December 5, 2007 8:29 AM
Gay Muslim Outs Himself to Muslim Scholars at Conference
In an amazing act of courage, one of A Jihad for Love's friends in Toronto, Suhail, came out at a major gathering of Muslim scholars from Afghanistan to Yemen at the International Consultation on Islam and HIV/AIDS, organised by the charity, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), in Johannesburg, South Africa, last week.
The previous day, several of them had denounced homosexuality as un-Islamic and evil.
Today, AbualSameed had something to tell them.
“As a gay Muslim, I feel unsafe, unloved and unrespected in this space,” he said.
“Were I to become HIV-positive, the first thing I would lose is my Muslim community. I couldn’t come to you guys for support.”
You could cut the tension the room with a knife.
AbualSameed continued: “I wish you did not refer to gays with the (Arabic) words ‘shaz’ and ‘luti’ – perverts and rapists – because we are not.”
Two men in keffiyas, the gingham headcloth worn by men in many Muslim countries, waved their arms to silence him but the chairman nodded for him to continue.
Spellbound, the audience listened as AbualSameed, a Jordanian living in Canada, did the unthinkable: outing himself.
The groundbreaking consultation brought together Muslim community leaders, academics, doctors, relief workers and HIV-positive activists to rethink the Islamic response to HIV and AIDS. One key issue was HIV prevention among hard-to-reach vulnerable groups like sex workers, street children, injecting drug users, and men who have sex with men.
Jaffer Inamdar, the HIV-positive founder and programme manager of the Positive Lives Foundation in Goa, India, told IRIN/PlusNews: “Lots of sex, drugs and gay activity take place during the high season from September to April in this popular tourist destination. Harsh, condemning language make them [gays] run away, hide and continue to spread HIV.”
Anti-gay laws
Homosexuality is forbidden and considered a crime in most Islamic countries. Six officially Islamic countries (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the 12 northern states of Nigeria) invoke sharia – Islamic religious law – and maintain the death penalty for consensual same-sex sex, according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
Other countries punish homosexuality with fines, jail or lashes, coupled with social stigma and blaming Western culture for introducing gay lifestyles.
Not surprisingly, AbualSameed was fearful.
“I saw their gaze, their body attitude, and my memory told me there could be a physical reaction,” he said.
But he had nothing to fear.
“Afterwards, veiled women, bearded men, the most religious types, came to me and apologised if they had said something offensive, if they had made me feel unloved or unsafe.”
Each friendly gesture signalled belonging.
“This is us: our culture is intimate, warm, based on relationships. When I outed to my family, they did not turn on me,” a relieved AbualSameed told IRIN/PlusNews.
The following morning, the ulama had a surprise.
Conference spokesperson and IRW head of policy Willem van Eekelen read their collective statement, saying that although Islam does not accept homosexuality, Islamic leaders would try to help create an environment in which gay people could approach social workers and find help against AIDS without feeling unsafe.
“This first time ever that a high-level religious forum has talked, acknowledged and accepted gays,” said AbualSameed.
“This will open the door to talks with the Muslim gay community and help other gay Muslims to come out in a safer space.”
To see theologians from Egyptian and Syrian universities, and imams – Muslim community leaders – from India, Sudan and Pakistan defy official Islamic homophobia is “definitively a first,” said sheikh Abul Kalam Azad, chairman of the Masjid (mosque) Council for Community Advancement, in Bangladesh.
“Homosexuality is a sin but we should not be cruel. They [gays] suffer a lot in the Muslim world.”
Inamdar welcomed the statement.
“There are many gays in my group [in Goa]. Islam says it is a sin and we have to follow Islamic rulings, but we are all human and deserve respect.”
An unlikely ally for gay rights turned out to be Sudanese sheikh Mohamed Hashim Alhakim, dressed in a white robe with gold trimmings and a white turban, and his wife, clad in a black hijab, with their baby just behind him.
Alkahim runs the S-Smart Training and Consultancy Centre in Khartoum, which also runs AIDS awareness programmes.
“I used to be very hard against homosexuals and sex workers,” he said. “But I learned to respect their humanity. I advise them to change, but if they are going to continue they must practice safe sex so they don't harm themselves and their partners.”
Evil ways
During the weeklong consultation, AbualSameed, who is coordinator of the Newcomer/Immigrant Youth Programme at the Sherbourne Health Centre in Toronto, had endured homophobic statements.
