In this issue:
MESSAGE FROM HARVARDWOOD
NEWS
Seeking Homestay Hosts in LA for Harvardwood 101 Students
Harvardwood Holiday Auction—Win VIP Lunches!
Harvardwood Writers Competition 2025 Application Final Deadline Tomorrow
Featured Job: Manager, Creative Partnerships - Development (Sports), NBCUniversal
FEATURES
Alumni Profile: Sammi Cannold EDM ’16 (director)
Industry News
Welcome New Members
Exclusive Q&A with Sandi DuBowski AB '92 (filmmaker)
CALENDAR & NOTES
Shaping the Future of Animation with Danielle Feinberg (Virtual)
Suggests: PIPPIN at the Agassiz Theatre
LA Harvardwood Holiday Party 2024 (LA)
Last Month at Harvardwood
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
As the holidays come around, we at Harvardwood are shivering and shimmying in our boots for spoonfuls of gruel, lumps of coal, and Homestay Hosts in LA for Harvardwood 101 Students!
If you're in the non-Dickensian gifting mood, Win VIP Lunches at the Harvardwood Holiday Auction! We promise these to be very VIP, and very lunch. And finally, Harvardwood Writers Competition 2025 Application Final Deadline is tomorrow! Toss those pages in my friends; I cannot hold back these hungry hungry judges anymore.
This month we will be Shaping the Future of Animation with Danielle Feinberg, so for sure come see that whole hoot and holler. Then, while away a wonderful night with the talented cast and crew of PIPPIN at the Agassiz Theatre. And cap it all off with a cross country flight to the hottest event of the year: the LA Harvardwood Holiday Party 2024! Oh, ho, and etc.
As always, if you have an idea for an event or programming, please tell us about it here. If you have an announcement about your work or someone else's, please share it here (members) and it will appear in our Weekly and/or next HIGHLIGHTS issue.
Best wishes,
Grace Shi
Operations and Communications
Seeking Homestay Hosts in LA for Harvardwood 101 Students
Every year, our Harvardwood 101 career exploration program offers a few dozen Harvard College students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend discussions with Hollywood executives, agents, writers, and artists.
Our Harvardwood 101 “Winternship” program (short-term professional experiences) spans 1-2 weeks in January, and we are currently looking for homestay hosts during that time in LA (approx. January 11-25, 2025).
If you’re able to provide a spare room/couch/air mattress to host a college student (or three!), we’d be eternally grateful.
Please contact Programs Director Laura Yumi Snell at programs@harvardwood.org with your name, address/neighborhood, and the number of students you’re able to host. Thank you!
Harvardwood Holiday Auction ENDS SOON— through Weds, December 4th
Curious about casting? Questions about producing a film? Are you an aspiring musician, media strategist, or even vice president in the industry? Bid to win a fabulous lunch and have all your questions answered with five of our Harvardwood VIPS!
Casting Director Lisa Beach
The Recording Academy Vice President Kelley Purcell
Film Producer John Brancato
Paramount Senior Vice President of Strategy Whitney Baxter
Netflix Vice President Larry Tanz
Bidding runs through Wednesday, December 4th at 4pm ET / 1pm PT.
Harvardwood Writers Competition (HWC) 2025 Final Deadline Tomorrow
The Harvardwood Writers Competition (HWC) was founded in 2006 with the aim of recognizing superior work by Harvard writers and giving these talented individuals the opportunity to gain industry exposure.
We're accepting submissions of half-hour pilots, one act plays, one-hour pilots, and feature scripts.
HWC applicants can opt to receive judging comments and feedback for each script submitted. The notes are aimed to illuminate judges' reactions to your script (beyond the numerical average of your scores received by semi-finalists and finalists) and may be useful to you for future rewrites.
Only Full Members of Harvardwood are eligible for the competition (Friends of Harvardwood are ineligible). To become a Full member, non-members can register by clicking here.
FINAL DEADLINE: December 2, 2024 - $75
More info and application HERE.
Featured Job: Manager, Creative Partnerships - Development (Sports), NBCUniversal
Job Description:
As a Manager, Creative Partnerships Development (Sports), you will be responsible for working with key NBC Sports stakeholders to market and increase sales of the properties of NBC Sports, NBCSports.com, Peacock and NBC Sports Social platforms.
