentors and advisors, your invaluable insights and constructive feedback have 

enriched this research beyond measure. Your dedication to fostering a deeper 

understanding of the intersection of gender and cinema has been genuinely inspiring. 

I extend my deepest gratitude to the vibrant community of Palestinian women whose 

stories and experiences are the heart of this research. Your resilience, strength, and grace 

have inspired this work and illuminated the path for a richer, more nuanced exploration 

of our shared narratives. 

Your support and camaraderie have been a source of strength and motivation to my 

colleagues and friends. Your intellectual curiosity and critical engagement have 

significantly shaped the direction of this research. 

Finally, to those who have shared their time and stories with me, thank you for your trust 

and openness. Your voices are the cornerstone of this study, and your contributions are 

honored with the utmost respect and gratitude. 

This work is a collective effort, reflecting the collaborative spirit and shared commitment 

to understanding and celebrating the diverse and complex realities of women’s lives. 

 

 

  



v 

Declaration 

I, the undersigned, declare that I submitted the thesis entitled: 

BETWEEN BORDERS AND SCREENS: 

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S 

PORTRAYAL IN PALESTINIAN AND 

ISRAELI CINEMA 
 

I declare that the work provided in this thesis, unless otherwise referenced, is the 

researcher’s own work, and has not been submitted elsewhere for any other degree or 

qualification. 

Student's Name Seneen Emad Izzat Issa 

Signature: 
 

Date: 15/05/2025 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



vi 

Table of Contents 

 

Dedication ........................................................................................................................ iii 

Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................. iv 

Declaration ........................................................................................................................ v 

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi 

Abstract .......................................................................................................................... viii 

Chapter One: Introduction and Literature Review ........................................................... 1 

1.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 1 

1.2 Problem Statement ...................................................................................................... 3 

1.3 Objective of the Study ................................................................................................ 4 

1.4 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 5 

1.5 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 5 

1.6 Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 6 

1.7 Previous Studies .......................................................................................................... 6 

1.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 9 

Chapter Two: Methodology ............................................................................................ 10 

2.1 Research Design ....................................................................................................... 10 

2.2 Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 11 

2.2.1 Film Selection ........................................................................................................ 11 

2.2.2 Data Sources .......................................................................................................... 13 

2.3 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 13 

2.3.1 Analysis of Palestinian Cinema ............................................................................. 14 

2.3.2 Analysis of Israeli Cinema ..................................................................................... 14 

2.3.3 Comparative Analysis ............................................................................................ 15 

2.4 Comparative Narratology ......................................................................................... 16 

Chapter Three: Analysis ................................................................................................. 17 

3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 17 

3.2 Palestinian Cinema ................................................................................................... 17 

3.3 Israeli Cinema ........................................................................................................... 30 

3.4 Comparative Analysis: Representation of Women in Palestinian and Israeli Cinema

 ............................................................................................................................... 41 

3.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 48 

Chapter Four: Discussion ................................................................................................ 49 

4.1 Cultural Symbolism and National Identity in Women’s Representation ................. 51 



vii 

4.2 Intersectional Oppression: Gender, Patriarchy, and Occupation .............................. 52 

4.3 Visual Representation and the Power of the Gaze .................................................... 52 

4.4 Resilience and Female Solidarity as Cultural Commentary ..................................... 53 

4.5 Implications for Gender and Cultural Narratives ..................................................... 54 

4.6 Broader Socio-Political Implications and Future Directions .................................... 54 

References ....................................................................................................................... 56 

 ب ............................................................................................................................... الملخص 

 

 

 

  



viii 

BETWEEN BORDERS AND SCREENS: A COMPARATIVE 

ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S PORTRAYAL IN PALESTINIAN AND 

ISRAELI CINEMA 
By 

Seneen Emad Izzat Issa 

Supervisor 

Dr. Hosni Mlitat 

Abstract 

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of women's portrayal in Palestinian and Israeli 

Cinema, addressing their development of gendered identities within intercultural, social, 

political, and historical frameworks. It centers on Huda’s Salon and Salt of this Sea in 

Palestinian cinema and Seven Blessings and Zero Motivation in Israeli cinema and focuses 

on the questions of agency, identity, and resistance. It seeks to understand the image of 

women in film who are creators and women who symbolize numerous problems of 

society, using the lens of feminist film theory. In this sense, women have been constructed 

in Palestinian films so that they would portray struggles in a battle for survival and 

nationalist ideologies. Israeli cinema, on the other hand, places the family in the center of 

society while using the soldier's ambition as a source of conflict and action. This thesis, 

therefore, argues that while gender identity in the film is depicted in a time of conflict, 

these films serve to strengthen and create new narratives surrounding gender roles and 

identity, making this an area of importance to the evolution of cinema in creating a sense 

of society as well as its beliefs in times of conflict. 

Keywords: Palestinian cinema, Israeli cinema, women’s representation, feminist film 

theory, intersectionality, male gaze, national identity, resistance, agency, cultural 

narratives, Israeli-Palestinian conflict 

 

 

 



 

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Chapter One 

 Introduction and Literature Review 

The chapter establishes a framework for studying the Israel-Palestine conflict and 

determines the historical and sociopolitical conditions that allowed for the emergence of 

both communities. It investigates the origins of the conflict, the two contrasting national 

memories, and how these memories have persistently contributed to the social texture of 

both communities, especially in cinema. This chapter further highlights women’s roles in 

film as an essential medium of creativity and self-expression, how national cinemas 

incorporate them, and what they reveal. This chapter explores these motifs and prepares 

the ground for a comparative1 study of the image of women in Palestinian and Israeli 

cinema.  

1.1 Background 

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, rooted in intricate pasts of nationalism, dispossession, 

and struggle, has produced unique social and political stories. This conflict goes back to 

the late 19th and early 20th-century nationalist movements that encouraged Jewish 

migration to Palestine and eventually led to the creation of Israel in 1948. This event, 

known to Palestinians as the Nakba, saw the displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians, 

forming a foundational grievance that continues to shape Palestinian identity today 

(Pappé, 2006; Khalidi, 1997). 

This has given way to similar, yet very distinct, sociopolitical tensions in both areas, 

characterized by continued occupation, border conflicts, and deeply rooted tales of 

persecution and survival. Israeli national identity focuses on "return to the homeland" and 

security against external enemies (Yehoshua, 2009). However, Palestinian identity 

coalesces around a discourse of sumud, or steadfastness, essentially one of continued 

resistance to occupation and the ongoing struggle for self-determination (Masalha, 2012; 

Said, 1992). 

These conflicting narratives are reflected throughout both cultures in their various forms 

of expression, the most prominent being the movies, where directors create distinct 

 
1 For further reference, see H. Remak's definition of comparative literature: “the comparison of one literature with 

another or others, and the comparison of literature with other spheres of human expression.” While this study omits 

direct literary texts, it takes film as a form of narrative art within broader intercultural dialogue. 



 

2 

images of women to comment on more general social problems. Palestinian cinema tends 

to place women as the symbol of steadfastness, not just the suffering of the nation, but its 

defiance against erasure (Naficy, 2001). This reflects a broader trend in Palestinian films, 

which emerged in the 1960s and aimed to document and assert Palestinian cinematic 

representations of displacement, identity, and resistance in response to marginalization. 

One example of this is Divine Intervention (2002), directed by Elia Suleiman, 

and Omar (2013), directed by Hany Abu-Assad, which use satire, allegory, and drama to 

contradict hegemonic discourses and offer other ways of looking at the conflict (Dabashi, 

2006). Through this lens, cinema serves as a form of cultural resistance and a platform 

for preserving collective memories and constructing national identities (Gertz & Khleifi, 

2008). 

Israeli film has also changed as a reflection of the shift in society's perspective of the 

national story. Early Zionist films depicted ‘heroic’ pioneers establishing a homeland, but 

the "New Israeli Cinema" movement of the 1980s began to take a more critical approach. 

Movies such as Waltz with Bashir (2008) by Ari Folman and The Bubble (2006) by Eytan 

Fox deal with themes of trauma and moral ambiguity and how the conflict has affected 

the individual and sometimes even challenges some of the base ideals of Zionism (Yosef, 

2011; Shohat, 1992). As usual, women's representation in Israeli film is often limited to 

the roles of mothers or nation builders. However, the new wave of cinema has started 

breaking these patriarchal boundaries and denouncing state militarism, thus offering a 

more nuanced construction of women’s societal roles (Morag, 2013). 

The purpose of this research is to analyze the processes of subordination and 

differentiation of gendered identities as found in Palestinian and Israeli cinemas, with a 

particular focus on the representation of conflict and construction of ‘the screen’ as a 

domain of cultural struggle in which narrative of identity, resistance, and nation are 

performed. Through the analysis of these movies, this research demonstrates that the films 

are not only conveying stories but are helping to mold and challenge the social and 

political discourses of gender and identity in the context of the continual Palestinian-

Israeli conflict. 

Under this specific framework of comparative literature, literary works are not examined 

as texts to be compared between cultures. Instead, the film theory of feminism and 



 

3 

cultural studies are synthesized in an interdisciplinary manner. H. Remak and the 

American school of comparative literature claim that one element of a comparativist study 

must consist of literature. Nevertheless, more advanced shifts in the culture and 

comparison studies perceive cinema as an important storytelling vehicle which can 

articulate a nation’s identity, gender, or politics. This dissertation is also granted this 

scholarship with the argument of its treatment of cinematography as literature. The aim 

of the research is to analyze the politically motivated construction and representation of 

gender roles and identities in visual narratives by looking at film only. 