Just the day before, one scholar had ranked homosexuality with bestiality and adultery as evils to avoid.
“The harshness of the comments made me passionate; I had to do something for my own identity and dignity, and of other gay Muslims,” said AbualSameed.
His decision to speak out was nurtured in his conference working group, made up of Muslims from Iran, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.
South African psychologist Sabra Desai spoke about care and solidarity, and recalled the Prophet’s words: “‘If one part of my body hurts, my whole body hurts’,” she said. “I take this to mean that if one member of my community hurts, we all hurt.”
Then she squeezed AbualSameed’s hand under the table and passed him the microphone.
Slowly, he started: “As a Gay Muslim …”.
And with every word, the doors of tolerance opened wider.
http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/07/Dec/0302.htm
November 3, 2007 9:36 PM
Rabbi Turnaround
From Adam, an Orthodox man in Denver - "Last week, my family's shul had a viewing of Trembling and following its conclusion, the rabbi of the shul got up and said that this was the saddest movie he had ever seen. He said that earlier in his rabbinical career, he would have counseled gays by telling them categorically that gay activity is forbidden and they must be celibate. Now he said he is deeply torn, would no longer counsel this way to gays, and that the gedolim must be innovative, using great halachic creativity to make a way to embrace practicing gays. He cited historical examples of Hillel's Prozbul enactment for the Sabbatical year and the Sages institution of selling chometz to a non-Jew during Pesach as radical demonstrations of the rabbis' authority and halachic creativity to meet those challenges head on and reconcile them, all fully in a halachic manner. He said the same thing is desperately needed for gays and that the gedolim must not be silent any longer."
Another person from Denver emailed and wrote, "I was thinking of you because one of our orthodox/traditional congregations, BMH-BJ, had a Trembling showing and the rabbi was astonished and moved by his congregation’s response and is now working to influence his movement. The power of your work in action!"
There are already at least 18 Orthodox synagogues that have invited Trembling to screen - that we know about...
September 28, 2007 10:59 AM
Ahmadinejad and the Homosexuality He Seeks to Deny - Parvez Sharma in Huffington Post
While we were at The Rio Film Festival presenting A Jihad for Love, Parvez wrote an excellent feature for The Huffington Post about The President of Iran's comments on homosexuality at Columbia University.
"...If I were not in Brazil at the moment, speaking to packed audiences who have been applauding and crying with the four Iranian homosexual men I filmed fleeing Mr. Ahmadi Nejad's nation, I would have made sure I was at Columbia to hand-deliver to the former mayor an autographed copy of the DVD (conforming to all Iranian copyright laws) of A Jihad for Love, my recently finished, six-year documentary project on Islam and homosexuality (currently playing to the aforementioned packed houses at the Rio International Film Festival..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parvez-sharma/ahmadinejad-and-the-homos_b_66209.html
September 26, 2007 2:46 AM
And the Baptist Minister from Tammy Faye Bakker's funeral too!
Amos reports back from The Trembling 5th Anniversary Screening he organized in Little Rock, Arkansas....
the screening was great-we had about 80 people and a wonderful discussion afterwards---we had a panel of myself, a Jewish feminist, two rabbis and the Baptist minister who gave the eulogy at Tammy Faye Baker's funeral. I originally planned on only seating 40 but the demand was great and we still did not have enough seats. There has been interest to do an encore screening but that can't happen till after the 1st of the year as I have a full schedule till then.
September 24, 2007 2:15 PM
Sons and Dads
You are definitely making a better world for your kids. Years ago my son and I saw the movie together, glued to tv he shared his emotions with his gay jewish dad...we cried together..sang together to the songs he learned as kid going to orthodox shul and camp. He and I became closer that day. He is 21 now and always teaching others about tolerance and mutual respect. Thank you for sharing this.
Romer
September 19, 2007 11:20 PM
Prayer to accompany the Torah reading of Leviticus 18 on Yom Kippur by Rabbi Steve Greenberg & Danny Wohl
Prayer to accompany the Torah reading of Leviticus 18 on Yom Kippur Afternoon
by Rabbi Steven Greenberg and Danny Wohl
Master of the Universe
On this Yom Kippur,
As the noonday sun descends,
We open up your sacred scroll,
And read with awe its words of wisdom.
Troubled, we share our meditations with You.
In the beginning You created us in your image,
Breathed into a pure body opposing desires,
The human was created, lonely and alone.
