Moon in the 12th House

Sisters Mira and Lanny, once close, are now living very separate lives. Lanny, 21, a sheltered introvert, still lives in her childhood home, taking care of their debilitated father and looking after the sexy teenage neighbor boy while his parents are away. Older sister Mira is a hostess at a Tel Aviv nightclub, having left home many years before, following their mother's death. An on-again, off-again relationship with the club's owner comes to an abrupt end when Mira discovers she's pregnant. One night she shows up at Lanny's door, and the reunion forces the sisters to face the past and the tragedy that tore them apart. For Mira, this also means making peace with her estranged father; for Lanny, it means learning to assert herself in the face of her sister's more dominant personality. But despite their differences, the sisters' love and affection, and their painful shared history, bind them fast and lead them toward a fragile redemption. An impressive debut feature by Dorit Hakim, who demonstrates a gift for tracing the intricate subtleties of complicated family dynamics, Moon in the 12th House also features remarkably nuanced and naturalistic performances from its two young lead actresses. (Seattle International Film Festival)