Women have been present on the Israeli screen since its inception, but have never held a central role in the narrative. The first canonical Israeli woman filmmaker, Michal Bat Adam, released her first feature film Moments in 1979, that focused on a friendship between women, a theme unexplored until then in Israeli cinema, and it is today considered as the film that opened a way for female Israeli filmmakers to realize their experiences were worth telling. Since then there has been an increasing number of female Israeli filmmakers, primarily since the turn of the Millenium. A World Apart: Contemporary Israeli Women's Cinema is a book that explores the contributions of female Israeli filmmakers to contemporary Israeli cinema, providing an introductory background both historically and theoretically and an in-depth analysis of films produced in the 21st century. The book is divided into two parts: "Recurrent Themes and Expressions of Vulnerability in Israeli Women's Cinema" which discusses various issues in Israeli women's cinema, and "Leading Female Auteurs in Contemporary Israeli Cinema", which focuses on leading female filmmakers. The book aims to provide a comprehensive presentation and historical contextualization of contemporary Israeli women's cinema. The book is written for students and researchers in film, media, gender issues and related areas, yet employs a straightforward language that can be understood by a broader readership.
