Crossing Delancey Chronicling the tension between tradition and independence, Crossing Delancey finds Isabelle Grossman (Amy Irving, whose family was of Russian Jewish descent), a single, 30-something New Yorker, indulging her Jewish grandmother’s (Yiddish theater actor Reizl Bozyk) attempts at matchmaking while excelling at her uptown publishing gig. Director Joan Micklin Silver was one of the few women to make independent films in the 1970s, including her deeply personal Hester Street (1975), and successfully pivoted to studio success with this delightful rom- com. Though the film was initially considered too “ethnic” by the studio, Irving’s then-partner Steven Spielberg pushed Warner Bros. to commit to distributing this sweet picture. DIRECTED BY: Joan Micklin Silver. WRITTEN BY: Susan Sandler. WITH: Amy Irving, Peter Riegert, Jeroen Krabbé, Reizl Bozyk. 1988. 97 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG. 35mm.
Film Festival in 2001, where it received the Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize. Alongside cheers from critics, LGBTQIA+ organizations have praised the film for its bold depiction of fluid female sexuality in a media landscape largely starved of such stories. DIRECTED BY: Charles Herman-Wurmfeld. WRITTEN BY: Heather Juergensen, Jennifer Westfeldt. WITH: Jennifer Westfeldt, Heather Juergensen, Scott Cohen, Jackie Hoffman. 2001. 97 min. USA. Color. English. Rated R. 35mm. Print courtesy of the DGA Motion Picture Industry Conservation Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
SHIVA BABY
Shiva Baby with Lemon Mon, May 27 | 7:30pm | TMT Shiva Baby
Adapted from their short film of the same name, Emma Seligman’s micro-budget feature film debut again casts It-girl Rachel Sennott as Danielle, a young bisexual woman whose worlds collide at a shiva in her family’s tight-knit Jewish community. Sennott and her quirky timing provide the perfect vessel for the script’s whip-smart dialogue in this anxiety-laden Gen Z comedy. Premiering at the 2020 South by Southwest Film Festival, which moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shiva Baby finally found massive appeal on the streaming service MUBI, where it was the streamer’s most-watched film of 2021, and has received praise for its nuanced representations of Jewish and female bisexual identities. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Emma Seligman. WITH: Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon, Polly Draper, Danny Deferrari. 2020. 77 min. USA. Color. English. DCP. Lemon Named Best Jewish Director of the year by feminist pop culture website Hey Alma for her Sundance- premiering Zola (2020), Janicza Bravo’s feature debut, Lemon , co-written with then-partner Brett Gelman, is thus far her most distinctly Jewish film. Centered on failed actor Isaac Lachmann (Gelman), his floundering career, and his dysfunctional family, the film’s mounting, awkward tension hits fever- pitch at a particularly uncomfortable Passover seder. Establishing her visual style and distinct brand of dark humor, Bravo also views Lemon as a sort of exorcism: “We had to [...] make fun of ourselves and know that [it] wasn’t going to be our destiny.” DIRECTED BY: Janicza Bravo. WRITTEN BY: Janicza Bravo, Brett Gelman. WITH: Brett Gelman, Judy Greer, Michael Cera, Shiri Appleby. 2017. 83 min. USA. Color. English. DCP.
THE FIRST WIVES CLUB
The First Wives Club in 35mm with Kissing Jessica Stein in 35mm Thu, May 23 | 7:30pm | TMT The First Wives Club A box office smash when it premiered in 1996, this (still!) rare female-driven comedy centers on Elise, Brenda, and Annie (a powerhouse assemblage of Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton), three former college roommates who each finds their marriage in shambles by their mid-forties. Ultimately empowering each other and restoring their dignity—after making brutal jabs at each other—this indelible trifecta serves as a restorative balm for scorned women everywhere. Buoyed by an Oscar-nominated score by Marc Shaiman, Midler captivates as one of the many outwardly Jewish characters in her career, one that never shied away from her family’s heritage. DIRECTED BY: Hugh Wilson. WRITTEN BY: Robert Harling. WITH: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Maggie Smith. 1996. 103 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive. Kissing Jessica Stein Sick of striking out after a series of horrendous blind dates with cringy men, uptight newspaper copyeditor Jessica Stein answers a Women Seeking Women personal ad in the hopes of finding luck in a lesbian relationship. Based in part on their off-Broadway play Lipschtick , costars and writers Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt premiered their distinctly queer, Jewish rom-com at the Los Angeles
20
Powered by FlippingBook