At the Wailing Wall or in the spotlight of a stage, wearing a Zorro costume or a designer dress, solemn or rollicking: crossing the threshold to the adult world can take place in very different ways. This film accompanies four 12-year-olds — Sharon, Tom, Moishy and Sophie — as they prepare for their bar or bat mitzvot. It takes a critical and ironic look at Jewish tradition and its interpretations, questions the significance of initiation rituals, and attempts to explore the diffuse terrain of adolescence.

Dir. Ruth Beckermann - 90min - 2006 - Austria

"It is less about the contradictions, than it is about the things that co-exist: A Bruce Lee t-shirt, a zorro costume, a white and and a black vest, a pink hoodie - three jewish boys and one girl, awaiting their bar/bat mitzvah" - Annett Busch, Kolik Film

"Resembles a reading of the torah to the rhythms of gangsta rap" - Joachim Schätz, Falter Viennale Special

"you have to both think and are allowed to laugh" - Marie-Pierre Müller, Cinéma du Réel