Alumni Profile: Sammi Cannold EDM ’16 (director)
by Laura Frustaci AB '21
Sammi Cannold EDM ’16 (director) is a theater, film, and television director who is one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, one of Variety's 10 Broadway Stars to Watch, and one of Town & Country's Creative Aristocracy. She recently made her Broadway debut as director of HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO at the Belasco Theater, for which she won a Drama Desk Award. SammiCannold.com
After her recent Broadway debut directing HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO, Sammi Cannold EDM ’16 has solidified her position as a transformative force in the performing arts. With an impressive resume spanning theater, film, and television, she is reshaping the industry one innovative production at a time. From her early days at Stanford and Harvard to her recent work both on Broadway and off, she has pursued a clear artistic mission: to tell powerful stories that resonate with today’s audiences.
Reflecting on her journey, Sammi explains that her time at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) played a pivotal role in her early career. “I came to HGSE for two very specific reasons,” Sammi recalls. “One that I really was very passionate about arts education and wanted to figure out if there were ways to integrate that into being a theater practitioner. And also, I really wanted to engage with the American Repertory Theater.” The American Repertory Theater, or ART, is a theater on Harvard’s campus known for its award-winning and innovative work.
Her time at ART was more than a stepping stone, it was a “life-changing” experience for Sammi. While there, Sammi worked closely with the professionals at the ART and had the opportunity to contribute to NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812. The following year, when the show transferred to Broadway, she joined the production as an assistant director and eventually became an associate director.
Sammi recently made her Broadway directorial debut with HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO, a groundbreaking production based on a documentary of the same name. The documentary and musical focus on a group of autistic young adults preparing for their first spring formal, and the show made history for being the first Broadway musical to cast autistic actors.
“That show was built in a very unique and exciting way,” Sammi recalls. “Working with the cast heavily influenced the creation of it… It was very exciting to be part of trying something for the first time on Broadway. I'm so grateful for the partnerships that we had on the show, for so many people who said yes to things that haven't been done in Broadway houses or haven't been done in Broadway rehearsal rooms before. I hope that there will be an impact that lasts—other shows utilizing some of the things that we were so lucky to get to create.”
However, with all of this excitement came the challenges of working on such a large scale as Broadway. “It’s a magnified version of working anywhere else… There's more pressure.” Sammi explains. “There are more eyeballs. You have to make it more sustainable so that it can run eight times a week for an indefinite period of time… Everything that you do on Broadway costs more than anything you make anywhere else… Every decision you make has higher stakes.”
Despite those pressures, Sammi was honored to bring such an important production to the Great White Way. “It's a huge privilege to get to work on Broadway,” she smiles. “It's been my dream since I knew what Broadway was. It was so special to bring this story to [life], because for me, it was about it being equal parts a piece of art and a piece of advocacy. And I can think of no greater place from a theatrical perspective to get to advocate than on a Broadway stage.”
Expanding her artistry, Sammi has recently ventured into directing film and television. She’s found that at its core, the principles of directing remain the same across mediums, but the mechanics differ greatly. “The building blocks of how you tell a story, how you engender empathy, how you create character are very similar, if not exactly the same,” Sammi says. “When I began that transition, I spent a long time learning… I didn't want to be the least knowledgeable person on the set. I really wanted to know what I was doing.” Sammi used her free time during the pandemic to read every book and listen to every podcast she could, and now she’s comfortable and confident on any kind of set. Use your resources, folx!
This adaptability reflects Sammi’s courage and willingness to try new things, which has also been evident in her directorial approach to classic works like EVITA and CARMEN. Each of those productions subsequently earned critical acclaim. Sammi notes that for her, “the reason to bring back something that is classic is if you have something that you want to highlight in it, or something to a dimension that you want to focus on.” Rather than remaking the same production, it’s important to offer something unique for the audience to enjoy.
For example, in Sammi’s version of EVITA at D.C.’s Harman Hall, her focus was on amplifying both Argentinian culture and the perspective of Eva Perón as a fifteen-year-old girl when the story begins. The team included many women and Latine artists, and their goal was to build on Hal Prince’s iconic production by bringing something new to the table. “What we wanted to do was to say something specific to our time period, and to who we were as creators about this piece,” Sammi says. “What's the specific reason to tell this story now, and why am I the right person to do it? And what are we going to say? Otherwise, we might as well do the original.” That production was lauded by critics and earned rave reviews.
For those looking to break into theater and directing in particular, Sammi has a few pieces of advice. First, “any foot in the door is a good foot in the door,” she smiles. “I think a lot of people say, ‘I want to be this specific thing. I want to be a director, I want to be an actor, so I'm only going to pursue jobs or opportunities in that realm.’ The reality is that if you get in a room, making a move towards what you want to do from there is much easier.”
