Sometimes, it takes a documentary filmmaker a while to get to the essence of the story they are trying to tell. In the case of SABBATH QUEEN, filmmaker Sandi DuBowski needed 21 years to really get a handle on his central character, Amichai Lau-Lavie, and Amichai’s journey from being the son of a Holocaust survivor and the nephew of the chief rabbi of Israel to his transformation into Haddassah Gold, a cross-dressing Hungarian-accented rebbetzin. And that’s just the beginning of the story!
Following up on his landmark 2001 documentary, TREMBLING BEFORE GOD, Sandi DuBowski has created a film which is both a specific look at Amichai’s path, but also a kind of updated version of the centuries old work, THE GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED, illustrating the path that we all walk as we try to reconcile the conflicting demands of family, tradition, faith and experience along the way to finding spiritual peace.
On this episode of Inside the Arthouse, hosts Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge speak with filmmaker Sandi DuBowski about his critically acclaimed film, SABBATH QUEEN, and the role that it can play in healing a divided world.
Watch on their YouTube channel, or learn more on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE’s website.
