Just Shy of Being (2009)

"Just Shy of Being" is seen through the eyes of young lovers, Arielle and Rafi, Jew and Muslim. What would be a simple love story in much of the world is, in the Middle East, also a war story. We catch an intimate glimpse of the tragic effects the conflict between ideologies has on the lives of ordinary individuals. The film weaves together the experiences of fictional and non-fictional couples engaged in inter-faith relationships in Israel and across the world, where they confront deep, social, political biases just to exist as lovers and family. The couples are acutely aware of the menacing extremes that threaten them at every turn, simply because they are Jews and Muslims, and in love. "Just Shy of Being" is a film about life lived fully and love expressed deeply, amidst a brutal world.