In this study, no written literary texts are analyzed, but the films selected serve as narrative 

constructs. Their storytelling is conveyed through cinematic narration in imagery, spatial 

dimensions, rhythm, mise-en-scène, and editing. This constitutes a medium along which 

visual forms of prose convey narrative techniques. This also implies that traditional 

literary prose will not be the primary focus during the analysis.  

As this research solely focuses on the analysis of films, it is necessary to highlight that 

this analysis does not rely on literary adaptations, since the comparison focuses on the 

use of gendered identity and politics within the storyline of the film and its visualization.  

1.2 Problem Statement  

Several scholars have been interested in the portrayal of women in Palestinian and Israeli 

cinema; however, that interest has yet to be limited (Yaqub, 2018; Drainville & Saeed, 

2017). This study tries to add something to the existing scholarship by exploring the 

concepts of women in movies in this setting. The study has two specific aims: addressing 

the vacuum in the literature regarding the systematic examination of women’s portrayals 

in film and considering the likely consequences of such portrayals for the prevalent social 

constructs about femininity within the setting of the conflict. 

Although the function of cinema in building cultural narratives and social attitudes is 

absolute, investigations such as (Yaqub, 2018; Drainville & Saeed, 2017) reveal that 

much more effort is needed. The present study attempts an answer to the question of 

women’s portrayal representation by evaluating visual and narrative as well as symbolic 

components in the movies that revolve around Palestinian and Israeli conflicts. The 

depictions of women are not merely artistic decisions for filmmakers; these can either 

reproduce or question the prevailing conventions and preconceptions (Yosef, 2017). The 



 

4 

objective of this research is to explore whether these portrayals of women move away 

from the cinema standard and develop alternative pictures of women, which in turn will 

impact the perception of women in the context of the conflict. 

In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is rife with political and cultural 

frictions, the role of women in film provides a general overview of the society's state of 

affairs (Jamal & Lavie, 2023; Nashef, 2016; Steir-Livny, 2016). This study examines the 

construction of women in film and assesses the extent to which it reproduces or resists 

established gender norms and stereotypes, thus explaining their role in gender relations 

and societal conceptualizations. These issues being understood, this research influences 

sociocultural studies of war, film, and gender in the sense of bringing focus to women in 

many spheres over building and shaping values in the context of a geopolitical 

environment. 

The field of comparative literature has focused on literary works of text as primary objects 

for analysis. Nevertheless, this study adopts a broader approach on "textuality" and aligns 

with previously mentioned definitions of literature that encompasses film texts as 

narrative forms. The films studied in this research perform some of the functions of 

literary texts. They construct cultural identities, narrate historical memory, and mirror 

ideological conflicts. Examining these films using feminist and postcolonial theories—

typically employed in literary analysis—ensures the thesis remains within the boundaries 

of comparative literature while at the same time advancing its interdisciplinary 

development. 

1.3 Objective of the Study  

The study’s objectives are crafted to align with the research systematically towards 

achieving a comprehensive study of the images of women within the context of the 

Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Palestinian and Israeli films: 

1. Conduct a comparative study on the depiction of women in Palestinian and Israeli 

cinema. 

2. Explore the association between the representation of women in film and the 

dominant socio-political discourse in that context. 



 

5 

3. Examine the portrayal of women in relation to the construction or deconstruction of 

gender norms in and through film. 

4. Analyze the representation of women in relation to gender, class, and ethnicity within 

the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

1.4 Research Questions  

The following research questions will guide this study: 

1. What are the common and distinct ways women are portrayed in Palestinian and 

Israeli cinema? 

2. In what ways do these representations impact or correspond to the socio-political 

discourse in the respective society? 

3. Do these representations of women influence traditional perceptions of femininity, 

and what is the social impact? 

4. In what ways do class and ethnicity combine with gender in the representation of 

women in Palestinian and Israeli cinema? 

1.5 Significance of the Study  

The research on the role of women in films produced within the frame of the Israeli-

Palestinian conflict is essential and valuable for several reasons. First, it addresses a 

significant literature gap by analyzing women’s visual and symbolic representations in 

these cultural and political contexts. This research aims to understand how gender 

relations are constructed in the context of the conflict and, additionally, to determine how 

such images relate to popular masculine ideals. 

This research discusses how women’s portrayal formulates the national narrative and how 

national identity is developed through cinema in Palestinian and Israeli communities. The 

interdisciplinary outlook shows a great deal more regarding how women are represented 

through the lenses of gender, class and ethnicity and it also highlights the reality of 

women’s experiences.  

This work is relevant for understanding social transformation. Such discourses can uphold 

or undermine conventional notions associated with masculinity and femininity and thus 

engage in more nuanced gender-responsive discourses within both societies. The context 



 

6 

is needed because it illustrates how film authors use images, time, and social structures 

to portray the changing dynamics of cinema and culture. 

1.6 Literature Review 

This literature review will focus on the multifaceted portrayal of women in films produced 

in Palestine and Israel with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Such examination 

relies on feminist film theory, cultural studies, and intersectionality to investigate gender 

in these films beyond the pictorial representation into the larger social, cultural, and 

political frameworks. 

1.7 Previous Studies 

Feminists such as (Modleski, 2015; Elsaesser & Hager, 2015) provide a perspective that 

cannot be ignored in understanding how women are portrayed. Modleski, in his analysis 

of Hitchcock, shows how women are images for the delight of a presumed male 

audience—this is a theoretical understanding of the ' male gaze’. This is another 

perspective that is built upon by Elsaesser & Hagener, who focus on the more sensory, 

human aspects of the film. These theories are key in explaining how the Palestinian and 

Israeli cinemas uphold or critique these representations of women in the images and 

sounds throughout the films. 

The concept of the 'male gaze’ is further advanced by Oliver (2017), who argues that 

traditional cinema tends to offer a sense of voyeurism, which also places the camera at 

the service of a heterosexual male audience. Their bodies and facial features are often 

regarded as objects, either seen in long/medium shots or neglected, making women appear 

as mere background props on screen. These outdated conventions are crucial in shaping 

how reforms in the treatment and the role of women on screen are envisaged in modern 

society, with such imaging already commencing in the past. 

In contemporary feminism, the availability of intersectionality allows to focus on how 

gender as a social category is connected with race, class, and ethnicity in forming 

women’s history and narratives. As Sutherland & Feltey (2017) argue, an intersectional 

feminist perspective is necessary to analyze Palestinian and Israeli films. In this context, 

the question is pursued, inquiring whether the representation of women in films endorses 

the stereotypes or subverts them by displaying their realistic depictions amidst warfare. 



 

7 

This approach enables the heterogeneity of women to be represented and explores their 

accounts as not simply uncomplicated but challenging the boundaries of what is expected 

from women of their race. 

The intersection of cinema studies and theories related to the post-colonial discourse is 

equally vital for analyzing identity and power issues in Palestinian and Israeli cinema.It 

is also beneficial to assess Edward Said’s Orientalism theory to determine whether these 

films are functional in perpetuating or challenging Orientalist views and if Palestinian 

and Israeli cinema reinforce or challenge such representations. For example, (Ball, 2012; 

Soleimani Sasani, 2021) ask the question as to whether images of film from the region 

participate in the articulation of national identities or challenge the colonial representation, 

providing clues to the complex interrelationship between film and cultural politics. 

The contribution of culture to film analysis, specifically Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding 

model, is that it engages with audiences and how they interpret such cultural products. As 

per Drainville and Saeed's (2017) paper, filmmakers 'encode' meanings in movies for the 

audience to 'decode' the way society sees them culturally. This audience reception 

approach provides a richer groundwork for an exploration of how Palestinian and Israeli 

spectators read representations of women, especially in the socio-political context of the 

Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sutherland & Feltey (2017) look at how different audiences 

receive these representations, and thus, the social influence of film images of gender roles 

in this conflict-ridden environment can be studied. 

Developing an understanding of Palestinian and Israeli cinema participation cannot 

happen without addressing the intersection of cinema studies. This assertion is 

particularly true when women’s representations are analyzed. Mrenmoi (2022) also points 

out that to comprehend the complex series of identities associated with women, one needs 

to consider the intersection of gender with race, class, and ethnicity. This paradigm makes 

it possible to address the issues of women’s involvement in creating Palestinian and 

Israeli cinema and build an understanding of the women in question’s social reality, who 

are located in and experience multiple contexts. Analysis of such intersectional identities 

brings out the diversity and complexity of women’s experiences that are often 

oversimplified in the portrayal of women in the mainstream media. 



 

8 

Yosef’s (2017) focus is on contemporary Israeli women's cinema and how relevant 

sociopolitical reasons shape the visibility of gender differences within the trauma that is 

being dealt with. In turn, Jamal & Lavie (2023) concern themselves with the ethical issues 

that Palestinian models take into account when acting in the Israeli cinematography. This 

kind of development suggests the difficulties that minority voice artists have to cope with 

in the framework of the cultural industries. These studies investigate the history of 

narrative images in art with its film parts, which are most often dedicated to 

disempowerment as well as the loss of faith and hope. 

Investigating emotions within a territory also provides some extra dimension to the 

unique styles of this part of the world. Yaqub (2018) focuses on the beginning of 

Palestinian cinema during the times of the revolution and gives ample information that 

helps to substantiate the development of themes in Palestinian movies. Broadening 

Nashef’s (2016) analysis of Hany Abu-Assad’s works, how, in the film, the right to bear 

the national identity of Palestine is stripped off people, and what the Palestinian 

filmmakers skirted around—the dominant representations. These studies view cinema as 

a resistant culture: the oppressed tell their stories by manipulating the dominating 

narratives. 

