Sandi Simcha DuBowski

Last updated

Sandi Simcha Dubowski
Born (1970-09-16) 16 September 1970 (age 53)
New York City
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Harvard University
OccupationFilmmaker
Known forGay rights films

Sandi Simcha DuBowski is an American director and producer, best known for his work on the intersection of LGBT people and their religion, DuBowski directed the 2001 documentary Trembling Before G-d and is the producer of Parvez Sharma's documentary A Jihad for Love (formerly known as In the Name of Allah) (2007).

Contents

Personal life

DuBowski was born in Brooklyn in 1970. [1] He was raised in Conservative Judaism. [2]

DuBowski attended Hunter College High School in New York City, during which he was selected to participate in Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program. In 1992, DuBowski graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University. As an undergraduate, he received two Ford Program for Undergraduate Research grants for his work on homosexuality in Hollywood and independent film. [3]

He lives and works in New York City.

Work

Before beginning full-length films, DuBowski worked for Planned Parenthood as a research associate for nearly three years, creating videos on the Christian Right and anti-abortion movement. In 1996 he produced Missionaries Form Militias, documenting anti-abortion leader Rev. Matt Trewhella calling for the formation of armed militias. It was screened for Attorney General Janet Reno and federal law enforcement officials, following the murder of abortion provider Dr. Bayard Britton. An excerpt was run on CBS News, was reported by publications including The New York Times and Newsweek , and has been used by the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment to train human rights activists. [3]

In 2006, DuBowski appeared in the Paul Festa documentary Apparition of the Eternal Church. [4] The film captures the responses of 31 authors, musicians, filmmakers and dancers as they listen to Olivier Messiaen's organ piece "Apparition of the Eternal Church." [5]

DuBowski has worked as speaker and has moderated numerous religious dialogues on homosexuality, including a Mormon-Jewish dialogue and Christian-Muslim-Jewish panel. He and Steven Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, have traveled to 60 cities and organized over 400 question-and-answer sessions, dialogues, events, inter-faith discussions. [3]

Tomboychik (1994)

Tomboychik is a 15-minute video directed by and starring DuBowski. [6] The story, shown through a series of vignettes, centers around his relationship with his grandmother, Malverna DuBowski, as 22-year-old Sandi DuBowski attempts to teach his 88-year-old grandmother how to film. [7] The short video portrays struggles against gender roles and patriarchy. [8]

The Melbourne International Film Festival described the film:

You can't get more low-budget than this, but you can't get much more emotionally powerful either. Here rare and intimate moments of pure love, regret, admiration, and naivety are shared between grandmother and grandson/filmmaker. Sometimes quite hilarious – grandma trying to figure out a video camera – and sometimes intensely touching, its loose, low-tech approach makes Tomboychik a remarkable personal document. [7]

Trembling Before G-d (2001)

Growing up, DuBowski had not known any Orthodox Jews. The main motivation to make the film was curiosity.

I don't think it was until I met people who were kicked out of their families and their Yeshivas, in marriages betraying their spouses, that it became clear why I was doing this film. But then, for me it assumed an enormous level of responsibility to the people I met, to the issue, to the community. [9]

The film took more than six years to make. [2] During this time, DuBowski grew more religious and began studying the Torah regularly, he said, "It was a whole world I hadn't experienced growing up. It gave me a beauty and love for the tradition of Judaism." [9]

A Jihad for Love (2007)

DuBowski produced the documentary A Jihad for Love (previously known as In the Name of Allah), directed by Parvez Sharma. Filmed in 11 different countries in 9 different languages, the film explores the lives of gay, lesbian, and transgender Muslims, and DuBowski intends for it to be "a profound catalyst for change" [10]

As producer, DuBowski said that he wanted to screen the film in "every Muslim nation, even if it's underground." [11]

Awards and recognition

DuBowski was named one of The Jewish Daily Forward's "Forward 50", which is given to the 50 Jews who have "been at the center of the year's events, demonstrating leadership, offering new ideas and representing a distinct Jewish presence in American life." [3] He is also a recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation's Film/Video/Multimedia Fellowship and the Creative Capital Moving Image Award.

