Eyes Wide Open

Aaron, an Orthodox Jewish father and husband from Jerusalem, first does everything he can to suppress his feelings for his attractive young employee Ezri. He believes that God created lust to try the soul and that conquering his passion will bring him closer to God. Yet Aaron becomes hopelessly infatuated by the boy and realises how soulless his life was before. The orthodox community, of which he is a respected member, does not tolerate such deviations at all and exercises increasing pressure on him - in the end he even receives threats. He won't give up his happiness or his religion just like that, but eventually has to choose: conform with the dominant morality or remain true to who he is. This modest feature debut is an authentic and subtle portrait of a closed religious group with a taboo about homosexuality as the challenging underlying theme.