Ben Labidi (2021), on the other hand, cites the term “cinema of the oppressed” as an 

important reference point in his analysis of Palestinian and Israeli cinematic works 

concerning resistance. The transformative scope of cinema demonstrates that women in 

these films can become more than mere subjects but agents of social change. Women 

energized by the protagonists of the films that transgress societal boundaries will dispel 

and reorient gender narratives, and cinema will be a medium of female empowerment. 

Cohen’s (2016) “Israeli-Palestinian Literature as History: Interpreting Literature and Film” 

studies how Orientalism, poetry, and biopolitics are presented in the culture and how film 

can withstand these repressive forms using strong narratives and symbols. 

Through this literature review, the author traces the role of film as an integral part of 

cultural and political disputes, with a specific focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. 

Considering several theoretical approaches, this review offers a wider framework for the 

analysis of gender construction in the specific sociopolitical setting of Palestinian and 

Israeli cinema. Television, women’s images in these films especially, become an 



 

9 

important instrument for the study of complex gender relationships developed under 

conditions of historical provocations and conflicts. Such a comparative work brings about 

a dramatic contribution to feminist and cultural studies. It only serves to provide a deeper 

perspective of how films are used or shaped concerning the social ideals and aspirations 

of the people relative to the context of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. 

1.8 Conclusion  

The cinematic culture and social systems are not as simple as binaries, especially 

narrating stories of women and their representations in Palestinian and Israeli films. In 

this regard, it is evident that films are not merely narrating a story but also an 

intersectional space where culture, politics, as well as gender are functioning (Abu-

Lughod, 1998; Shohat, 1989). More often, Palestinian films depict struggles of 

occupation focusing on resistance, survival, and identity, casting women at the focal point 

of both the national and personal movement (Gertz & Khleifi, 2008). On the other side, 

the Israeli film industry depicts the nature of its own geopolitics while avoiding the 

greater picture of Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its broader dynamics (Shohat, 1992).  

At the same time, however, representation and popular decodes of gender through cinema 

have been articulated in such studies (Mulvey, 2013; Yosef, 2011). The feminist 

perspectives were crucial for understanding the agency of women and how they dealt with 

social and institutional circumstances within two different cinematic cultures (Gertz & 

Khleifi, 2008). There are still many unanswered questions, such as the effects of gender 

and culture on other comparative studies. 

 

  



 

10 

Chapter Two 

Methodology 

This research uses a qualitative approach to looking at women's portrayals through the 

lens of Palestinian and Israeli films. Using this methodology aims to qualitatively explore 

film images within a wider scope of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

2.1 Research Design  

The present study utilizes a comparative qualitative research framework based on 

feminist film theory and cultural analysis. In this context, the comparative approach 

moves beyond the mere consideration of the relation of likeness and divergence between 

films to focus on how gender roles and identity along with resistance are constructed in 

and through two national cinemas—Palestine and Israel. The comparison is thematic, 

visual, and ideological, drawing on Laura Mulvey’s male gaze and later feminist 

scholarship, intersectionality, and postcolonial thought. With these aids, the research 

seeks to understand how films reinforce or contest prevailing socio-political narratives. 

2.1.1 Feminist Film Theory 

Feminist Film Theory of the ’70s and ’80s examines the gendered stereotypes in film and 

seeks to demolish the patriarchal image and role of women in the film in favor of new, 

more equitable standards. A concept outlined by Laura Mulvey, the ' male gaze’, is a 

starting point in these studies where societies and their views of male ideology are 

represented in the context of film. The male gaze describes how women are often 

presented in mainstream cinema from the perspective of the heterosexual male audience. 

This gaze is reinforced by filmic techniques that focus on the female form and frequently 

relegate women to the passive (Oliver, 2017; Mulvey, 2013; Mulvey, 2013). 

This research combines feminist film theory with analyzing women's portrayals in 

Palestinian and Israeli films, inquiring if the movie challenges or upholds the male gaze. 

It is crucial to investigate how confident and specific film choices may conform to or 

contest the established gender roles (Elsaesser & Hagener, 2015). Even though feminist 

film theory has transformed into a more intersectional one, it remains a loose umbrella 

term because gender was never feasible as an exclusive analysis category. Instead, it must 

be integrated with other social hierarchy categories – ethnicity, class, race, etc. Also, the 



 

11 

intersectional approach, as Sutherland & Feltey (2017) define it, will be utilized in 

determining how women are represented in the Israeli and Palestinian cinemas in these 

relatively complex levels of social identities, particularly the ethnically charged Israeli-

Palestinian conflict. 

Not only that, but the theory also accounts for the fact that cinema can subvert socially 

constructed gender roles, and filmmakers could sometimes offer images of strong, 

complex women that contradict the male gaze (Freeland, 2017). This particular study will 

see if Palestinian and Israeli films contest such representations and if they offer a more 

nuanced and liberating image of women. Concerning visual and narrative strategies, this 

thesis seeks to contribute to the feminist discourse on cinema by examining how the role 

of women is represented in films set against the backdrop of political instability and active 

conflict. 

The scope of this investigation is anchored to a distinct set of cinematic texts devoid of 

corresponding literary counterparts. The analysis places emphasis on how gendered 

identities and political themes are visually represented and constructed through the 

narrative in film. Moreover, this study does not include literary texts, but considers films 

as rich cultural narratives, films, and applies interdisciplinary comparative methods that 

encompass visual representation within the framework of sociopolitical identity 

construction. 

In summary, the method integrates comparative analysis (cross-national and cross-

cultural) with close reading of film texts utilizing feminist and intersectional theories to 

visualize, thematize, and symbolically critique feminist intersections. This guarantees that 

the comparative approach goes beyond description and merges deep analysis with theory. 

2.2 Data Collection 

2.2.1 Film Selection 

The Palestinian films being discussed in this research include Huda’s Salon and Salt of 

this Sea, while the Israeli films include Seven Blessings and Zero Motivation. The films 

were all chosen for having a specific representation of women within the Palestinian and 

Israeli socio-political context. While there is a remarkable amount of diversity in the 

genres and themes of all the films, there is a common inclusivity in the ranging 



 

12 

experiences of women—showing how women experience suffering and how multiple 

identities are constructed through occupation and struggle for nationhood and identity. 

These films have been chosen to answer the social and cultural issues surrounding the 

context as well as capture the representation of women’s agency, resistance, and roles 

within society. 

Huda's Salon and Salt of this Sea are both Palestinian films that analyze women’s agency 

within the framework of the Israeli occupation. Huda’s Salon focuses on a character who 

is trapped in a cycle of betrayal and resistance and brings to the fore the surviving 

strategies and moral predicaments women encounter in wartime contexts. Salt of this Sea 

deals with Soraya, a Palestinian American woman, returning to Palestine in search of her 

grandfather’s money which symbolizes a more intimate struggle of reclaiming one’s roots 

and identity within the context of overpowering political narratives. 

Seven Blessings and Zero Motivation are Israeli films which highlight women’s issues set 

in the traditional and the military frameworks. In Seven Blessings, the female main 

character is shown grappling with her family and cultural expectations, showcasing the 

impacts of custom, femininity, and identity. Zero Motivation as a military satire 

showcases Israeli women in the military from a more humorous yet critical lens about 

gender dynamics in the armed force society. 

Although these four films stem from different cultural and national settings, their 

adoption is valid regarding the common examination of women’s position in societies 

marked by conflict, nationalism, and occupation. This thesis is an attempt to analyze the 

narratives of both Palestinians and Israelis in order to discuss the figurative 

representations of women as constructs of opposition, endurance, and social order. The 

films also illustrate the varying constructions of women’s agency—victims versus 

resistors—thereby enabling an analysis of the intersections of gender, identity, and power 

within the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. 

This strategy enables one to appreciate the dual nature of cinema as a means of 

entertainment and a potent influence in transforming social attitudes toward women, 

especially in relation to war, conflict, and peacemaking. This analysis attempts to 

illustrate the value of film as a means of nation-building and, especially, ethnicity and 

gender formation in spaces of conflict and suffering. 



 

13 

2.2.2 Data Sources 

Primary data includes visuals and narrative content of the selected films, including 

characters, dialogues, camera work, and themes. Feminist film theory and film studies in 

general concerning Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers become secondary sources in this 

research, including focusing on women's issues. The study has also borrowed from 

cultural studies in assessing the reception of the audiences and how the viewers from both 

societies may understand the representation of women in motion pictures. 

2.3 Data Analysis 

The analytical framework adopted for this particular thesis combines different strategies 

to capture the nuances of women’s imaging in Palestinian and Israeli cinema. These films 

are located within the realm of the Israeli Palestinian conflict and therefore, there is a 

need to understand the multifaceted and broad scope of how gender, identity, resistance, 

and power dynamics are interwoven. For this purpose, this study employs a mixture of 

different approaches including thematic analysis, characterization, visual tropes, feminist 

and male gaze theory, intersectionality. 

This thesis applies thematic analysis as described by Braun & Clarke (2006) which entails 

marked interpretation and analysis of patterns of meaning (themes) across the data. 

Within the context of this study, the data comprises of cinematic texts, and the themes 

pertain to gendered resistance, agency, identity, and power. Thematic analysis is more 

than content description; it queries how some meanings are woven together, repeated, and 

framed ideologically within narratives. As such, the study does not simply describe 

content such as violence or oppression, but explores how these elements operate 

thematically within the narrative logic of each film and its surrounding culture. 

Each of the analyses provides insight on the dominant socio-political context around 

which the films were produced, and shaped women’s representation in these films. 