Along with Rabbi Steven Greenberg, DuBowski was awarded seed funding by Steven Spielberg's Righteous Persons Foundation in order to launch an Orthodox community education project for Trembling Before G-d in the U.S., Israel and the U.K. [3]

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Huffington</span> American politician

Roy Michael Huffington Jr. is an American politician, LGBT activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a congressman for one term, 1993–1995, from California. Huffington was married to Arianna Huffington, the Greek-born co-founder of HuffPost, from 1986 to 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Gondry</span> French film director (born 1963)

Michel Gondry is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers of the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which he also directed.

Evan Beloff is a Canadian film writer, producer, director and production company executive. He is known for Bigfoot's Reflection (2007), Daughters of the Voice (2018) and A People's Soundtrack (2019).

Gay Muslims (2006) is a Channel 4 documentary about a man named Joe Zakar, produced and directed by Cara Lavan, about the experiences of five Muslim people who identify as lesbian and gay and how they challenge the heterosexual-worldview within Islam, and attempt to integrate Islam with homosexuality. It is usually a stark choice between suppressing homosexual desires and leading an undercover double life, or coming out and losing the respect and support of their families and communities.

<i>Keep Not Silent</i> 2004 film by Ilil Alexander

Keep Not Silent is a 2004 Israeli documentary film directed and produced by Ilil Alexander about three lesbians in Jerusalem. Ilil had just graduated from Tel-Aviv University Film School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Goldstein</span> Chief Rabbi of South Africa

Warren Goldstein is the chief rabbi of The Union of Orthodox Synagogues of South Africa since 2005. Born in Pretoria, he currently lives in Johannesburg. He is the first chief rabbi of South Africa who was born in South Africa and the youngest person ever to be appointed to that post, at age 32.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simcha Jacobovici</span> Canadian film director

Simcha Jacobovici is a Canadian-Israeli journalist, documentary filmmaker and pseudoarcheologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simcha Felder</span> American politician

Simcha Felder is an American politician from Borough Park, Brooklyn. He represents the 22nd district of the New York State Senate. Felder has been elected to multiple offices as a Democrat, but is known for having caucused with the Republicans during the early part of his New York State Senate tenure. Prior to serving in the State Senate, Felder represented the 44th district in the New York City Council.

<i>Trembling Before G-d</i> 2001 film by Sandi Simcha DuBowski

Trembling Before G-d is a 2001 American documentary film about gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews trying to reconcile their sexuality with their faith. It was directed by Sandi Simcha DuBowski, an American who wanted to compare Orthodox Jewish attitudes to homosexuality with his own upbringing as a gay Conservative Jew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parvez Sharma</span> Indian film director and journalist

Parvez Sharma is a New York-based Indian filmmaker, author, and journalist. He is a recipient of the 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship in the film/video category. He was amongst the 173 fellows selected from 3000 applicants in the 94th year of the fellowship, which originally started in 1925. In an official press release by the foundation, president Edward Hirsch said, "The winners of the 94th annual competition as "the best of the best...This diverse group of scholars, artists, and scientists are appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise." Sharma is best known for his two films A Jihad for Love,A Sinner in Mecca, and his 2017 book A Sinner in Mecca: A Gay Muslim's Hajj of Defiance. A Jihad for Love was the world's first film documenting the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims. He received the 2009 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary amongst several other international awards for A Jihad for Love. In 2016, Sharma was named "a human rights defender" by Amnesty International. This was an award given at the Hague in the Netherlands to "worldwide human rights activists" which he shared with the Saudi human rights activist Ensaf Haidar.

<i>A Jihad for Love</i> 2007 American documentary film

A Jihad for Love is a 2008 documentary film and was the world's first film on Islam and homosexuality. It took a total of six years to make and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008 as the opening documentary film for the Panorama section.