When You repaired the flaw, transformed it by love
Your creations rejoiced, their longings fulfilled.
Flesh of Flesh, bone of bone,
One made two and two made one.
But You have also kindled the storms of our passion,
How, brazen and reckless, we slake our thirst.
We are overwhelmed by a sea of desire.
Only the bonds of covenant restrain the torrent,
Setting boundaries that cannot be breached.
You call us to read on this sacred day
The verses that ban the uncovering of nakedness.
The sins committed in the embrace of families
That trample innocence and humiliate with touch,
The degrading coercions that cry out unheard,
The breach of trust and the betrayal of loved ones
Fill the land with violence from within.
Shield of Abraham and Defender of Sarah,
Grant safety and security to those who have suffered abuse.
Send them peace of mind and soothe their spirits
As they turn to you for healing on this Day of Awe.
Master of the Universe, to Whom all secrets are known,
As the reading closes and “abhorence” is spoken
Women and men, in every congregation
Hear the words “Thou shalt not lie” and weep
In the back rows of synagogues,
Outcast and broken.
On this Day of Judgment, please God remember
The myriad souls, who from the beginning
Found in their hearts a fierce inclination,
A mighty love, toward members of their own sex.
Remember O Lord their paralyzing fear.
The unspeakable longing, the shaming embrace,
Accusing them with the full force of Law
Of perversions that could only be remedied by death.
Remember throughout history the thousands upon thousands,
Who consumed by self-hatred and the scorn of others,
Were cast out as outrage, or suffered unseen.
Not one dared imagine that they were not cursed
But blessed by the One, Who revels in difference.
And I further observed the tears of the oppressed
With none to comfort them.
And I saw the power of their oppressors
With none to comfort them. (Ecclesiastes 4:1)
Master of the universe, Creator of humankind
Are the oppressors of your children
The verses themselves or those who interpret them?
What tragedies do we inflict when we drive away
Beloved daughters, beloved sons?
Our scholars once knew how to look in the book
To create new worlds in both awe and in love.
Open their eyes to the marvels and wonders,
The ways to expand and deepen your Torah
and draw down among us your spirit from above.
Where there is no comfort for the maligned and oppressed,
Then be Thou their comfort, their strength and fortress.
Bless us with peace in the midst of our differences.
Grant understanding and courage to our Sages.
Wipe away shame from the hearts of your children
And give hope to all for both wholeness and love.
September 19, 2007 3:43 PM
Beautiful Testimony from Trembling on the Road House Party Host -- Yoni in Vancouver
So we showed Trembling on the Road in our home last night. Twenty people. Straight, queer, mostly Jews, but not only. Four queer Jews (and others) who work at four different Jewish institutions in town - all of them out. Some of their bosses as well. I will gather quotes from them to send you, but in short, it was a really wonderful evening. Such deep and broad appreciation to be discussing the nature of community, to talk about change, to come up with ideas, to have the opportunity to offer help, to circle around to old and new approaches, to share pain and laughter, to feel a return. From the high level change (how do we get to show this in the Jewish high school) to broad based change (everyone here should have a showing of Trembling in their home 20x20=400), there was openness, self-critique, and presence. That stuff makes a community.
Thanks for the opportunity to do this. It was special for me to tell the story of how we gathered, connecting The Conversation and the Conference for Change, which were all station-stops for us getting to last night that the Center for Leadership Initiatives helped move forward. As the evening came to a close, I reflected on the fact that my two daughters (7 and 4) were snoring lightly upstairs. I felt that we could offer no better modeling for this new year for them than we were at that moment. Ima and Aba were downstairs with friends and colleagues intentionally talking about how to make this world, which is ultimately theirs, a sweeter, safer and more inclusive place. With full hearts and ironically empty-handed (both of my copies of the film had been snagged by visitors who wanted to share with others), we all parted paths with more of a shared vision than ever.
I hope all the others went as well as this one.
Hatima Tova.
yoni
September 18, 2007 11:28 PM
Planet Out & MyJewishLearning.com
Quite the combo - Planet Out and MyJewishLearning.com.
One great feature on the Trembling 5th Anniversary
http://www.planetout.com/entertainment/news/?sernum=5515&navpath=/entertainment/
and a blog on by one of my favorite Jewish websites -
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/
**We are up to 80 house parties in 16 countries!**
September 10, 2007 10:58 AM
Filmmaker/Matchmaker!