Thematic analyses examine the dominant narratives and overarching themes presented in 

the films, and particularly, how the identity of the female protagonists are constructed and 

deconstructed within these narratives. Characterization and visual tropes are concerned 

with the construction of the actresses portraying the female roles and examine their 

portrayals as active participants or victims within the national and personal conflicts.  



 

14 

In this analysis, “narrative image” describes how the visual elements of a film—camera 

techniques, framing, lighting, and mise-en-scène—express narrative meaning in a film 

beyond dialogue and action. It arises from the notion that film is not just an occurrence 

but a collection of images organized systematically to depict a story. The “narrative 

image” signifies a form of visual encapsulation that portrays an image infused with 

ideological, emotional, and cultural complex layers.  

The research focuses on the storytelling functions of the photograph’s border by its 

division with respect to frame composition and viewing angle concerning the subject 

matter as to how the spectator is introduced to a particular image of feminism, social 

order, identity politics, and hierarchy of power. Such idea connects to feminist theory of 

the gaze, mainly Mulvey’s (2013) gaze analysis, as well as postcolonial theory which 

interrogates whose narratives are rendered visible and whose are omitted. The study 

painstakingly scrutinizes selected scenes to uncover the construction, limitation, or visual 

resistance of women’s agency in narrative images. 

2.3.1 Analysis of Palestinian Cinema 

The study of Palestinian cinema centers on the themes, characterizations, and visual 

motifs in films like Huda's Salon and Salt of this Sea. In these films, through complex 

characters, women become symbols of national resistance and identity. They do not only 

remain as single women facing the challenges but as women who bear the symbols of a 

national struggle against the occupation. 

This critique draws from feminist film theory and seeks to understand how these films do 

or do not ‘satisfy the male gaze,’ from where women are often portrayed as possessing 

agency instead of being seen as sexual objects. Also, feminist frameworks accentuate how 

Palestinian women experience multiple heritages and compounded forms of oppression 

arising above sexism, ethnicity, and socioeconomic deprivation.  

2.3.2 Analysis of Israeli Cinema 

The Israeli films Seven Blessings and Zero Motivation represent women and how they 

can maneuver within the boundaries of Israeli societal expectations of gender roles. The 

thematic analysis focuses on traditional gender norms and the tension between 



 

15 

individuality and societal duty, particularly in family life and military service contexts. 

These characters liberate and imprison a society torn between the traditional and modern. 

Using feminist film theory, the analysis reveals the male gaze and how it constructs 

images of women, only allowing the female to be the object of the gaze, thus relegating 

women to the status of objects in the domestic or public sphere. Intersectional analysis 

reveals ethnic and class-based hierarchies, especially among Ashkenazi and Mizrahi 

women, to demonstrate how social stratification impacts representation.  

2.3.3 Comparative Analysis 

In addressing the two cinemas, there was a clear contrast in the representation of women 

between the Israeli and the Palestinian cinemas. Palestinian films seek to emphasize 

women as ideal national persistences, whereas Israeli cinema tends to encircle women 

with ideals of obedience and traditional roles. Palestinian women are always presented as 

icons of collective identity and resistance, and Israeli women are often the symbol of 

personal ambition and individuality. These themes of agency, visual representation, and 

gender roles in militaristic and patrilineal contexts are the focus of this comparison. 

Additionally, the visual portrayal of the female body varies, with Palestinian cinema often 

emphasizing agency and Israeli cinema more frequently engaging with objectification, 

underscoring different approaches to gender representation within each cultural context. 

For instance, as portrayed in Salt of this Sea, Soraya is shown as a tenacious woman 

seeking to reclaim her identity and defy both political and patriarchal systems of 

oppression. Under occupation, women are still portrayed as having agency, though the 

choices they face, like in Huda’s Salon, are morally ambiguous. Unlike the previous 

examples, Israeli cinema, as in Seven Blessings, seems to sustain an objectifying view of 

women and regressive gender roles. Mintz observes that women are often confined to 

clichéd portrayals — mothers, brides, or submissive figures enduring life in a patriarchal 

world. (Yosef, 2011; Shohat, 1989) provide supporting evidence, arguing that mainstream 

Israeli cinema has neglected the portrayal of women’s agency by subsuming them into 

predetermined narratives of nationalism or family. 

  



 

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2.4 Comparative Narratology 

Though the study does not engage with any particular works of literature, it falls under 

the umbrella of comparative narratology, a genre that arose in the mid-1990s thanks to 

scholars like José Ángel García Landa and Susana Onega (2020). Comparative 

narratology expands the scope of classical narrative theory to include non-verbal, visual 

forms, particularly film. This perspective enables scholars to explore storytelling across 

different media—for example, how a novel “tells” a story through language, in 

comparison to how a film “shows” a story through images, sound, and montage. 

Within such a framework, cinematic storytelling is not regarded as secondary or 

derivative, but as a parallel, equally intricate systems of narrative. Elements of the 

narrative such as the narrator, perspective, dialogue, temporality and focalization have 

their cinematic counterparts as well. These parts are referred to as camera movement, 

mise-en-scène, framing, editing, sound, and even the positioning of the viewer. They 

serve identical purposes to the literary techniques for constructing personas, articulating 

conflict, communicating themes, and evoking emotions in the audience, whether they be 

readers or viewers. 

Consequently, the analysis presented in this thesis follows the reasoning of media 

narrative transfer. When study refers to terms like "narrative image" or "visual tropes," it 

means to denote images of more than aesthetic dimension which convey a story, create 

temporality, and organize meaning. These images are ձեռանդ զambana not as simple 

images but processed as cinematic analogues to literary narrative techniques. 

There is a chronological and a comparative time frame, with the first forming the basis 

for the second. The philosophy of film and comparative narratology serves this endeavor. 

It provides a rationale for considering cinema as a narrative such as literature, as a unitary 

construction without losing sight of other cultures—in this instance, Palestinian and 

Israeli. While the focus is narrow and the framework exclusively cinematic, tools of 

literary analysis (theme, structure, voice, gender perspective, cultural conflict) are 

applicable and used. This reasoning justifies the study’s placement in comparative 

literature while also expanding its boundaries. 

 



 

17 

Chapter Three 

Analysis 

3.1 Introduction  

This chapter seeks to compare the perspectives of women depicted in Palestinian and 

Israeli movies using four cinematic works—Huda's Salon, Salt of this Sea, Seven 

Blessings, and Zero Motivation. Such films’ narratives of women as characters, the 

chapter argues, can be situated in certain historical, political, and social contexts. 

Adopting a thematic perspective triad that incorporates feminist film theory, this chapter 

will try to unravel the complexities that define the female characters in these movies and 

their affirmation and challenges to broader cultural and historical narratives. This analysis 

also attempts to highlight the divergences in the ways Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers 

grapple with the intersections of gender, politics, and cultural identity, thus enabling a 

better understanding of the experiences of women as conceived in the cinematic traditions 

of these two, though distinct yet interrelated cultures. 

3.2 Palestinian Cinema 

In the case of Palestinian societies, the national causes seem to encourage extreme 

paternalistic nationalism, which tends to render the voices of women even more marginal 

while at the same time placing them into a particular set of symbolic frames. Women are 

not simply social actors who are preoccupied with love tension problems because they 

are the source of such tension and others’ focus among the oppressed people. Combining 

politics with gendered activism or cultural persistence is a further thread that runs 

throughout the artworks. The representations are multifaceted as they challenge gender 

binaries but also highlight the resilience and autonomy of Palestinian women in the face 

of obliteration. 

Women’s active engagement with the occupation is foregrounded in both Huda’s Salon 

and Salt of this Sea. The films focus on the occupation in terms of the oppression and 

silencing of women as a part of the grander scheme of political conflicts. Such narratives 

explore topics of identity, power, and defiance and succeed at providing a nuanced 

portrayal of how Palestinian women orient themselves within such an intricate life and 

broader society. 



 

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A. Huda’s Salon  

Huda’s Salon, which was directed by Hany Abu-Assad, occupies a unique position in 

Palestinian cinema as it addresses, somewhat in a more overt sense, the Israeli occupation 

and its influences on Palestinian individuals and social interactions. It is set in Bethlehem 

and tells a very different story of betrayal about a hairdresser, Huda, who is an undercover 

agent for Mossad. Huda, for instance, blackmails Reem, one of her clients whose photo 

Huda has taken while setting her up, and threatens to show it to Reem's husband if she 

does not work for Huda as an informant. Such scenes illustrate how the occupation 

purports to inflict even the subtlest of details in the life of a Palestinian, a woman, for 

instance, even the aspect of family bonds in society. 

One main motif of Huda’s Salon is how the two women self-sacrificially battle betrayal 

and the constant threat of being overtaken rather than hate the occupation that hangs upon 

their heads like a sword. The experiences of Huda and Reem reveal how Abu-Assad 

speaks against the use of real politics and exploitation of social interaction concerning the 

impact of the occupation. In exploring these themes, the movie shows the not-so-obvious 

but omnipresent violence of occupation, invisibly dominating and splintering Palestinian 

society. 

Huda's Salon exemplifies the portrayal of occupations and their impact on individuals 

and society in Palestine as a case study of the Palestinian cinematic representations. The 

theme revolves mainly around the subjugation of women, which is fascinating precisely 

because it illustrates the particular plights that Palestinian women experience under 

occupation, such as being forced into marriages and simply possessing no authority over 

their existence. The moral dilemmas posed by Huda’s betrayal and the subtle depiction 

of collaboration under coercion offer a different perspective in understanding the social 

cleavages of occupation. 

