An Israeli film that scrutinizes Israel’s heavily slanted divorce laws has been nominated for the Golden Globes as one of the Best Foreign Language Films.

The selection of “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem”, by the brother and sister team of Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, was announced on Thursday by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The film, which stars Ronit Elkabetz in the title role, follows an Israeli woman in her five-year quest to obtain a Jewish legal divorce, or gett, from her husband through the Israeli rabbinical court system. The husband’s persistent refusal leaves her stranded in legal limbo, since Jewish law dictates that he must consent to release her from the marriage.

The film is the third in a trilogy by the sibling writers and directors, following the 2004 film “To Take a Wife” and 2008’s “Shiva”, which focused on the same main characters. According to Variety, the movie’s success has spurred a movement to change the divorce laws depicted in the movie, which can leave women at the mercy of uncooperative husbands.

Variety reports that the administration of Israel’s rabbinical courts plan to screen the movie at the annual meeting of the country’s rabbinical judges in February.

“We wrote Vivian’s story based on the very simple fact that still today in Israel a women must get her husband’s consent if she wants a divorce,” said Ronit Elkabetz in response to the nomination, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I am happy and proud that we have brought Vivian’s voice and struggle for freedom to the world.The film asks that women be allowed to live their lives with dignity and basic human rights.”

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT