Zorro’s bar mitzva, Ruth Beckermann, Austria, 2006, 90’

Religion meets youth culture. The film follows four twelve-year-olds in Vienna – Sharon, Tom, Moishy and Sophie – as they prepare for their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. A special role is also given to a Bar Mitzvah videographer, who shoots clips with the teenagers in which they place themselves under the spotlight. The rite of passage into adulthood can take on many different forms: on the Wailing Wall, on the stage in the spotlight, in a designer dress or in a Zorro costume.