JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
At the end of an art-themed bar mitzvah party, the emcee debriefs with some non-Jewish guests. “Wasn’t it extra beautiful today?” asks Andrew, a 22-year-old recent college grad, as he picks party favors off the ground. “Sometimes I really envy Judaism,” a 30-something single mother named Domino offers. “Same,” Andrew says. And then they chat…
Ondi Timoner never meant to make a documentary about her father. But then, he decided to end his life at the age of 92. For over a decade, Timoner, who directed acclaimed films about alt-rock group the Dandy Warhols, internet CEO Josh Harris and comedian Russell Brand, has been developing a narrative script about her…
The most important scenes in “Tahara” take place where the best shul drama goes down: the ladies’ lounge. Possibly the most important amenity a synagogue can offer, the ladies’ lounge features way too many wicker baskets, a selection of castoff artwork incorporating the phrase “tikkun olam” and a well-worn couch conducive to dawdling and dishing…
Selling out a screening or getting a standing ovation at Sundance is hard enough for a seasoned filmmaker, let alone for a farmer from the West Bank. But director Emad Burnat, from the village of Bil’in, brought Park City, Utah, to its feet with his debut documentary about his family’s life beyond the security barrier…
The picturesque resort town of Park City is known for many things — among them powdery snow and a prestigious independent film festival. Kosher cuisine, not so much. This may be changing. Just in time for the Sundance Film Festival, which descends on this winter hamlet each January, Canyons Resort opened the glatt kosher Bistro…
Having grown up in suburban Philadelphia, born to a Yiddish-speaking mother, Alison Klayman is a surprising conduit for China’s most famous dissident artist. In between many jobs, including writing for this newspaper (and interviewing the Chinese about their knowledge of Jews and Judaism before the influx of visitors for the 2010 Olympics, for JTA), she…
Indie filmmakers may never have to eat treyf again. A new restaurant in Park City, Utah, just a snowball’s throw or so from the Sundance Film Festival (January 19-26) is serving up new kosher cuisine. The 85-seat restaurant, Bistro at Canyons, is described as the first kosher restaurant at a North American ski resort. There…
Filmmaker, Internet pioneer and Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shlain believes that “when you speak your truth, you speak the universal.” This seems to be the case, given the buzz surrounding her new, partially autobiographical film, which premiered January 21 at the Sundance Film Festival. Best known among American Jews for ““The Tribe,” a 2006 short…