Sammi continues: “Have a website or some online presence where people can get to know you and your work. So many jobs in our industry are filled by people sending each other links to other people's websites. And the more that someone has the tools to advocate for you and your artistry—and [the more they] can see your artistry online, for better or worse—the better.” And Sammi’s final piece of advice? “It takes constant hustle. And you have to learn to love the hustle. It's part of the job… Learn to love the hustle of it early,” Sammi laughs.
From Broadway stages to unconventional venues, Sammi’s work inspires audiences and artists alike, proving that theater’s magic lies in both its creativity and its courage to evolve.
Industry News
David AB ’10 and Jamie Holt Aguilar-Rodríguez's pilot, KING OF THE B’s (winner of the Harvardwood Writers Competition - TV Category 2024), was selected by The Black List to be featured on the 2024 Latine List. (Deadline)
Anthony Zonfrelli AB ’14 (two-time winner of the Harvardwood Writers Competition in 2023 and 2024)'s pilot script BOGGED DOWN made The Black List's annual Disability List! (Deadline)
Erin Williams AB ’15 and Shawn Jain A.R.T. ’18’s feature script, THE CHARM OFFENSIVE, was named a finalist in The Black List’s inaugural Desi List. (Deadline)
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM alum Jeff Schaffer AB ’91 is set to direct BLOW UP THE CHAT, a new comedy in development at Warner Bros and Temple Hill. Marty Bowen AB ’91, Wyck Godfrey, and Isaac Klausner will produce for Temple Hill, with Zach Hamby overseeing the project for Warner Bros. (Deadline)
“Winter Coat” from BLITZ was nominated for a 2024 Hollywood Music in Media Award. It was written by Nicholas Britell AB ’03, Taura Stinson, and Steve McQueen. (Billboard)
Variety will host the inaugural Faith and Spirituality in Entertainment Honors, presented by the Coalition for Faith & Media on December 4 in Los Angeles. It will celebrate individuals who are supporting often underrepresented themes of faith in storytelling and entertainment. Erica Lipez AB ’05 is a 2024 Visionary Honoree. (Variety)
Robert De Niro’s TV turn in Netflix’s ZERO DAY conspiracy series gets a release date. De Niro plays a former president charged with responding to a crippling U.S. cyberattack in the conspiracy thriller from Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim AB ’00 and Michael S. Schmidt. (Hollywood Reporter)
Watch a new episode of BEHIND THE LENS with Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher AB ’71, They talk about tackling GLADIATOR II and a marriage made for the movies. (Deadline)
In her new FX docuseries SOCIAL STUDIES, artist and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield AB ’87 GSA ’88 delves into the post-pandemic lives—and phones—of a group of teenagers, exploring a phenomenon that is increasingly being linked to a slew of mental-health issues. (The New Yorker)
PARKS AND REC writer Aisha Muharrar AB ’06—and the woman behind Leslie Knope—reveals the cover for her debut novel, LOVED ONE, to be released August 12, 2025 through Viking. (People)
Journalist and best-selling author Jonathan Alter ’79 as discusses the power of storytelling in shaping public discourse, reflecting on his decades-long career covering politics, media, and history. Through his insights, discover how informed dialogue can illuminate complex issues and inspire meaningful change. (The Harvard Gazette)
Conan O’Brien AB ’85, the former late-night host, will take over from Jimmy Kimmel, who served as M.C. for the last two Oscar ceremonies. O’Brien will host the next Academy Awards. (New York Times)
Rubén Blades LLM ’85 has signed a global partnership with Virgin Music Group. This new deal with Virgin sets him up for the “next chapter in his legendary career.” (Billboard)
Cinematographer Edward Lachman AB ’65 discusses filming MARIA at La Scala, working with Angelina Jolie, and his enduring passion for shooting on film, showcasing his mastery of visual storytelling. (Awards Watch)
Welcome New Members
Harvardwood warmly welcomes all members who joined the organization last month (or those who migrated their membership over):
Joslin Joseph
Amanda Harris
Cornelius Hayes
Grace Sun
Brett McLoughlin
Theresa Loong
Sarah Yee
Ty Mcleod
Robert Frashure
Kiana Pan
Exclusive Q&A with Sandi DuBowski AB '92 (filmmaker)
Sandi DuBowski AB ’92 is the Director/Producer of SABBATH QUEEN, Director/Producer of TREMBLING BEFORE G-D, Producer of A JIHAD FOR LOVE, and Co-Producer of BUDRUS.
His award-winning work has screened at Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca and Toronto, theatrically released in 150 cities, and broadcast on ZDF/Arte, BBC, Channel 4, PBS. In 2020, he was invited to become a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More here.
Q: What originally inspired you to focus your filmmaking on the intersection of LGBT issues and religion?
