Architect-turned-filmmaker Yael Melamede directs a documentary portrait of her mother, Israeli architect Ada Karmi-Melamede, who co-designed the Supreme Court of Israel building in Jerusalem in the early 1990s with her brother Ram Karmi and later created Ben Gurion Airport. The film explores Karmi-Melamede's architectural philosophy of "architecture of the ground and of the sky," her departure from her brother's brutalism, and a painful family split when she left her husband and children in New York after being denied tenure at Columbia University.
The documentary matters because it intertwines personal and political narratives, showing how Karmi-Melamede's career and family life were shaped by gender discrimination in academia and the shifting political landscape in Israel, including her dismay over the Netanyahu government's 2021 move to weaken the Supreme Court. The film also features commentary from New York Times architecture correspondent Paul Goldberger, who reflects on the diminished international leadership once associated with Israel, adding a layer of cultural and political significance to the architectural story.