Brave Girls by Carmit Shlomi

You may recall my review of Streetkids United II - The Girls from Rio by Maria Clara (​http://klausatgunpoint.weebly.com/klaus-at-gunpoint---the-blog/contradictive-sunday-mornings) That was an impressively powerful look at young women from Brazil who excel at soccer (football, futbol, kicking sportsball, etc) and I got much the same feeling while viewing Brave Girls by Carmit Shlomi. The film follows a group of young women from Isreal who are competing in the Junior Woman's Euroleague Football Championships. The competition is tough, and it would seem that they are dedicated to their goal of proving that they deserve to be there, but that's not what struck me so hard about this -

This was a film about the lives of young, dedicated women. 

They have lives, they have school, issues like dealing with ADHD, and they expose their personalities in interviews that don't seem invasive, which is something that often bothers me about interview-based docs. This feels more like young women talking to us, to individuals, not an audience. The way it's shot is also both impressive and engaging, and the editing draws it all together. It doesn't feel like we're being sold on the team; we're being sold on the individuals, and to me, the young woman Noam is the star, as we get her view so beautifully, and she is so expressive. 

All in all, this is a powerful and smart doc, and it makes me want to watch a LOT more Israeli docs!