As New York drag queen and human rights activist, Amichai has a complex relationship with his prominent Orthodox Jewish family, his religious faith and native country of Israel. In this portrait, filmed over 21 years, he chooses for love and inclusion.
Free-spirited, queer drag queen Amichai Lau-Lavie has set up his own inclusive, art-driven Jewish community in New York. He stands on the shoulders of 38 generations of Jewish Orthodox rabbis who went before him. It’s a huge responsibility. Does remaining true to the traditions of his forefathers mean that he has to do exactly what they (including his uncle, the chief rabbi of Israel) tell him to do? Or are you allowed to adapt those traditions to accommodate new insights and your own moral conscience? Amichai grapples with these kinds of questions throughout the 21 years in which this film closely follows him. He opposes injustice, but pays a price for doing so, encountering overt hatred at protests for peace and human rights.
Amichai talks candidly about the choices he makes. His brother Benny Lau, an Orthodox rabbi, comments on Amichai’s actions. We see criticism, rejection, and pain, but also love and a need to connect. Sabbath Queen jumps back and forth in time to sketch a family history that nearly stopped in Auschwitz. Survival is of immense importance; the question is how.
The best of IDFA selected by De Balie from November 14 till 24
The best of IDFA selected by De Balie from November 14 till 24
Met Erik van Lieshout, Joke de Wolf en Geertjan Lassche
Met gretig enthousiasme banjert Erik van Lieshout over het Brabantse land van zijn jeugd. Boeren, burgers en natuur zitten er in het nauw tussen stikstof en stankoverlast. Voor de kunst
As the head of the Nazi film guild in the Netherlands during the Second World War, filmmaker Jan Teunissen became known as ‘the Dutch Leni Riefenstahl.’
