Sabbath Queen

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Sabbath Queen

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1h 45m

Documentary

Animation

LGBTQ+

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11 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

SABBATH QUEEN, a feature documentary filmed over 21 years, follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul--an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. SABBATH QUEEN joins Amichai on a lifelong quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, challenge patriarchy and supremacy, champion interfaith love, and stand up for peace, ceasefire, and an end to the Occupation in Israel/Palestine. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century.

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Elisabeth Vincentelli

New York Times

But we also watch [Lau-Lavie] talk about many events, like becoming a father or cofounding the aforementioned experimental Lab/Shul initiative, while he is still in the middle of experiencing them, rather than speaking with the benefit of hindsight.

Nov 21, 2024

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Ryan Lattanzio

indieWire

Taking on multiple decades of the man’s life means this film loses its way sometimes amid a scattered approach, but Sabbath Queen shrewdly asks hard questions about what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century.

Rated: B

Jun 17, 2024

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Dennis Harvey

Variety

This fast-paced, well-shot doc does place its finger on the quickening pulse of an ever-wider gap between liberalizing Western social values and the Orthodox sphere that believes they are antithetical to Judaism.

Jun 11, 2024

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Christophe Bilien

Film Threat

Sabbath Queen constantly finds ways to renew our interest throughout its 105 minutes and does so with great intelligence and respect.

Rated: 9/10

Jan 7, 2025

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Stephen Silver

The SS Ben Hecht

Filmed over more than 20 years, the film follows this fascinating figure through various changes in his own life, as well as in American Jewish life.

Jan 3, 2025

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Steve Erickson

Gay City News

“Sabbath Queen” reflects the two different interpretations of Judaism represented by Amichai and his brother through its editing.

Nov 21, 2024

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Joshua

Powerful and enlightening documentary that is less about a person and more about an experience as a whole.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/13/25

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Chaim L

A stunningly emotional and gorgeous film about a beautiful human.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/27/24

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Fredi T

From a visual perspective, the scenes in the film are like a series of exquisite paintings, vividly presenting specific cultural settings and character images. The use of colors is highly inventive, with rich and textured hues interwoven with each other, creating a mysterious and solemn atmosphere. Whether it is the delicate textures of ancient buildings or the magnificent adornments on the characters' costumes, they are all depicted in meticulous detail, as if transporting the audience to a distant and real time and space. For example, when depicting the scenes of religious ceremonies, the flickering candlelight, the exquisite religious utensils, and the characters dressed in traditional costumes, under the ingenious combination of light and shadow, present a sacred and solemn aesthetic sense, which cannot help but move the audience. I usually use these two sites for more free movies and short dramas.If you have a better website, please recommend it to me. Thank you https://omnishort.com/？utm_source=rottentomatoes https://nightgod.tv/？utm_source=rottentomatoes

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/22/24

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Sandi Simcha DuBowski

Director

Francisco Bello

Writer

Sandi Simcha DuBowski

Writer

Jeremy Stulberg

Writer

Sandi Simcha DuBowski

Screenwriter

Jeremy Stulberg

Screenwriter

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Synopsis

SABBATH QUEEN, a feature documentary filmed over 21 years, follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul--an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. SABBATH QUEEN joins Amichai on a lifelong quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, challenge patriarchy and supremacy, champion interfaith love, and stand up for peace, ceasefire, and an end to the Occupation in Israel/Palestine. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century.

Director: Sandi Simcha DuBowski
Producer: Sandi Simcha DuBowski
Screenwriter: Francisco Bello, Sandi Simcha DuBowski, Jeremy Stulberg, Sandi Simcha DuBowski, Jeremy Stulberg
Distributor: Roco Films
Production Co: Simcha Leib Productions
Genre: Documentary, Animation, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 22, 2024, Limited
Runtime: 1h 45m