Am proud to announce the engagement of Amir Bar-Lev and Jennifer Bleyer!
http://www.indiewire.com/ipop/2007/09/toronto_07.html
In Judaism, if you make three matches, you go to olam haba - the next world.
First I introduced Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the Orthodox gay rabbi in Trembling and Steve Goldstein. Now Amir and Jennifer. One more to go! ... who's available? :)
September 7, 2007 1:21 PM
From a Muslim gay man...
Just received this...
"I watched Trembling Before G-d during my sophomore year of college, at a time when I was still closeted, and struggling to come to terms with my sexuality. Although I am not Jewish, I found the film to be incredibly powerful, and it resonated with me very much as a Muslim. I could not fight my tears the entire time. The truth is that this film served as a catalyst of sorts for me to reconcile my faith and sexuality. Most importantly, I realized that I am not alone... and that there are countless other LGBT individuals across the globe who are trying to find their place in their respective religious communities. The voices in this film are honest and real- and they simply need to be heard more often."
September 6, 2007 11:33 AM
Feature in The Forward
Check out our first feature story on the Trembling 5th Anniversary --
http://www.forward.com/articles/11536
(Go Little Rock!) I recall the day I opened Trembling at Film Forum in NYC. Two Hasidic teenagers came from Boro Park to see the film because they read about it in the forbidden Forward.
September 5, 2007 1:05 PM
The One Out Gay Jew in Latvia
I just got this Facebook message:
B"H
Hello Sandi! London and Riga or Riga and London is calling!! ;)
Thank you for stuning, greate and very smart film, thnx for TREMBLING BEFORE G-D
I m from Latvia, originally, but now I made my home, sort off, in London.. still I m satelite.. London-Riga-London.. mostly because of being one of organizers of Riga Pride...
I m only one Jewish (with very tvisted history), beliver and openly gay in Latvia. We are having quite number of Jewish LGBT people, but because of Habad (who now control everything in Latvia) all my Sisters and Brothers are in closed.. they are scared of rejection, not only from Shul, but from community itself, our community is veru small and families are conected and bussineses too.. Rejection means being stranger, autsider...
Well, lets help toghether!
Blessings
Ernest
# # #
It is amazing to get this message from Ernest. In 2005 and 2006 there were violent assaults on Riga Pride participants - attacks, excrement, eggs... Ernest will show Trembling at Riga Pride in June 2008. It is estimated that 70,000 Latvian Jews were killed in the Holocaust - the community numbers today about 12-15,000. My grandfather sailed from Riga to the U.S. in 1922. I wish he and millions of other Latvian and Eastern European/Russian Jews could have attended our Trembling screenings...
August 29, 2007
A recent post about the Trembling On The Road site
A colleague, Katerina Cizek is a documentary-maker and the National Film Board of Canada's Filmmaker-in-Residence at an inner-city hospital. She is teaming up with partners at the frontlines - doctors, nurses and patients - to create collaborative media. In this blog, she is writing about the day-to-day process, the ideas behind and the future of "interventionist media."
She just did this great blog piece on us
http://www.nfb.ca/filmmakerinresidence/blog/
August 20, 2007
Trembling Before G-d has been seen by more than 8 million people worldwide and profoundly touched and transformed the lives of individuals, their families, and communities.
Trembling on the Road is a dramatic 40-minute featurette that captures the dialogues, protests, and reactions - poignant, funny, angry, inspiring - of Trembling Before G-d's life-changing movement around the world.
Celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Trembling on the Road as we spotlight, share, and landmark that movement and take the next step. We invite you to:
- Host face-to-face screening parties from Rosh Hashanah, The Jewish New Year, to Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, and beyond, when we recommit to the freedom to transform ourselves in the world.
- Share your stories, join our forums and live web events, guest blog.
Make this site your own. Let these holidays be open and welcoming for everyone!
Director's Blog
March 1, 2005
Trembling South Africa Controversy
When Rabbi Steve Greenberg and I toured South Africa in February 2005 we truly honed the model of our work. It was the first time that we combined the touring of the film and Steve's book and the synergy of the two had an incredible impact.
Trembling Before G-d had a theatrical release at Cape Town's Labia Cinema, Johannesburg's Killarney Nu Metro Cinema, and Pretoria's Nu Metro Menlyn and Rabbi Greenberg launched his book, Wrestling With God and Men, nationwide.