In this film, Palestinian women are typically depicted as modest, and nudity or sexual 

violence, especially when about Palestinians, are red lines. This decision has become very 

controversial because it brings up the issue of whether or not these images empower 

women by exposing their objectification or degrading them even more. These 

controversial elements invite reflection on whether these graphic depictions underscore 



 

19 

the dehumanizing effects of occupation or inadvertently reduce women’s experiences to 

aspects of shock, complicating the film's political intent. 

The discussions prompted by Huda’s Salon, primarily the issue of how Palestinian 

women are represented in the movie and the questions the movie raised about cooperation 

with the occupation, serve as sites of debates within Palestinian society regarding the 

questions of identity, the concept of resistance and how both external and internal 

contexts influence individuals to make certain choices. This is a film about the intricacies 

of Palestinian identity politics – about ‘living in the margins,’ about the politics of 

survival with dignity, and the effects of ‘the struggle’ on individuals and their 

relationships with others. 

One pivotal moment that stands out in the dim light of Huda’s Salon instance, which 

spectacularly conveys the degree to which the occupation controls the psyche, is when 

Reem, captured by Huda, comes to and begins to notice that she is in danger of being 

exposed. The salon, a space that is traditionally feminine and associated with safety, is 

transformed into a space of betrayal and captivity. Close-ups of Reem convey her 

disempowerment and terror, reinforcing the argument that occupation militarizes even 

private, mundane settings. The absence of Israeli face for most of the film is, in a 

paradoxical sense, striking in light of the omnipresent Israeli control which is exercised 

through Palestinian collaborators such as Huda, illustrating Abu-Assad’s concern with 

fragmentation from within directed from outside. In the words of Gertz & Khleifi (2008), 

Palestinian cinema often depicts the violence of occupation not on the battlefield, but 

rather through its violent intrusion into the most intimate aspects of personal and public 

life.  

In contrast to losing their power in society, scholars considered how Huda's Salon defies 

the dominant stereotypes of Palestinian women in cinema. Huda's salon and its impact 

on thought is examined by Nashef (2013) who argues that in the work of Abu- Asssad, 

there is a deviation where one finds suspicious female characters who are noted to be both 

the victims and agents of suffering imposed upon them. Huda is deemed as multilateral 

since though she is morally condemned for her betrayal, she is also presented as a woman 

formed by violence and structural hopelessness. 

 



 

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1) Cinematic Representations and Visuals  

a) Thematic Analysis 

Huda, a Palestinian woman who collaborates with Israeli intelligence, betrays her people 

under the Israeli occupation’s deep-rooted psychological and social impacts, which the 

film Huda’s Salon vividly portrays. The film illustrates a notion that spaces which we 

consider to be safe and private, like a hair salon in Bethlehem, in this case, Huda’s Salon, 

can protected spaces become battlegrounds under unavoidable control. The 

aforementioned example of Reem demonstrates the erosion of trust occupied 

communities need within themselves (Gertz & Khleifi, 2008). 

The character of Huda shows lost autonomy: her defiance manifests as preservation in 

life shaped by colonial violence. Contrarily, Reem, though exposed, does not abandon 

others, thus defying her vulnerability and personifying defiance as fidelity. Examining 

these two opposing decisions allows the filmmaker to showcase the effects of occupation 

on immorality and identity. 

Patriarchy and colonial occupation are one of the core themes of the film, especially the 

way they politicize women’s bodies and identities. Huda’s Salon does not depict her 

betrayal of her people as treachery but rather under tragic circumstances wrought by 

systemic oppression, therefore portraying her as a victim of the oppression of colonial 

power (Nashef, 2016). Agamben’s idea of bare life, wherein human agency is reduced to 

nothing under dire circumstances, is relevant here because Huda’s life has become merely 

a matter of existence. 

Huda’s Salon explores the ideas of betrayal, coercion, and fragmented identities in the 

context of a politically charged Bethlehem hair salon. Through close-up cinematography 

and strong lightingth, the film expresses the themes of surveillance and betrayal. Reem’s 

character manages to hold on to some dignity under pressure; in turn, Huda’s betrayal 

demonstrates how agency is distorted under colonial systems of control. 

The framework proposed by Braun & Clarke (2006) provides a useful distinction between 

the thematic patterns of internalized oppression and external domination. Reem and Huda 

operate as oppositional poles within a narrative that balances the ethical dilemmas of 



 

21 

survival. Reem’s refusal to collaborate with the oppressors stands as a thematic 

declaration of integrity, while Huda represents moral decay. 

The salon space, traditionally feminine and communal, becomes a zone of capture. This 

visual storytelling emphasizes how spaces meant for providing care can be taken over by 

state power, as Gertz & Khleifi (2008) argue concerning the ever-present occupation in 

Palestinian life.  

A further theme is the politicization of femininity. Huda’s active roles of forcing women 

into sexual encounters turns the body against itself and the nation—using the flesh as a 

weapon. This shows complex violence that is gendered, colonial, and psychological 

violence, thus rendering the film a multifaceted narrative of resistance and trauma, as 

analyzed by Nashef (2016) in his study of post-Intifada cinema.  

The film also addresses silence as complicity and resistance. The combination of the 

surveillance and control apparatus suffocating the space Reem occupies suggests a 

narrative whereby silence is commentary—of fear, of submission, and of moral fortitude. 

This enriches the psychological realism of the film and shifts the lens on fragility towards 

strength. 

b) Characterization  

In Huda’s Salon, the filmmakers attempt to engage more with the relationships between 

gender, resistance, and survival with regard to the occupation. It  is mainly about the two 

characters dominating the entire movie, Huda and Reem. The film emphasizes the 

differences in the perspectives of these women and their psychological and ethical 

dilemmas as a result of the occupation and the society in which they live. 

Huda is also a complex character with self-defining moral ambiguities who, at first, comes 

across as an empowered beauty salon owner. The truth is, this empowerment is only 

superficial because she uses her beauty parlor as a cover so that she can work with Israelis, 

blackmailing Palestinian women to be informers. This kind of betrayal also shows how 

the different pressures of occupation can put a strain on the moral fiber of a person and 

push him/her into doing things that are detrimental to their society. Moore argues that 

such narratives construct women as postcolonial subjects lacking agency: female 



 

22 

characters are boxed into breach of the enduring freeze in the cooperation paradox; 

collaboration becomes subsumed under coercion and systemic design. 

It is the life of Huda that portrays some of the most profound, painful, and tragic sacrifices 

that some people have to make in order to live through oppressive regimes where loyalty 

and ethics often have no clear line. 

At one point, Huda takes advantage of a young woman named Reem, who is a mother 

who tries to take a break by drugging her and taking inappropriate photographs. Huda 

then uses these images to blackmail Reem into becoming a tissue assistant. This kind of 

treachery is an eye-opener that reveals the oppressive forces at play in the context. Huda’s 

efforts to request the women to betray their people are not in vain; she is cruel, and now 

it is clear what this tribe turns out to be. Everything related to their identity has been 

diluted and decayed. 

As the narrative of colonial occupation deepens within the characters in Huda’s Salon, so 

does the exploration into how the occupation permeates into the lives of women and how 

colonial and paternalistic societies abuse and exploit them. Huda’s behavior is a sensorial 

illustration of how occupied people become suspicious and turn into a subhuman that 

betrays his society. This fragmentation also serves the colonizers’ interests because it 

diffuses collective resistance and sows internal strife. This encapsulates Shohat’s (1989) 

take on Israeli-Palestinian cultural production and its cyclical nature concerned with 

internal disunity and monitoring, targeted particularly in relation to community cohesion 

through spatial and relational control of gender. Yet, the film also proves that even when 

the circumstances are too harsh, an individual, in this case, Reem, is capable of resisting 

and remaining intact without being worn out by betrayal. 

c) Visual Tropes 

Huda’s Salon portrays women aesthetically using various techniques such as camera 

angles, lighting, and framing while simultaneously examining even the impact of 

occupation in women’s life and the theme of power and control over them. Throughout 

the film, particularly in the salon sequences, the camera is placed close enough to the 

actors to almost make the viewer feel as if they are sitting too close for comfort; this type 

of camera position enhances the dramatic conflict and increases the sense of vulnerability. 



 

23 

Such as, when Huda drugs Reem and takes pictures of her- the close-up of Reem's face 

shows her fear and lack of control, and Huda's close-ups show her cold, calculatedness. 

Lighting underscores character contrasts: Huda is often under harsh fluorescent lights, 

and the shadows make her seem more morally corrupt. By contrast, Reem is depicted in 

softer lighting, especially in scenes with her child, symbolizing her resilience and 

nurturing nature. Even camera angles express the balance of power; Huda is always 

filmed from a low angle to emphasize her authority, and Reem, on the other hand, is 

filmed from a neutral or high angle to show her weakness. 

The salon, a girly place, is turned into an environment of treachery through the eyes. 

Mirrors and reflections of things are false anyway, and there are scenes where Huda takes 

a picture of Reem, which again plays into the falsehood of the beauty salon. That is 

playing with the eyes, though, messing with what has been considered safe feminine 

environments, and it questions the whole idea of gender and how it is used as a tool, even 

in these environments. Through these visual choices, the movie criticizes the gender 

politics of work, as Huda becomes the figure of corrupt power and Reem is weak but 

unyielding.  

2) Application of Feminist Film Theory  

A. Male Gaze 

Feminist film theory, precisely Laura Mulvey's idea of the male gaze (Mulvey, 2013), 

informs much of the critique and inversion of the typical representation of women in film 

in Huda’s Salon. Although the movie sometimes adopts the voyeuristic eye of the male 

gaze, it essentially contests this view by focusing on the experiences, agency, and 

resistance of its female subjects, especially under the circumstances of occupation. 

