Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Friday Film: Perils of Youth

What started out as a second year film project at Tel Aviv University turned into a screening at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. “Barbie Blues,” one of four Israeli films at Sundance, was included in the festival’s new Short Films Program this year. First time filmmaker, Adi Kutner, 25, produced the film in three days of shooting in a Tel Aviv suburb on a budget of only $800.

“Barbie Blues,” is a coming-of-age film about a bored teenager, Mika (played by Meyrav Feldman), who finds a mysterious dead bird floating in her backyard pool. The plot focuses on her interaction with a much older neighbor, Gershon. Dvir Benedek, who plays Gershon in the film, is a household name in Israel, best known for his role as Steve Carell’s character in “HaMisrad,” the Israeli version of “The Office.”

Torn between adulthood and childhood, Mika, dressed in a bikini, questions her sexuality and maturity as she pushes boundaries with Gershon. Older, overweight and intrigued by Mika, Gershon struggles with her playfulness and how he should react to it.

The film may be disturbing to some viewers because lines are not only blurred, but also purposefully disregarded. The uncomfortable interchange between Mika and Gershon is similar to that between actors Kevin Spacey and Mena Suvari in “American Beauty,” a film that Kutner says influenced the script. Some viewers may see a small resemblance to “Lolita,” in which lines of appropriateness are more definitively crossed.

Kutner said that her goal in the film was to depict the conflict between childhood and adulthood, when the character is torn between two ideals. “She thinks she’s an adult and discovers she is still a child,” Kutner explained.

“Barbie Blues,” which has been well received in Israel, won an award at the Jerusalem International Film Festival and was featured at the Rehovot Women’s Film Festival. Kutner spent the last year sending out the film to international festivals outside of Israel, and Sundance was the first to accept it. “It was totally worth the wait,” she said. “Sundance has been an amazing experience and I’m so happy to be part of that family.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.