However, The Beth Din or Rabbinical Court of South Africa and the Board of Jewish Education tried to shut us down in every way possible - preventing any Trembling Before G-d flyers from being posted in any Jewish establishment; cancelling our screening at the Chief Rabbi's community center; preventing Rabbi Greenberg from speaking in any Jewish high school in South Africa; and even threatening a Jewish social hall with the removal of their kosher license if they hosted our event. Their attempt to stop Rabbi Steve Greenberg's book launch at The Beyachad Center which is the Jewish community center of Johannesburg failed when secular community leaders stepped in to prevent a possible legal action on the basis that the cancellation of the book launch would constitute discrimination based on sexual orientation which is outlawed by the South Africa Constitution.
This censorship backfired and catalyzed nationwide press for a month. The story garnered the front page of the weekly South African Jewish newspaper, feature stories in the Sunday Times, Mail and Guardian and Cape Times, numerous articles in the Afrikaans and English-language press and multiple appearances on TV, commercial talk radio, and other radio shows. Thousands of people came to diverse programs we held in cinemas, universities, and cultural institutions over the course of 2 weeks. The whole tour, events, press and marketing were organized thanks to a dedicated team of truly fantastic South African volunteers led by Sheryl Ozinsky, our coordinator in Cape Town, and David Bilchitz, our coordinator in Johannesburg.
These programs included panelists from many faiths and races: the Secretary General of the Dutch Reform Church, lesbian sangomas or traditional African healers, the Imam of Pretoria Mosque, Dominee Andree Muller, Brother Muhsin Hendricks (an Islamic gay scholar), Justice Dennis Davis, gay activists from The Equality Project, Bishop Paul Verryn of the Methodist Church, MC Rowen Smith (Dean of St Georges' Cathedral). No South African Orthodox rabbi would appear on any of our panels.
We held special screenings for black township gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth at Cape Town's Triangle Project. We did a roundtable discussion on homosexuality with a group of therapists. Rabbi Steve Greenberg led evenings of teaching at the Cape Town Jewish Museum and Gitlin Library, Johannesburg's WITS Institute for Social and Economic Research, and at the University of Cape Town. Greenberg and DuBowski participated in a debate on homosexuality at WITS with the South African Union of Jewish Students - the following week The Chief Rabbi of South Africa came to address the students on the topic. DuBowski presented film workshops on using documentary for social change at University of Western Cape, a historically black university under apartheid, and the TV Department at WITS. The two also led a wonderful Shabbat dinner for the Jewish gay community in Johannesburg.
A new Jewish GLBT organization in South Africa - Jewish OutLook (check out the web-site www.jewishoutlook.org.za) - was birthed through the process and a group of people are planning to bring Limmud — a pluralistic Jewish learning conference - to South Africa to open a space in the community for discussions around issues such as this one. And the community held a debate after our departure where the Beth Din had to defend themselves for the choices they had made. At a debate addressing the Orthodox rabbinate's refusal to engage with Rabbi Greenberg, Rabbi Rappaport of the Beth Din said, "What we are opposed to is people espousing things that are contrary to Judaism and mankind coming to talk to our children. I have the right to defend myself before a robber kills me - it is my duty to protect my child from spiritual murder." Justice Dennis Davis replied "Have we become a theocracy with the Orthodox community running the show where there is only one view and one truth? That is the concern."
October 25, 2001
Story from Theatrical Release in NYC
Last night at our Benefit Premiere for the NYC Theatrical Release at Film Forum, I saw two Hasidic women exit the theater and walk toward 6th Avenue. I rushed after them, eager to invite them to the unprecedented Orthodox community-wide discussion taking place the following Sunday, co-sponsored by eight Orthodox synagogues.
"How did you hear about the film?" I asked one of them. "The group," she answered. I hesitated. "The group? - you mean the Orthodykes?" I tentatively asked. "Yes," she replied. "Sara" later told me she is a Hasidic lesbian from Monsey, a mother, now trying to separate from her husband. She had brought her straight Hasidic friend to the theater. "Sara" was born "Ultra Chassidish." She knew she was attracted to women at a young age, but had never heard the words gay or lesbian. "Hey, I thought everyone had these feelings and then they get married to whoever their parents choose for them. I met a boy at age 17 and spent 3 full hours talking to him at which point I was announced engaged. We got married and my mom came to shave my hair off [a ritual for brides in her Hasidic sect]."
