JIFF: Surviving Malka Leifer
Surviving Malka Leifer
NSW Premiere
Followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and sisters Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper.
In 2008, allegations surface in Melbourne that three Ultra-Orthodox sisters, Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sappe, were abused by their headmistress Malka Leifer. Instead of facing justice, Leifer quietly escaped with the help of the school board, boarding a plane to Israel in the dead of night.
So began a relentless 15-year battle to bring her back to Australia. Along the way, the sisters were forced to navigate a web of secrecy, legal manoeuvring and political corruption. And when Leifer finally returned to stand trial, they were left to reckon with the personal cost of their fight.
Director Adam Kamien (The Speedway Murders) chronicles the three sisters’ decade-long, cross-border battle to bring their abuser to justice, exposing legal loopholes, and a culture of silence along the way in this harrowing abuse scandal of Melbourne’s inner south-east.
Rating
Unclassified 18+
Duration
95 min
Country
Australia
Language
English, Hebrew (with English subtitles)
Director
Adam Kamien
