Another View 2017 / Menashe / USA, Israel 2017
Likeable loser Menashe, a widower employed at a kosher supermarket who lives in Brooklyn’s rule-based community of ultra-Orthodox Jews, is trying to gain the right to raise his own son. This gentle, deeply-human drama graced with humorous moments was a hit at this year’s Sundance.
Likeable loser Menashe Lustig, an employee at a kosher supermarket, became a widower a year ago. We’re in the heart of Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the rabbi has the right to prevent the kindhearted man from raising his son until he remarries. Menashe’s road to happiness and to gaining respect from the dismissive bunch around him seems a bumpy one, but the unlikely hero does not give up. Joshua Z Weinstein, a debutant in features, embraces his extensive documentary experience as he pulls back the veil of mystery surrounding a world steeped in myriad rules – that of the firm adherents of the Jewish pietist movement. And in his film, where predominantly Hasidic nonpro actors appear in front of the camera, he works with respect, feeling, and a gentle but solid layering of authenticity encasing a universal story. “Yes, being a Hasid can be about a certain seriousness and quiet,” says Weinstein. “But there’s also a lot of fun and a lot of camaraderie, the kinds of things we all long for.”
Karel Och
81 min / Color, DCP
Director Joshua Z Weinstein
/ Screenplay Joshua Z Weinstein, Alex Lipschultz, Musa Syeed
/ Dir. of Photography Yoni Brook, Joshua Z Weinstein
/ Music Aaron Martin, Dag Rosenqvist
/ Editor Scott Cummings
/ Art Director Royce Brown, Carlen May-Mann, Laura Moss
/ Producer Alex Lipschultz, Traci Carlson, Joshua Z Weinstein, Danny Finkelman, Yoni Brook
/ Production Shtick Film
/ Coproduction Maiden Voyage Pictures, Where’s Eve, Sparks Productions, Autumn Productions
/ Cast Menashe Lustig, Ruben Niborski
/ Sales Mongrel International
Joshua Z Weinstein (b. 1983, New York City) studied filmmaking at Boston University. He is a respected cameraman and director of documentaries such as Flying on One Engine (2008), Drivers Wanted (2012), and I Beat Mike Tyson (2012). He also lensed the pictures Code of the West (2012), Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (2013), and Bikini Moon (2017). Menashe, screened at Sundance and the Berlinale, is his feature film debut.
Mongrel International
1352 Dundas St. West, M6J 1Y2, Toronto
Canada
Phone: +1 416 516 0651
Fax: +1 416 516 9775
Alex Lipschultz
Producer
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