The secret friendship between a Hasidic teen and a vagabond punk pulls them into the Jerusalem underground as they navigate first love.
Drama · 90 min · Israel

Story Synopsis

Hallel, an ultra Orthodox teenage girl, is trapped in a cycle of caretaking for her ill single mother, Mira, the neighborhood cat lady. Her life is shaped by duty, restraint, and an unspoken longing for a freedom she has never known. A chance encounter draws her toward Jerusalem’s punk underground, where curiosity slowly turns into a love affair. She forms a bond with Bambi, a reckless vagabond living entirely on her own rhythm. When Bambi leaves Jerusalem for the summer, drifting from place to place, Hallel makes the decision to follow her. The journey takes her through a series of small towns across Israel, each becoming a temporary station of belonging, pushing her to confront who she is beyond the roles she has been given and to begin defining herself on her own terms.

Director’s Biography

She is currently developing her first narrative feature through the New Israeli Cinema Fund director’s residency together with the Austrian Film Fund and is completing her MFA in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art in London.

Watch Arava by Sarah Meital Benjamin 

Select Press

Mouvement Magazine, Cultural Treasures, Office Magazine, Ha’aretz, Le Monde, Directors Note, Jewish Journal, Portfolio Magazine, Hey Alma.

Team

Why This Film, Why Now?

A personal truth in the face of erasure

In the wake of October 7, the world’s perception of Israel has flattened into a landscape of slogans and headlines that cannot hold human complexity. The erasure of Israeli and Jewish experience has pushed many of us into a liminal space, where we are constantly asked to defend our humanity and explain why we are deserving of empathy.

Lions’ Milk is an urgent response to this hollowed out narrative. The film resists the urge to justify or explain, and instead insists that personal experience and simple human truth are the most honest forms of representation.

This approach matters because it bypasses argument and speaks directly to recognition. Rather than asking the viewer to agree, it asks them to witness. By staying close to individual lives over time, the film creates a space where complexity can exist without being resolved, and where empathy is not demanded but allowed to emerge naturally.By telling a story rooted in lived reality and casting individuals who reflect the true diversity of Israeli society, often from the periphery and the margins, Lions’ Milk offers a truthful portrait of a place and its people. It shows how vulnerability and nuance exist within a society that is too often reduced to a single image, and insists on seeing people fully. As both an Israeli and now a Jewish person living in the diaspora, I, Sarah Meital, understand intimately the consequences of underrepresentation in the international sphere, as well as the impact of long standing dehumanization campaigns against Jewish people. As an artist, I feel a responsibility to respond and this film is my way of doing so.

Support Lions’ Milk

Funding Perks and Rewards

The project has received institutional support from the New Israeli Fund for Film and Television through two grants, as well as funding from the Vienna Film Fund and the Austrian Film Institute’s Women’s Excellence program, complemented by private funding.

We would be deeply grateful for donations that allow us to continue developing and producing the film, preserve its artistic independence, and bring it to audiences.

Donations from Israel, Europe, the United States, and other countries may be tax deductible in the United States through a US based nonprofit organization registered under Section 501(c)(3). Contributions made through this organization are eligible for US tax deductions in accordance with applicable tax laws. Please email us for this option at sarahmeitalbenjamin@gmail.com.

Donations can also be made via PayPal at sarahmeitalbenjamin@gmail.com.

Donations may also be made by bank transfer in the United States.

Wire information
Sarah Benjamin
Account number 6797287105
Routing number 021000089
Citibank
399 Park Avenue
New York NY 10043 USA

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Supporter level at $2,500 includes a Special Thanks on screen credit and a personal thank you from the filmmaker.

First Look level at $5,000 includes a Special Thanks on screen credit, private updates on the film’s journey from development through production, and a framed photograph from Sarah Meital Benjamin’s archive.

Private Screening level at $10,000 includes a Special Thanks on screen credit, a framed photograph from Sarah Meital Benjamin’s archive, and an early invitation to the film’s private screening and premiere.

Associate Producer level at $25,000 includes an Associate Producer credit on screen and IMDb, an invitation to a private first cut screening with the filmmakers, and an invitation to the film’s premiere and select festival screenings.

Executive Producer level at $50,000 includes an Executive Producer credit on screen and IMDb, prominent recognition across official materials, an invitation to the world premiere and major international festival screenings, and direct dialogue with the director throughout production.Visionary Partner level at $100,000 and above includes a Lead Executive Producer or Presenting credit on screen and IMDb, prominent recognition across all official materials, and a close creative relationship with the director throughout development, production, and release. Supporters at this level will be invited to private script discussions, early rough cut viewings, and key creative milestones, and will receive invitations to all major premieres and international festival screenings. This level is intended for donors who wish to play a meaningful role in safeguarding the film’s artistic independence and long term life.

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Contact

Email: sarahmeitalbenjamin@gmail.com

Instagram: @sarahmeital