NJJFF Spotlight: Sabbath Queen

Post-Screening Q&A with filmmaker Sandi DuBowski

Director: Sandi DuBowski
2024, USA, 105 minutes
English, Hebrew, & Yiddish with English subtitles
Documentary

Filmed over 21 years by Sandi DuBowski, director of the groundbreaking documentary Trembling Before G-d, this absorbing documentary follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, including a Chief Rabbi of Israel. Torn between rejecting and embracing his lineage, Amichai becomes a drag queen rebel, a queer bio-dad, a founder of Lab/Shul — an everybody-friendly, G-d-optional, artist-driven, experimental congregation in New York — and, most unexpectedly, a rabbinical student. Sabbath Queen profiles Amichai’s lifelong quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, challenge patriarchy, champion interfaith love, and stand up for peace. Official Selection of the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, the 2024 Montclair Film Festival, and many others.

Host or Publisher JCC MetroWest