The male gaze is the traditional way of viewing women as the objects of male pleasure 

and desire, of looking at them as the spectacle. This look can be seen in Huda’s Salon, 

during which Huda uses and takes photographs of Reem. These are voyeuristic moments; 

the camera objects to Reem, especially in the blackmailing scene. However, the film does 

not use this objectification to titillate; instead, it exposes the exploitation of women’s 

bodies as tools of control, critiquing the harmful nature of the male gaze. 



 

24 

The film’s perspective is less about the men and more about the inner conflicts and 

women's lives. There is also a clear direction and focus, but this time, it’s on the woman, 

overwhelmed with the pressure of Huda’s blackmail, for instance, Reem’s desire to 

control herself. And a place of betrayal, the salon, which has always been associated with 

beauty and care, held up an entirely different and rather negative discourse about feminine 

spaces being safe fenced-off sanctuaries as a multitude of transformations instead of the 

usual stereotypes. 

The turning point in the film plot occurs when Reem decides to confront Huda after 

realizing her treason. The camera shots of Reem do not aim at Reem as an object of sexual 

desire. Instead, the view is on Reem’s internal struggle with herself. This perspective 

change does not describe Reem simply as an object; rather, it allows the audience to 

understand Reem as a character. 

The movie also breaks up the male gaze with Huda's character. Despite her manipulation 

of other women, Huda is not sexualized or objectified. The movie does not make her just 

an object of male fantasy but examines her actions and their implications and gives a 

harsh look at her character's moral corruption. 

B. Intersectionality  

In Huda’s Salon, women look through the prism of intersection concerning gender, class, 

ethnicity, and cultural contexts, which define their place in the film. Sutherland & Feltey 

(2017) advocate that through the lens of intersectionality, the oppression of women, 

whether through patriarchy, class, or colonialism, becomes clearly woven together to 

construct the idea of women’s agency in conflict areas, which is vividly observable in the 

characterizations of Huda and Reem in Abu-Assad’s work. The role of these intersections 

is significant because they also give insight into what propels the characters and how the 

social order is configured in occupied Palestinian territories. 

Drawing primarily from the oppression narrative that frames the plot of the film, gender 

advances class and ethnicity; hence, multiple layers of oppression exist in the lives of 

Palestinian women. The film illustrates that women in society are, in addition to ethnic 

identity, under the burden of class, which is more intense under occupation. 



 

25 

The class system indeed contributes to the experiences of the women differently. It is 

clear from the film that Reem has economic challenges, which implies that she has limited 

options. Because she works in the salon, which is a low-paid job with little security, it is 

in stark contrast to the position of Huda, who is subjugated not because of wealth but 

because the oppressors have controlled her. Therefore, Huda's treachery is not simply a 

form of patriarchy. Still, also class oppression for Huda is an opportunist who targets 

those women like Reem who are weaker and more in need. It could be said that Huda’s 

callousness toward Reem was class oppression sanctioned by Huda’s superior position, 

which is determined by class. 

The salon itself, traditionally a space associated with femininity and care, becomes a 

microcosm of the larger societal structures that oppress women. The setting highlights 

the intersection of gender and class, where women’s labor is commodified, and their 

bodies are objectified and controlled. In this film, it is quite revealing to show the 

moments where Huda is taking a shot of Reem; there’s a blunt opposition that is evident 

to the camera where the salon appears to be a soft, feminine space, and the violent acts 

that occur internally. This contrast points out the oppression of women in a more 

intersectional sense, which is of their gender, class, and ethnicity in a setting meant to be 

protected and nurturing. 

In addition, the film also explores how women who are situated within these intersections 

are limited in their struggles and are able to assert control. Reem’s battle is chiefly with 

Huda and a multitude of forces that oppress her. Such dynamics are compounded by the 

responsibility to preserve her family, her honor, and the politics of an occupation. The 

scene when Reem looks at Huda is one of the best examples of the portrayal of the 

intersectional struggle; she fights for her emancipation as well as for her existence as a 

Palestinian woman in her society. 

On the contrary, Huda’s case shows how intersectionality can be perverted; Huda 

collaborates with the occupying forces. Even though Huda is also a Palestinian woman, 

Abla’s collaboration with the occupying forces enables her to have power over women 

like Reem, whom she betrays. Huda’s infidelity is an intrusion that trespasses gender, 

class, and ethnic boundaries, piercing through the very intersections that must have 

brought them together in bridging solidarity. The fact that there has been no sympathy 



 

26 

directed toward Huda’s action of betrayal is a confirmation that her violation is an abuse 

of these hybrid identities and is indeed very painful. 

B)  Salt of this Sea 

In Annemarie Jacir's 2008 film Salt of this Sea, the main character, Soraya, a Palestinian 

American woman, goes to Palestine to get her grandfather's frozen savings and to find 

herself and her heritage. Her quest for her grandfather's money turns into a thrilling 

escapade of robbery, fleeing across borders, and experiences with Palestinians and 

Israelis. It is a movie about identity, going back, resistance, and the trauma of exile, all 

against the backdrop of the Israeli occupation. 

Salt of this Sea is an essential film in Palestinian cinema because it shows female agency, 

and it does so in a complex and realistic way, not just simply using women as the symbol 

of victimization at the hands of the occupation. The perceived position of a Palestinian 

woman in contemporary society differs from the insights provided in the mainstream 

discourse due to the character of Soraya presented by Jacir. This definition complements 

the understanding of gender, identity, and resistance in Palestinian cinema and allows the 

Palestinians to narrate their own stories. 

1) Cinematic Representations and Visuals  

a) Thematic Analysis 

Annemarie Jacir’s Salt of this Salt of This Sea highlights the reclamation of identity 

through the diasporic character Soraya, whose travels through occupied Palestine 

illustrate the intertwining of personal and political dislocation. The film goes beyond 

content description to analyze symbols, such as Soraya’s grandfather’s frozen bank 

account, as markers of economic dispossession and historical erasure.  

The film’s confined, dimly lit spaces juxtaposed with open landscapes thematize freedom 

versus entrapment. Soraya’s assertiveness defies the stereotype of Palestinian women as 

passive; instead, she embodies agency and resistance. As noted by Ball (2012) and Nashef 

(2016), Jacir portrays Soraya as politically aware and emotionally multifaceted, allowing 

her to subvert dominant narratives. 



 

27 

Women’s collective action emerges as a sub-theme. Soraya’s engagement with other 

women does not cast them as secondary helpers but as active participants in the battle. 

This supports Crenshaw (2013) on intersectionality where gender, nationality, and class 

converge to contour a subject’s negotiation with power and resistance. 

Another central issue is the gap between return and belonging. Soraya’s character as a 

Palestinian-American puts her in a complicated position in relation to the homeland. She 

is both embraced and repudiated as an insider/outsider. The narrative builds tension 

between the return itself, which is often idealized, and the struggles of cultural 

reintegration, resonating with Said’s (1999) reflections on exile, dislocation, and 

fragmented belonging.  

In addition, the film draws attention to the generational divide regarding the conception 

of resistance. Soraya’s anger toward the bureaucratic order, as well as the older 

generation’s culture of passive endurance, reflects a thematic clash of memory and action. 

From this perspective, the film critiques nostalgic remembrance that serves as a trap—or 

paralysis—instead of invigorating action, revealing the ways in which memory can 

become a burden instead of an inspiration. 

b) Characterization  

The depiction of women in Salt of this Sea advances the further understanding of the 

examination of gender relationships in the Palestinian context as well as within the wider 

societal politics. Soraya, the protagonist, embarks on her journey for the sole purpose of 

recovering her grandfather’s money; however, the plot thickens into a deeper level of 

struggle and self-search. Soraya, who ignores all gender stereotypes, takes her destiny 

into her own hands, fights against the evils of occupation, and is a case study of endurance 

and determination. In her analysis, Nashef (2013) notes Jacir’s representation of Soraya 

goes against the stereotype of an Arab woman in cinema as she highlights her 

participation, action, and agency in politically active movements. 

The film also depicts how strong and rebellious Soraya’s friends who reside in the 

occupied area are. These women, who provide community unity and struggle against 

oppression, also provide challenge, sabotaging community unity. Also, the film contrasts 

and provides Soraya’s character with other female characters who are in the performative 



 

28 

social order. It marks the boundaries put upon them, but it also demonstrates the power 

they have to hope and survive against all odds. 

It stands in stark contrast to women’s love, friendship, and even their struggles in armed 

conflict; the struggles are portrayed as never-ending, even amid the sociocultural and 

physical barriers imposed to support the Palestinian cause. Salt of this Sea deals with 

these issues and shows the active aspect of virgin women who work as plows and do not 

entirely succumb to their circumstances. This film vividly exhibits man-woman 

relationships as they rise in struggle, unity, and the emotions embodying many different 

forms. 

C. Visual Tropes 

The visual images of women in the movie Salt of this Sea also have an essential role in 

supporting or contradicting conventional sex roles. The movie uses camera angles, 

lighting, and framing to artfully and subtly illustrate the women in the film and their 

experiences. 

The emotional depth and problems of women in the movie are represented through close-

ups and very personal camera angles. A good example would be the constant showing of 

Soraya’s face to enable the hands of the viewer to reach out to the struggles and the 

strength of this woman. The camera work in question here also makes an important point: 

that of the individuality and self-determination of her character. This trait is often 

overlooked as women are portrayed as mere bystanders in the narratives of their lives.  

