Simi Horwitz is a feature writer and film reviewer based in New York City. In 2022, she received first place for film criticism from the Society for Feature Journalism, and in 2023, a New York Press Club Award for an Entertainment News feature; and three Los Angeles Press Club Awards, including first place for film criticism — all for pieces published in the Forward.
Simi Horwitz
By Simi Horwitz
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Culture How To Make A Yiddish Classic When You Don’t Know Any Yiddish
Documentarian Joshua Z. Weinstein, 33, who dubs himself a humanist filmmaker, says he never wanted to make a Jewish movie, but rather one that explores the interplay (maybe the clash) between faith and modernity. It’s almost — but not quite — incidental that his characters are Yiddish-speaking Hasidim, members of the most austere sects living…
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Film & TV Fundamentalism And Feminism Square Off In ‘The Women’s Balcony’
‘The Women’s Balcony,” the Israeli film written by Shlomit Nehama and director Emil Ben-Shimon, could easily have turned into a polemic, awash in stereotypes, about the ultra-Orthodox versus the more liberally minded in one small, closely knit Israeli Orthodox congregation. But thanks to the talents of the actors and the creative team, the film is…
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Culture At 96, Judith Leiber Is Still The Queen Of All Handbags
Fashionable evening bags are one thing. But Judith Leiber’s handbags marry exquisitely detailed craftsmanship with a joyously bold, at moments, anarchistic, vision. Close to 100 bejeweled silver and gold-plated high-end “after five” handbags — including Leiber’s iconic evening purses (minaudieres) sculpted to evoke various vegetables and small animals — are on display in the stunning…
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Culture In ‘Natasha,’ David Bezmozgis Captures Russian Jews Caught Between Two Worlds
Writer-director David Bezmozgis is cautiously optimistic about the fate of his flick, “Natasha,” adapted from the title story in his critically acclaimed collection (“Natasha and other stories,” 2004) and marking his second outing as a filmmaker. “Natasha” is the first film to explore the little known Russian-born Jewish subculture in Toronto that was spawned from…
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Culture Read The Groundbreaking Orthodox Film Story That’s Now An Award Finalist
Editor’s Note: Simi Horwitz’s stories on the Orthodox world have been named a finalist in the prestigious Deadline Club awards. Read her complete story of Orthodox women filmmakers here. The Haredi world is generally viewed as an insular patriarchal community that shuns movies. Virtually nobody owns a TV. Still, a fledgling, shadow film industry has…
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Culture How Richard Gere Went From American Gigolo to American Jew
Joseph Cedar, the Israeli writer-director of the much-admired 2011 film “Footnote,” admitted frankly that he did not seek out Richard Gere to play the Jewish title character in his first English-language film, “Norman, The Moderate Rise And Tragic Fall Of A New York Fixer.” The suggestion was made by one of the film’s producers, Oren…
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Art These Orthodox Designers Are Making Frum Fashionable
Chaya Chanin, 32, was telling me about the genesis of The Frock, NYC, her online business featuring styles designed for the seriously Orthodox woman who wants to be more fashion-forward. At the same time, her 30-year-old sister and company co-owner, Simi Polonsky, was busying herself taking pictures of us, clicking away on her cell phone,…
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49 Reasons Why 2016 Wasn't as Bad as You Think Captain Fantastic
‘Captain Fantastic” is noteworthy for its refreshing views of an authoritarian patriarch, Ben Cash (a terrific performance by Viggo Mortensen), gussied up as a forward-thinking intellectual. Dad’s political motto is “Stick It to the Man,” and he celebrates Noam Chomsky’s birthday instead of Christmas. His children are conversant in Marx, “Middlemarch” and Yo-Yo Ma, but…
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