<i>Paper Dolls</i> (film) 2006 Israeli film

Paper Dolls is a 2006 documentary by Israeli director Tomer Heymann, which follows the lives of transgender migrant workers from the Philippines who work as health care providers for elderly Orthodox Jewish men and perform as drag queens during their spare time. It also delves into the lives of societal outcasts who search for freedom and acceptance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Run Features</span>

First Run Features is an independent film distribution company based in New York City.

<i>Say Amen</i> 2005 Israeli film

Say Amen (2005) is a personal documentary film by David Deri, an Orthodox Jew, who reveals his homosexuality to his parents and siblings. The documentary is named one of the best five documentaries of the year 2005 by Israeli Film Academy and appeared in many film festivals, including HOTDOCS-Toronto, the Leeds International Film Festival, the Cork Film Festival, and Inside Out Film and Video Festival.

The D-Word is an online community for professionals in the documentary film industry. Discussions include creative, business, technical, and social topics related to documentary filmmaking. The name "D-Word" is defined as "industry euphemism for documentary," as in: "We love your film but we don't know how to sell it. It's a d-word." As of 2019 it has over 17,000 members in 130 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Amato</span> Italian film producer

Giuseppe Amato was an Italian film producer, screenwriter and director. He produced 58 films between 1932 and 1961, and is especially known for Bicycle Thieves. He was born in Naples and died in Rome from a heart attack.

Raphael Shore is a Canadian-Israeli film writer, producer, and rabbi. He is the founder of OpenDor Media, a Jewish educational organization, and Clarion Project, whose stated mission is "exposing the dangers of Islamist extremism".

And Thou Shalt Love is an Israeli short film. It was directed by Chaim Elbaum. The film examines the difficulties of being both an Orthodox Jew and gay. The story is based on Elbaum's experiences with being gay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omar Majeed</span> Pakistani-Canadian film director and film editor

Omar Majeed is a Pakistani Canadian film director and producer who studied cinema at York University Film School and later on studied editing at the International Academy of Design in Toronto. He is the son of Pakistani actress and singer Musarrat Nazir. He went on to work as producer Toronto's Citytv and won a Gemini Award for his television work. He also worked with Canada's National Film Board through the Reel Diversity program in Montreal and with EyeSteelFilm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benny Friedman (singer)</span> American Jewish singer (born 1984)

Benzion Hakohen "Benny" Friedman is an American Hasidic Jewish singer and a non-pulpit rabbi. Professionally trained in voice, he rose to prominence on the Orthodox pop scene with his first album in 2009. Singing mainly in Hebrew, Friedman tours extensively and also appears in music videos. He views his music as a shlichus (outreach) tool, with the goal of drawing Jews closer to Judaism.

References

  1. ↑ DuBowski's résumé Archived October 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 Lewis, Anne S. (April 9, 2002). "Keeping the Faith: 'Trembling Before G-d' asks if coming out and staying in the Orthodox Jewish community is an impossible dream". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved February 11, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "About the Director". 2006. Archived from the original on February 6, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2007.
  4. ↑ Apparition of the Eternal Church official site
  5. ↑ Apparition of the Eternal Church, IMDB
  6. ↑ "Tomboychik". Real NY Season Three. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
  7. 1 2 "Tomboychik". Video Data Bank. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
  8. ↑ "PopcornQ Movies: Tomboychik". PlanetOut.com. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
  9. 1 2 Sandi Simcha, DuBowski (January 21, 2005). "Talk Today: 'Trembling Before G-d'". USA Today. Retrieved February 11, 2007.
  10. ↑ Hays, Matthew (October 19, 2006). "Benefit held for gay Islam film". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  11. ↑ Meza, Ed (February 14, 2006). "New 'Allah' doc ready to raise a ruckus". Variety. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
  12. ↑ Tomboychik details http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/519352 Archived January 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.