"Sara" married while still in her teens, and has slowly, over years, come to accept her gayness. "My parents refuse to talk to me, and if I go to their house they lock the door in my face. When I call the phone gets slammed down upon hearing my voice. They do not speak to me because I have long hair (which I cover with a wig) and because I have openly lesbian friends. I have given up trying because it is too painful to be rejected." She thanked me for making the film, and for portraying the beauty of Judaism. "I admire your work and the dedication it took to make this project come to be."
The next day "Sara's" friend left me a message later thanking me as well. Having seen the film, she now understood what a lesbian was, why "Sara" couldn't just be with a man, and all the struggle she has been through. The following night, I was surprised to see a crowd of Hasidim outside Film Forum. "Sara's" straight friend had brought her husband, her brothers, and a cousin from Monsey to see the film. After the screening a virtual United Nations - Hasidic, non-Hasidic, Jewish, non-Jewish, gay, lesbian, straight, Asian, and African-American - stood for two hours outside the theater talking and laughing and at the end, even taking pictures with each other! For me, these unprecedented, spontaneous connections represent part of the unforeseen promise of Trembling Before G-d.
May 29, 2001
Banned in Mexico!
In May, The MIX Festival screened "Trembling Before G-d/ Tremblando Ante Dios" at El Cinoteca. But a special screening we had also set up at the Mexico City Jewish Community Center - the nerve center of this tight-knit 40,000 strong mainly Orthodox community - was stopped due to pressure from the five Jewish communities (Ashkenazi, Sephardic Balkan, Syrian and Conservative) that make up the Mexico Jewish Federation. It was a shock but we turned the El Armario bookstore into a cinema, wired it with closed circuit TV's, and held a fantastic series of screenings, dialogues, Torah teaching, media conferences, and meetings with Rabbi Steve Greenberg and myself. Luis, head of the gay Jewish group Shalom Amigos, who said he was waiting for this film for 25 years, was our fearless comrade and made one of the most dynamic experiences with the film possible. Troops of Jews and others piqued by the enormous publicity continue to go to the bookstore for special screenings and we are pursuing Mexican TV. Luis is now Director of Latin American Education for Trembling Before G-d and we are developing education in Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Cuba,etc. See press coverage in La Reforma, one of Mexico DF's main newspapers at here and here.
May 22, 2001
Eastern Europe
I met the one gay Jew in Krakow, Poland at the Krakow Film Festival. He was struggling with coming out and like many Jews in Poland, only discovered he was Jewish later in life. He had a nervous breakdown a year ago. With two Israeli filmmakers, we had him laughing and smiling by the end. He later wrote that the film and this experience was one of the most life-changing events for him. At the Karlovy Vary Festival in the famous resort in Czech Republic, we got Pick of the Day by Premiere Magazine. It was the Spa before the Storm of Jerusalem. It is very hard however to show the film in Eastern Europe - I see the audiences and then the ghosts. Much as the Israeli and Palestinian peoples are going through terrible violence, it was somehow a relief to come to Israel from Eastern Europe, from this feeling of loss and emptiness.
And on our Orthodox Community Education Project - With Orthodox psychotherapist Naomi Mark, who is featured in Trembling, we did a training at an Orthodox yeshiva for the next generation's Orthodox rabbis on how to counsel issues of homosexuality.
February, 28, 2001
Good news. Trembling Before G-d was awarded two prizes from The Berlin Film Festival. Story of the Berlin experience follows...
The 2001 Teddy Award for Best Documentary
The Teddy Award is the most prestigious international award for gay and lesbian cinema. The nine members of this international jury represented USA, Germany, UK, Italy, Norway, Canada, Ukraine, and The Netherlands.
"The Teddy Award for the best documentary film goes to Trembling Before G-d by Sandi Simcha DuBowski for its ground-breaking discovery of the secret life of lesbian and gay Jews all around the world and of their fight for recognition of their beliefs."
The International Federation of Film Societies, Special Mention
Founded in 1947, FICC-IFFS is the international umbrella organization for film societies and cine-clubs. Jurors hailed from German, Switzerland, France, and Italy.
"Taking compelling examples, this moving documentary shows the seeming incompatibility of the Jewish Orthodox rules of faith and homosexuality. The meticulously researched material interweaves a theological view with personal experience of life, and gets the audience involved in contemplating a deep conflict."
Bringing Trembling Before G-d to Berlin from Sundance was fascinating. The Festival propelled Trembling onto an international stage and reactions were phenomenal. Creative collaborator/ editor Susan Korda and I were thrilled how widely the film resonated.
