Akiva Shtisel, the protagonist of the eponymous series, is a genius artist, and his gorgious paintings lie at the heart of the show about Haredi life. In the most recent season, his paintings of his deceased wife hold much of the emotional weight of the show, symbolizing Akiva’s grief and his struggle to develop a new relationship and move on.
But Alex Tubis, the real artist behind the genius paintings, had never heard of “Shtisel” when he was brought on for its second season, even though the series had already won wide acclaim in Israel for its first season. When the show’s art director reached out to the Russian-born painter, who now lives in Nes Ziona, south of Tel Aviv, the artist asked whether the gig would be paid he thought it was a student production.
The rise and fall of WeWork founder Adam Neumann makes for engrossing viewing
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Shtisel series three available on Netflix on 25 March
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Brigit Grant is the Jewish News Supplements Editor
Ayelet Zurer stars in Losing Alice
Disillusioned middle-aged women have never been neglected by the film and television industry.
The roles may have gone to younger women – even Bette Davis was a fledgling 42 in Joseph L Mankiewicz’s
All About Eve – but there have still been multiple films and series that prioritise the inner lives of women with angst who aren’t ingénues.
To this list comes Alice Ginor, a woman who feels as reduced as Shirley Valentine, but is unfulfilled in a more glamorous world.
As the eponymous protagonist in Sigal Avin’s seven-part series