| Director: | Limor Shmila |
| Producer: | Tami Leon Chilik Michaeli Avraham Pirchi |
| Screenplay: | Limor Shmila |
| Starring: | Noa Biron Netta Shpigelman |
| Music: | Asher Goldschmidt |
| Cinematography: | Eitan Hatuka |
| Editing: | Dafi Farbman Ido Lahmi |
| Runtime: | 79 minutes |
| Country: | Israel |
| Language: | Hebrew |
Montana is a 2017 Israeli drama film written and directed by Limor Shmila in her directorial debut. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2017, and made its Israeli debut in October 2017 at the Haifa International Film Festival, where lead actress Noa Biron won the Best Actress award.
When her grandfather dies, Efi returns to her home town of Acco. She is greeted by her grandmother, and her aunt and uncle, and immediately, old wounds surface, and it is clear that Efi has been away for a long time. Efi meets Keren, the neighbor, who is married with children, and the two women begin a love affair. Not much is disclosed about Efi, except that years before she left with her mother for France, and her mother did not return with her. It is only when Efi meets Maya, Keren's young daughter, that we begin to understand what made her leave, and as the family secrets unfold, the love story becomes a journey to settle old accounts.[1]
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Discovery section, on September 10, 2017, where it met with mostly rave reviews.[2] It then premiered in its country of origin in October 2017, at the Haifa International Film Festival.[3] At the festival, Noa Biron won the Best Actress award.[4] The film garnered two nominations for the Israeli Film Academy Ophir Awards – for Best Supporting Actress (Shpigelman) and Best Casting (Shmila).[5]
Uri Klain, on the other hand, thought the film "failed to take off", and found it "amateurish".[9] Ron Fogel also thought there was incompleteness in the film and indications of "unripeness" in its making, but also found it "refreshing" and praised the casting. He gave the film a score of 7.6 out of 10.[10]
Nick Allen, writing for Roger Ebert film review, called Montana "a strong debut" for Limor Shmila, and said of Noa Biron that she gave a "steely, fascinating performance".[13] AfterEllen reviewer Karen Frost wrote that "‘Montana’ is another example of a well-done, interesting, low-key approach to storytelling that also has a lesbian component. It's a solid feature film debut by Limor Shmila that's worth a watch for viewers who like subtle films with a message."[14] David Nusair, for Reel Film Reviews, found Shmila's direction "solid" but thought the relationship between the two women was "unconvincing'. He gave it two-and-a-half out of four stars.[15]
|-| 2017| Netta Shpigelman| Awards of the Israeli Film Academy (Ophir), Best Supporting Actress| | |-| 2017| Limor Shmila| Awards of the Israeli Film Academy (Ophir), Best Casting| | |-| 2017| Noa Biron| Haifa International Film Festival, Best Actress| | |-| 2018| Montana / Limor Shmila| Netia Off Camera International Festival of Independent Cinema, Best Feature Film| |
'TIFF' REVIEW ]
. High On Films . 1 May 2019 . September 10, 2017.