At our last screening, an older man stood up and said, "I am a survivor of the Holocaust. When I was in Poland, these men would come to the shul on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They would stand without tallises (the prayer shawls worn by married men) in the back and cry. I asked my rabbi, who were these (unmarried) men? He said they were the rashes (the evil ones). Only years later did I realize who they were. After being here today, I want to thank you for making this film because we are all G-d's children."
Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi accompanied me to Berlin with Father Ludger Viefhues, a German Jesuit priest who is gay. We held two powerful roundtables - "Sexuality and Spirit: New Perspectives from Within the Tradition: A Jewish-Catholic Gay Dialogue in Berlin" and did an underground meeting at a church with a number of Catholic gay priests who did not want to be exposed. Ludger's beautiful story of the trip is below.
On Friday night, we took over a Jewish restaurant in East Berlin (yes) where we koshered the kitchen (yes). We did a Shabbat dinner with fifty people - German, Dutch, American, British, Israeli, Australian, Jews, non-Jews, gay, straight. Having Rabbi Steve lead us in a rousing niggun of "Chiri biri bam" was extraordinary. One felt that such song was not heard in the neighborhood for a long time. Next door, we prayed in a synagogue that had survived the war where the chazzan or cantor had presided for 35 years during the Wall.. We then walked across the city that night back to the West, a two hour trek past war memorials and museums, parks and commerce. One of the members of the gay Jewish community in Germany accompanied us and told a tale of only discovering he was Jewish twelve years ago. His grandparents had committed suicide in 1933 on the day after Hitler's rise to power. His mother was then raised by a non-Jewish family and he was born in East Germany. Unfortunately he did not have papers proving he was Jewish (not surprising) and the Jewish gay community had split between those gay Jews who had papers to prove they were Jewish and those who did not and whose identity could not be trusted.. A few refused to come to Shabbat because they did not want to be "Jewish theater," exoticized by philo-Semitic Germans. Ironically, German police guard every Jewish institution with metal detectors and guns.
So in this post-war, post-Wall Germany we threw a party - Trembling Before Hedwig - John Cameron Mitchell and my celebration of our films - Hedwig and The Angry Inch and Trembling - with our friends in Berlin. Photos and story are at INDIEWIRE.
It looks very likely that we will have a German and Israeli theatrical release in addition to France. Many US distributors and international TV broadcasters are interested in acquisition and we have been invited to festivals worldwide.
January 31, 2001
I write you on the heels of Sundance and soon on my way to The Berlin Film Festival. Here is a mini-report from all the success of Sundance.
Sundance was an extraordinary experience on so many levels. Trembling was the talk of the festival. Audiences and press uniformly loved the film and our screenings and Q & A's were very intense and emotional. I think I cried every other day. And if I didn't, my parents who came for the first few days, made up for it.
There is great interest on the sales side and we are in negotiation with theatrical distributors and TV broadcasters. More news to follow....
Highlights:
Hosting a Friday night Shabbat dinner with Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, for 50 people. Steve was a dynamic, inspiring force at the festival. Many Jews (and non-Jews) approached him to say if they had met a rabbi like him, they would have explored Judaism. We took over a restaurant and koshered the kitchen (yes, in Park City, Utah).. Shabbat guests included Tilda Swinton and B. Ruby Rich, "Speed" Levitch from The Cruise, Susan Stover and her Business of Strangers team, former yeshiva graduates, journalist Jim Fouratt, Trembling Creative Collaborator/Editor Susan Korda, filmmaker Yvonne Welbon, and Sundance programmers: Shari Frilot, John Cooper & Shannon Kelley. A few largely closeted members of the Salt Lake City Jewish community were overjoyed to join us. One woman who grew up Orthodox and is lesbian came with her girlfriend who grew up fundamentalist Christian. We ate, sang, learned, blessed, and were transported to a peaceful place where the frenzy of the festival was a distant memory. Thanks to chef Todd Brownstein we dined on a lovely salmon and wild rice dinner provided to us all by an anonymous donor who underwrote the evening. Thank you all for such a special evening. Shabbat at Sundance- inaugurating a tradition!