The movie's lighting is also well used to show the female characters' internal and external 

conflicts. Darker scenes, usually set in more closed-off places, tend to be during tense or 

reflective times, while other scenes have much brighter lighting, and these scenes are 

usually hopeful or unifying. The stark lighting differences mark the separation of the 

characters' emotional terrains and their durability and fortitude when faced with 

unfortunate circumstances. 

Salt of this Sea also highlights nontraditional framing in presenting female characters. For 

example, Soraya is often shown in defiant or activist poses, and this adorns her character, 

expressing her intentions and autonomy. Such treatment of women on screen does not 

conform to the traditional portrayal of women as secondary or sidelined but rather anchors 



 

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and places them at the helm of their respective stories and battles. From Modleski’s 

(2015) criticism of mainstream cinema which routinely silences women’s voices, Jacir’s 

representation of Soraya stands out because she uses the camera to assert Soraya’s 

subjectivity and her willful agency as a woman. 

The film also subverts and inverts gender relations through montage. As an example, in 

Soraya's case, when she is amongst the other women, especially while in some of the 

scenes together, they are always set in some sort of group or pooling together. This almost 

brings out their feminine might and oneness, and alternatively, moments of separateness 

and conflict are shown to highlight the sociopolitical troubles of the female characters 

and demonstrate how differently they live and exist in occupied places. 

Salt of this Sea employs visual stereotypes to support and reject conventional sex roles 

simultaneously. This movie uses close-ups, lighting, and angles to give a laced and 

sympathetic portrayal of the women. This approach highlights their struggles and agency 

and challenges conventional narratives about women in conflict and resistance, offering 

a more nuanced and empowering portrayal. 

2) Application of Feminist Film Theory 

A. Male Gaze 

Salt of this Sea reverses Laura Mulvey's idea of the "male gaze" through the complex 

portrayal of Soraya, the main character. Unlike many other films, which objectify women 

through the eyes of men, this movie is about Soraya's will, Soraya's torment, and Soraya's 

struggle against a political system, not Soraya's body. The camera highlights Soraya’s 

emotional and personal journey, often capturing her in moments of introspection or 

action, emphasizing her autonomy rather than reducing her to an object of desire. 

This subversion is also supported by the film's framing and camera shots that favor 

Soraya's subjectivity. With close-ups and other "intimate" shots, the audience can more 

readily feel her pain and her passions (political and otherwise) and an attempt to delve 

into the workings of her psyche instead of merely admiring her form. 

Also, the relationships between Soraya and the other female characters defy the 

objectifying gaze by depicting women as supportive and cooperative. These images 



 

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contradict the notion that women are merely spectacles or passive entities by portraying 

the power and intensity of female relationships. 

B. Intersectionality 

Salt of this Sea uses the complexities of gender, class, and ethnicity to develop the female 

characters. The movie uses Soraya, a Palestinian-American, to illustrate how these 

overlapping identities construct and confuse a woman's life in a politically vibrant 

atmosphere. Soraya’s life goes beyond simply being a female to include the realities of 

her ethnicity and heredity—all experiences that shape the way she lives, relates, suffers, 

or even the chances she gets in the Israeli-occupied areas of the territories. 

There are two main agendas within Soraya's narrative; the first is the interplay between 

race and gender. The protagonist, who is a Palestinian, finds himself in a gendered 

struggle, along with other Palestinians, for the repossession of their family land and 

dissipation of the social and political wrongs, due to the role her ethnicity plays in this 

struggle. It is not only gender, but ethnicity also ascribes to her identity and how others 

understand her and treat her. Her relative financial comfort as a diasporic Palestinian is 

strikingly different from the realities of other Palestinians, leading to class differentiation 

amidst the wider ethnic and gender oppression. Intersectionality, as Crenshaw (2013) 

argues, combines multiple systems of oppression like race, gender, and class, showing 

how each dimension adds a different facet to oppression. This understanding helps one 

elucidate the case of Soraya in relation to her hybrid identity and struggles. 

Through these intersections, the movie explores the complexities of female experiences, 

contesting stereotypes. It highlights the necessity of examining the interplay of gender, 

class, and ethnicity in constructing women's agency and struggles in a social and political 

arena. Salt of this Sea provides a much more dimensional and comprehensive look at 

female characters and the factors shaping their lives and choices. 

3.3 Israeli Cinema 

The two Israeli films, Seven Blessings and Zero Motivation offer very different views of 

women's lives in Israeli society and the roles that they play within it, with the first 

examining the role of women in traditional families and the second the role of women in 

the military, and how the two conflict significantly with the women's dreams and goals. 



 

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Seven Blessings delves into the issues of family, traditions, and identity, while Zero 

Motivation offers a more comical, unapologetic perspective toward such issues in the 

context of women’s issues in the inflexible structures of the army. These movies provide 

a very nuanced perspective into the construction and performance of gender as well as 

concerning the quest of one’s subjectivity in a world that is suspended between two poles, 

that of the traditional and the increasing modern development. 

A) Seven Blessings  

Seven Blessings is directed by Ayelet Menahemi, and it is a heartfelt film that addresses 

the theme of family, traditions, and the being of women in Israeli society today. It is about 

a Mizrahi Jew woman who returns home to perform the last wishes of her mother, which 

was to hold the ceremony of Seven Blessings, and in the process, unravels all the family’s 

soaked tensions, resentments, and secrets that lie underneath skin level. It explores themes 

like the clash between tradition and modernity, women’s roles within patriarchal 

structures, and the impact of cultural and religious expectations on personal identity. 

Using the Mizrahi women and their struggles in trying to conform to societal pressures, 

the movie criticizes the gendered expectations placed on Israeli women, and this analysis 

allows the reader to see how Israeli film serves to simultaneously uphold and defy cultural 

norms regarding gender, identity, and tradition. 

a) Thematic Analysis  

In the film Seven Blessings, the main focus of the plot is the suffocating hold of tradition 

on women’s agency in their families, especially for the Jewish Mizrahi. Marie’s internal 

conflict—balancing a French upbringing with Moroccan heritage—serves as an entry 

point through which the film examines the limits of defiance within patriarchy.  

Thematic interpretation shows that Marie’s agency is further limited by her family 

expectations. The camera reinforces a passive portrayal of her in groups. Wonderfully 

costumed, the lighting cultivates an aesthetic of containment. Yosef (2011) critiques 

Israeli cinema for trying to confront the normative gender order, only to perpetuate it 

instead. This cycle can be observed in Marie’s character arc, which resolves without 

meaningful change.  



 

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Moreover, the theme of performative resistance can be identified in Mama Gracia’s 

character. Her surface level authority conceals a complete lack of reproductive power and 

social standing. It reinforces a thematic tension: while women can appear dynamic and 

central, construct framing renders them irrelevant and devoid narrative agency. 

The film also addresses intergenerational trauma. Through rituals, food, and gender roles, 

trauma is transmitted not through spoken narrative but through repetition and silence. The 

seven blessings themselves become symbolic burdens rather than celebratory acts, 

echoing Shohat’s (1989) critique of the mythologization of tradition in Israeli cultural 

narratives. 

Another central theme is the commodification of female fertility. The narrative 

underscores how women’s bodies are regulated and assigned value based on their 

capacity to reproduce tradition, both biologically and culturally. By portraying 

motherhood as a duty rather than a desire, the film questions the emotional cost of cultural 

continuity and exposes the transactional nature of familial legacy. 

b) Characterization  

In Seven Blessings, the female characters are depicted in a certain way that displays some 

aspects of gender relations, although their agency is more often than not portrayed in the 

context of patriarchal stereotypes where they are still viewed as helpless. Marie, the main 

character, is shown as someone who is trapped in the confines of societal norms and 

survives a past life filled with trauma in spite of having lived overseas. The quarrels she 

has with her mother or her aunt are such non-events that they are irrelevant in furthering 

her character expansion. 

Marie's defiance seems temporary and in vain, further supporting the notion that women 

are bound to their cultural heritage and cannot indeed be who they are. 

At first, Mama Gracia, Marie's aunt, seems to be the family's matriarch. However, her 

barrenness ends up making her character seem less than, a pathetic sort of character that 

enforces the ideas of society, the ideas that say that a woman is only as good as her ability 

to mother. This turn of events diminishes her character from a strong one to a pitiful one. 



 

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Traditional roles also bind Marie's mother and other female characters. They are mainly 

depicted as upholders of cultural standards, and their conflicts are not delved into much. 

Marie's mom, especially, becomes an obstacle instead of a character. 

In general, Seven Blessings offers a narrow and unanalytical view of sexual politics. In 

the movie, the women are in this patriarchal society where they have no real power, and 

instead of the story questioning these roles, it justifies them. This portrayal gives the 

audience a backward image of sex, in which the women seem weak and inhibited, not 

truly powerful or rebellious. 

c) Visual Tropes 

In Seven Blessings, the representation of gender dynamics is quite conspicuous, but the 

film tends to perpetuate traditional norms through its visual choices. It appears that 

women are trapped in boxes or tilted angles that denote control and subjugation, in scenes 

where they are supposedly in command. Marie, the primary character, is also confined to 

medium close-ups and over the shoulders shots, which ‘captured’ her within cultural 

parameters. Rather than providing a sense of autonomy, the cinematography gives the 

contrary impression of defeat and disempowerment.  

Feminine vulnerability is heightened by other decisions in the film, particularly lighting. 

Women’s faces are illuminated from below eye level, rendering them pathetically 

unrecognizable in a dominantly man’s tale. In most of the scenes with men, the lighting 

is always focused on the men and keeps the women almost like a shadow, implying that 

the women are less important or less influential. 

