Origin: Israel | Documentary | Director: Anat Zuria | 87 minutes

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The Lesson

Director: Anat Zuria Docu Israel 2012 87 minutes Arabic/Hebrew

Layla, a sixty-something, Egyptian-born woman has had multiple failed attempts in passing her driving test, but her last best chance is with Nimar, the top driving instructor in Jerusalem, whom she begins practicing with. The lessons turn into cathartic confessions as Anat Zuria's crew tags along to watch the lessons and catches Layla, recounting the story of her life-her family in Egypt in the midst of a revolution, her broken marriage to an abusive husband and the struggles of her children, particularly her daughter, Hagar, who is preparing to marry a Jewish man.

The Lesson is a major new work from Zuria, whose previous films Sentenced to Marriage and Black Bus explored the prohibitions faced by women in Israel, and who Haaretz called "one of the most riveting women in the local film world."