Virgins

Teenage Lana whiles idles away in her hometown Kiryat Yam, a run-down beachside community on Israel’s Mediterranean coast. She hangs out with a trio of shiftless boys, keeps an eye out for her dreamy cousin Tamar, and plans her escape to Tel Aviv, while waiting for the moment when her mother’s café finally bankrupts her family. But the sudden arrival of an attractive writer, Tchipi, may present a solution for both Lana and her neglected town; he spins a local myth into a news report of a mermaid’s sighting offshore—bringing people back to the city’s beaches. Now, the locals just need to turn this mermaid mania into an event big enough to bring hope and excitement back to their lives.