Not a Word to Yasmin

Against the backdrop of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Orit Raz relates a moving story of a friendship among three Israeli girls, two Jewish and one Arab girl – a friendship that triumphs over hostility and prejudice. Revital and Marina are best friends. Revital was born in Israel, while Marina came from Russia a year before and soon blended into the children`s group. The two girls decide to put on a puppet show as part of the welcoming activities for the kindergarten children organized by the higher classes at school. The next day, a new girl appears in class, a girl who is conspicuous for her fancy but strange clothes as well as her poor Hebrew. The teacher introduces her as Yasmin and asks Revital to help her. When Revital visits Yasmin`s home, she realizes that Yasmin is Arab. The family welcomes her with open arms and Revital is fascinated by Yasmin`s paintings, but she is scared. When her classmates discover that Yasmin is Arab, they begin to relate to her with suspicion and then open hostility when Nirit, the “queen of the class”, accuses Yasmin of stealing her watch.

Revital and Marina are in a dilemma: should they join forces with their classmates against Yasmin or remain friends with her and take advantage of her artistic talent to promote their puppet show project? A terrorist attack in the nearby mall, in which several children are wounded, exacerbates the situation. The turning point comes when Nirit`s lost watch is found. The attitude towards Yasmin changes radically, and the entire class sets about preparing the puppet show. The play the children present is a new version of Little Red Riding Hood, in which there is no simplistic division into good guys and bad guys. The Wolf is not a bad guy and Little Red Riding Hood understands, and even befriends him. Just like in real life.