Hosting a Havdalah service with Rabbi Steve. With fire, wine, and spices we welcomed in the new week after the Sabbath. In this beautiful architect/yoga studio, Rabbi Steve led us in a two thousand year old ritual blessing of human creativity. We were all transfixed. The Independent Film Channel Online produced an e-card of the event
It seemed like we were always taken care of. Shabbat had come in. I walked from a screening to the condo where my family and friends of the film were awaiting a private Shabbat dinner. A 20-minute walk wound up being a 45-minute shortcut - on a deer trail next to a highway - in the snow, in the dark. A truck lost control and was speeding towards me. It swerved to avoid me at the last minute. Only by the grace of G-d did I survive to attend the Festival!
My prom date from high school came to see the film.
After a screening, a man came up and said, "I am from Pakistan. I am Muslim. I'm straight. Give me a hug" and he didn't let go. He said. "This film is about my life." Everytime he saw me, he'd shout, "My favorite filmmaker."
After my last screening, Tilda Swinton emerged from the cinema. She came over to congratulate me. She gave me a hug and started weeping. Of course, I did too, and the two of us stood there, heaving and sobbing. The enormity of the week overcame me. We then pulled back, looked at one another, and began sobbing once more. Best Cry Award of the Festival to the loveliest soul with the deepest touch.
We held a Mormon-Jewish gay dialogue. We thought maybe 20 or 25 people would come. Instead, the room was packed. People had driven from all over Utah. Many people spoke of their excommunication from the LDS church for "conduct unbecoming a member." Millie Watts, the head of Family Fellowship, the Mormon PFLAG, was a mother of a gay son and lesbian daughter. She was like a rock and has 1500 underground Mormon families she has spoken to about their children. In five years of making Trembling Before G-d, I could find no Orthodox parents of gay and lesbian children who would come forward to be interviewed and I was amazed by her courage. There was also a Mormon family with two babies running around with bottles and toys. No one could understand why they were there. Midway through the conversation, the husband says, "I had a boyfriend before I got married. I became a devout Mormon and I met my future wife. We kissed but did not have pre-martial sex. Now, five years later, with two babies, these feelings for men are not going away and we do not know what to do." All of us were blown away. While he spoke, his son was pulling his pants down in the middle of the room and he was being such a sweet father, helping his son while he talked. He and his wife were facing the dilemma of his bisexuality with such honesty and openess.
James later emailed us,
"The family is central to the plan of God and his Church. As gay/lesbian couples continue to be examples to society, it will one day have to be recognized that they are families too, and that they do not threaten to destroy the traditional heterosexual families as is claimed today. As we strive to be the best people we can be, more and more people will come to understand that we have value both to God and society too. Finally, I said that I was willing to be public about my situation because people need to know that it is very difficult to be gay/bi in a straight marriage. This is still a problem that affects many families across the nation. People need to know that we exist and that we need to be understood and loved as well.
When the whole thing was over, I was amazed at the outpouring of love and comments we received. We had numerous people come up to talk to us, several with tears in their eyes. We received contact information from several people and gave ours out in return.
It is kinda overwhelming to think about what happened to me today... I have known for a while that I wanted to come out publicly sometime this year, but I had never dreamed it would be in quite this way... especially in a way that could end up getting national audience! But even though I feel nervous about the implication of all this, I feel good inside to know that I am becoming what I want to become, a beacon of light to shine in the darkness of ignorance. I want to help make this world a better place for people like us. I want to help others see that we are not the biological errors Dr. Laura has claimed we are, nor that God hates us as Pastor Fred Phelps has preached. I want to help replace myths and ignorance with truth and understanding. I am excited to live in this day and age when I actually get to help form the foundation of a better society that future generations will benefit from. I feel like I have direction and purpose in my life. And it feels good."
It was a truly incredible afternoon.
Trembling Before G-d was a model of fusing commercial mass release, venture philanthropy and community organizing. Thanks to Michael Roban and Lynda Hansen for their excellent sales work and to mPRm - Mark Pogachefsky, Michael Lawson, Joe Quenqua and their team for their incredible press work. Thanks to David who came from Los Angeles and my family.
Michael Roban and Lynda Hansen for their excellent sales work and to mPRm - Mark Pogachefsky, Michael Lawson, Joe Quenqua and their team for their incredible press work. Thanks to Rabbi Steve Greenberg, David who came from Los Angeles, Creative Collaborator and Editor Susi Korda and lawyer Robert Seigel from NYC, Co-Producer Philippa Kowarsky who came from Tel Aviv, and my family. Thanks to my Sundance coalition partners - CLAL - The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and Judith Helfand, Robert West, and Jill Sheinberg of Working Films. We did it...
