Table of Contents


Views and Mechanics
Publisher's Note
Editor's Note
Review of Bliss
Review of Atheist Manifesto
Review of The Stones Cry Out
Film review of "Karov La Bayit"
Creative Nonfiction
A Reverence for Words
By Virginia Hendry
For the Wife of Bath and the Wife of Yeats, I Give Thanks
By Sara J. Ford
Birth
By Clint Pearson
Poetry
Gong Fu
By Tim J. Brennan
Phases
By Tolu Ogunlesi
They Are Driving Their Cars Again, They Are Driving...
By Anne Cammon
Death of the Travelers
By Abigail Grant
Leaves
By Matt Gee
Fiction
The Wood Splitter
By Michael Phillips
Boogie & Sarah Leigh
By Sandra L. West
What Happened to Matt Dillon
By Chris Drangle
Red, Manhattan, 523
By Beth Hogan
Titanic Hat
By D.K. McGill
About the Contributors

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Film Review of "Karov La Bayit" aka "Close to Home"
Transfax Film Productions and
IFC First Take Films
Limited USA release: February 14, 2007


Writers/Directors Vardit Bilu and Dalia Hagar offer viewers rare insight into the world of women soldiers in Israel with “Karov La Bayit”. The summary they offer on IMDb.com could be considered slightly inaccurate, in that they claim that their heroines would by nature avoid each other.

Mirit and Smadar are admittedly an unlikely pair – Mirit shy and relatively out of place with the other soldiers, and Smadar outgoing and a bit wild. Service in the Magav – Israeli Border Police – is something Mirit takes more seriously than Smadar at first. Between being harassed by a Jewish citizen on a bus after a “lesson” from their commander on recognizing Arabs, and being separated from Mirit during a Pigua – terror explosion, Smadar’s attitude about her service changes quickly.

The explosion is a turning point for Mirit and Smadar, and they bond quickly for a time afterward. Mirit experiences some trouble in her service, and her feeling that it was caused by Smadar’s influence drives a wedge between them. It is a short-lived separation, and afterward the girls are even closer than before.

“Karov La Bayit” is an accurate picture of military service for women in Jerusalem, and is an excellent film for raising cultural awareness. Because it was written and directed by two women, it is a story from purely the women’s point of view. This film is marketed worldwide under the title “Karov La Bayit”, and is being distributed in the USA by IFC under the title “Close to Home”. It is in limited theatre release, and is available in some areas through “On Demand” cable television service, where “IFC in Theatres” service is offered.