Another thing the movie does through framing is to limit the women to domestic places 

(like the house or kitchen), which also supports the established roles of the sexes. The 

camera then dwells on these objects associated with housework and emphasizes the 

women's role in the home. When women leave these spaces, the camera tracks them 

voyeuristically, almost as if saying they are out of place in the public sphere. 

Even the visual symbolism of the female characters is connected to their cultural heritage 

in a limiting way, focusing on the traditional attire that keeps them rooted in their 

prescribed roles. It is easy to see the male gaze in the movie because the camera treats the 

women as objects and always seems to find a reason to do closeups of their body parts, 



 

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leaving them not as characters but as physical objects. This supports Mulvey's argument 

of the 'male gaze', which claims that women are visually consumed for a male audience’s 

pleasure using cinematic devices, restricting their agency within the story. 

2. Application of Feminist Film Theory  

A. Male Gaze 

In Seven Blessings, the essential use of the "male gaze," as coined by Laura Mulvey, is a 

critical component in examining the film's representation of women, which pretty much 

reinforces traditional gender roles. Mulvey's theory states that cinema tends to objectify 

women for the male gaze so that instead of being three-dimensional human beings, they 

are visual objects. Throughout this movie, the camera often takes the point of view of a 

"peeping tom" male and focuses on the bodies of the females and how they are much 

more physical than psychological. This can be seen in the scenes that depict Marie in 

"feminine" clothing, and the camera frames her as something to be looked at and enjoyed, 

as opposed to a fully developed character. 

And then there is the fact that the movie is set, which limits women even more to the 

home. Women are often portrayed in the "private sphere," usually the home, doing 

housework. The camera style, observational and distanced, implies that women are there 

to be looked at and not to be active participants in their stories, and this, in turn, means 

that they are passive and subservient. Another thing that the movie does is that it tells the 

story from the point of view of the men most of the time and uses them as a window 

through which to view Marie's story, and in doing so, it takes away from Marie's voice 

and her ability to be an agent in her own story. 

Also, no opposing viewpoints could question or upset the male gaze in Seven Blessings. 

In narrative, female subjects are hardly ever allowed to assert themselves or look back; 

they are always the object of the gaze, the looked at, the passive within the story of the 

male. Rather than providing a feminist analysis, the movie uses conventional film 

practices that support patriarchal constructs. So, in this light, Seven Brides for Seven 

Brothers is an example of Mulvey's theory because it uses its visual style and narrative 

choices to reinforce the male gaze and, ultimately, make the women into objects in a 

man's world. 



 

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B. Intersectionality  

In Seven Blessings, the depiction of women is not merely a gendered issue but also one 

of class and ethnicity, and these distinctions play an integral role in the social hierarchy. 

On the other hand, the movie, instead of subverting the stereotypes, reinforces them and 

the separation between women of different economic and racial backgrounds. 

Class distinctions in the film are stark. The girls from more privileged backgrounds, like 

Marie, are portrayed as very well-mannered and reflective, and their hardships all seem 

to be about who they are, not about what they lack in terms of material possessions. They 

have "emotional" problems as if to distance themselves from harsher realities. Women 

from lower socio-economic backgrounds, however, are depicted in a much more 

functional way- as caretakers or workers. It focuses on their outer turmoil and economic 

reliance, minimizes their inner lives, and enforces classist stigmas that the only thing they 

are suitable for is servitude, not their dreams. 

Even the portrayal of the women is affected by race; Ashkenazi Jewish women evoke 

much more sympathy, and their problems are more "universal," while the Sephardic, 

Mizrahi, and immigrant women are marginalized. These characters usually only get 

supporting roles in family and society, and their cultural identities are marked "exotic" or 

"lower. The movie makes their practices seem exotic and simply ethnic, not dealing with 

the complexities of the individual. 

This cross of gender, class, and ethnicity also determines power, with poor, ethnic 

minority women having the most obstacles to overcome. They do not have any central 

focus in the narrative and are mostly seen through the viewpoints of the more fortunate 

characters, making their voices seem even more marginalized. All in all, Seven Blessings 

upholds traditional hierarchies and stereotypes and does not effectively challenge the 

intersections that it has created, taking away from the complexity and agency of its female 

characters. As Shohat (2006) contends, contestants of Mizrahi ethnicity in Israeli media 

are routinely placed in an exoticized other category, their ethnocultural behaviors 

symbolically simplified as a tapestry of ethnic diversity lacking thorough examination or 

complexity. 

 



 

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B) Zero Motivation  

1) Cinematic Representations and Visuals  

Zero Motivation is a film written by Talya Lavie that mocks the lives of women and the 

existing bureaucracy on a remote Israeli army base. Most of the focus is on the difficulties 

with papers and the personal-level struggles of women. These are shown using satire, 

such as Daffi Srugis’s desire to transfer to Tel Aviv or Zohar’s desire to remain a virgin. 

It attempts to depict the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in a milder tone but, 

unfortunately, focuses on a soldier’s supremacy. 

The critical perspective of the soldiers as mercenaries who serve in an occupied territory 

is lost behind the humor and personal dissatisfactions associated with the film. By 

reducing the focus of drama to simple drama, the film also fails to address the reality of 

military duty in the occupied territories. The characters’ failure to address the Israeli-

Palestinian conflict limits their statement, as they do not take responsibility for their 

actions. 

Zero Motivation, however, does not stand alone as it is in sync with many recent Israeli 

films. The trend is that a personal touch usually gets implemented, and then social issues, 

if any, must be addressed later. There is an effort to erase the effects of occupation and, 

in turn, provide a noble and glorified image of command of an army without being forced 

to face some stinging realities of being in a nation that frames the military as an occupying 

force. This true force is seen in the fact that the film marginally addresses the effects of 

the Israeli occupation anywhere in the work. 

a) Thematic Analysis 

Talya Lavie’s Zero Motivation employs satire to reveal the bureaucracy, gender issues, 

and psychological burnout within the life of female soldiers. Instead of focusing on 

military violence or the occupation, the film is a critique of the absurdity of the army’s 

internal logic. 

Through Braun & Clarke’s thematic approach, the film’s episodic nature illustrates 

patterns of futile defiance and institutional erasure. Daffi and Zohar seek to regain agency 

over their lives, but their control is reduced to comic blunders. This supports Shohat’s 



 

37 

(1989) observation that Israeli cinema depoliticizes the military framework, fixating on 

personal discontents. 

This theme is reinforced through the film’s visual language, as enclosed frames 

dominated by dull, grey colors paired with low lighting emphasize monotony and 

confinement. Here, Mulvey’s (1975) gaze shifts focus; women are neither sexualized nor 

rendered invisible through center framing, narrative irrelevance renders them 

unimportant. 

Another illustrative theme is emotional alienation. The characters’ psychological 

disconnection from purpose and power—and their humorously framed anxiety—is a 

reflection of a broader critique of gendered institutions. The women are neither permitted 

to embrace heroic agency nor surrender to victimhood; rather, they inhabit a threshold 

space of utilitarian absurdity. This resonates with Sutherland & Feltey (2017) who 

describe intersectionality as the denial of coherent identity in oppressive structures.  

Moreover, the film offers a muted critique of militarized feminism. Zero Motivation 

demonstrates the self-defeating nature of gender inclusion without structural alteration by 

depicting women engaging with a system that subordinates them and offers no 

alternatives. The film posits that transformation absent of meaningful representation 

becomes a hollow gesture in open emulation of neoliberal feminism, which misreads 

access for empowerment. 

b) Characterization 

Zero Motivation employs comical folly and satire to portray the women characters and 

the relations of disturbing masculine power within the Israeli army. Daffi, Zohar, and 

Rama are expressed through the different experiences, such as arms dealing, motherhood, 

and others, of the other women in the army. 

This is where Nagema pursues Dagi, who appears in the form of Daffi and is played by 

Nelly Tagar. Daffi seems to be very keen on getting a transfer to Tel Aviv, as she is not 

pleased with her posting. The reason for her fixation with leaving the dreary and tiring 

work is disapproval of the little agency feminine entities in the military, given and close 

to the zero perception of the relevance of the tasks performed on a day-to-day basis. In 



 

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this regard, while such fantasies of living a rich and elaborate life in the city appear 

attractive, Daffi’s obligations in the army present a completely different scenario. 

Zohar, played by Dana Ivgy, is an even more complicated woman. She talks of being 

somewhat torn between her sexuality and her desire to serve, though such notions unfairly 

serve to romanticize women in service and the limitations placed on them. Zohar goes 

from energetic, young naivety into reality, where more often than not people are left 

unhappy and dissatisfied by the military system and its structures. 

It is also clear that women leaders are scarce for structural reasons, as the women’s figures 

in leadership positions are the founders of any woman commander in this role. Klein 

portrays Rama, an office commander with a commanding presence yet hindered by 

systemic barriers and distractions like female bone structures. 

Every time she seeks respect and elevation in the ranks, she gets repulsed by the male 

officers’ subversion, which is indicative of the gender struggles and power relations and 

of what women endure in the defense structures. As Zanger (2005) argues, women’s 

representation within the Israeli military is often framed as reproducing preexisting 

gender biases, portraying women as suffering from emotional volatility or lacking 

competence in top positions. 

Zero Motivation does all that with the said characters, critiquing gender roles inside the 

military and showing the frustration and complexities of female soldiers. Its satirical look 

at their troubles makes the movie confrontational because these are environments in 

which the challenges faced by women become magnified. 

c) Visual Tropes 

In Zero Motivation, women's depiction is directly patterned to the film's criticism of 

gender relations. The particular camera angles, the lighting, and the specifics of the 

framing collaborate to highlight the limitations and the r