Haim Tabakman’s breathtaking, award winning debut film Eyes Wide Open is a gay love story set in the heart of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Winner of Best Film award at the Palm Springs Film Festival, Eyes Wide Open is a powerful film that the New York Times calls “a quiet and confident debut feature that explores the conflict between sexual desire and religious obligation.”

A married fisherman struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover within his town’s rigid traditions.

Already firmly in a life crisis at 12, things go from bad to worse for Jesse Hawthorne when her emotionally disconnected father moves the family to a rural town, a place whose beauty belies the toxic normality at its core. Jesse is almost immediately bullied by the local mini-mean girls in training, who find Jesse’s tomboy nature both repellent and yet somehow attractive. Her only ally is neighbor Jacob, who has his own demons (including an aggressive paint huffing brother) that he is trying to escape. Together they form likely friendships with the local super nerds, and, as puberty begins to hit their circle, everyone soon has a crush on each other, regardless of gender. Once Jesse and her outsider posse discover punk rock and sneaking out to shows, nothing will stop them as they embrace who they are and rise above the closed minds of their community. Complete with an infectious soundtrack, Night Fliers will remind you about the transformative power of friendships, and how salvation can come from unexpected places. (Description courtesy of Charlotte Gutierrez, Frameline 33)