After Harvard, I moved back to my parents’ house in Deep Coastal Brooklyn and all of a sudden I was back in my all-Jewish neighborhood. I think a lot of my early filmmaking was about this exploration of who I was after coming out as gay at Harvard and I mined, almost like an archaeological dig, my family, my religion, my ethnicity, my community. I made my first film, a short ("Tomboychik"), with my 88 year-old grandmother who lived five blocks away. I stole my father's toupee, and I ran it over her house and brought out her wigs that she hadn't worn in like five years and we played dress-up and filmed each other. And then she started telling me how she thought she was like a man and how she thought my father wasn't quite a man. She was a character. It was a gender-blending tale across three generations in my family. And we played with my father's tallis, the prayer shawl, and a yarmulke and and I started to explore this conversation across generations, me being 22, her being 88. And what it was like to be queer and Jewish when I hadn't really come out to her. She would say things like “you'd be beautiful as a girl” and in the video I pretended to ask for her hand in marriage. I started wondering about whether there was homosexuality in the Orthodox Jewish world, because I grew up Conservative, and that began my exploration around TREMBLING BEFORE G-D.
Q: How did your time at Harvard shape your approach to the creative arts? Were there particular classes, mentors, or peers who were influential in your journey?
I never studied filmmaking at Harvard. During my time at Harvard, I had no interest in being a filmmaker. My concentration was Social Studies and I studied film, cultural history and sexuality from an academic angle. D.A. Miller was a very important professor for me and my thesis advisor in terms of doing critical reading of queer culture. I wrote a 120-page thesis (I still remember the tears!) whose title was - I mean, it was so 1990’s - (Ex)posing the Frame: Homosexuality in Hollywood and Gay Independent Film, 1980-1991. I received a Ford Program for Undergraduate Research grant and I spent a summer interning and researching at Frameline in San Francisco, which is the longest-running and largest LGBTQ+ film exhibition event in the world with a big Vito Russo archive. That experience was formative. I was at the first Queer
Nation activist meeting, went to an ACT UP protest. I met legendary LGBTQ filmmakers from across the world, the founders of New Queer Cinema. I also met and interviewed founders of the MIX Festival: The New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival and wound up working there after college. I brought all this radical activism back to Harvard and became Chair of the BGLSA. There were so many filmmakers who shaped me then - Marlon Riggs, Todd Haynes, Cheryl Dunye, Isaac Julien, Su Friedrich, Thomas Allen Harris, Isaac Julien, Gregg Bordowitz, Jennie Livingston, John Greyson, Karim Ainouz, Sundance programmer Shari Frilot AB ’87, RDI ’19. It was this link between the academic and an activist-artist world and a thriving daring real-world film community that launched me to make "Tomboychik". I remember when I moved from verb to noun - when I said “I make films” to “I am a filmmaker.” That was a big step.
Q: Before you started working on full-length films, you worked as a research associate at Planned Parenthood and created videos on the Christian Right and anti-abortion movement. How did the time spent with those issues in short-form content shape or influence your approach to filmmaking?
The videos at Planned Parenthood were investigative and exposés about some people who were doing non-violent protest but also people who were violent who were threatening or killing abortion providers, setting fire to clinics, or doing other illegal activities. They were dangerous extremists. These were videos to expose, for example, an anti-abortion militia. And how people were using religion towards harmful ends. It was so different than the spirit of my film TREMBLING BEFORE G-D. TREMBLING shattered assumptions about faith, sexuality and religious fundamentalism. It was built around intimately told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, and the film portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma - how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the clear-cut Biblical prohibition that forbids homosexuality. TREMBLING was really about trying to move hearts and minds. Its aim was to humanize what for many was a clear-cut abstract Biblical verse that was not connected to suffering people in pain. I did 850 live events personally with TREMBLING BEFORE G-D around the world for three years. I was holding queer audiences and Hasidic and Orthodox straight audiences in the same cinema - many of those queer people scarred by religion and many of those Hasidic and Orthodox straight people contending with the Biblical prohibition that says “a man who lies with another man, in the way of lying with a woman should be put to death.” The film’s movement became an act of transformation. We had religious families who disowned their children start speaking to them again. We had rabbis do a 180 from condemning homosexuality from the pulpit to saying, “I don't know.” We had dozens of Orthodox synagogues actually show the film in the synagogue. We held a secret underground first-ever Orthodox Mental Health Conference on Homosexuality and flew in Orthodox therapists, psychiatrists, school counselors from 16 states to train them in LGBTQ-affirmative therapy. We trained a group of facilitators and held private screenings for 2000 principals, teachers and school counselors at secular and religious schools in Israel who had never dealt with homosexuality to prepare for an Israeli TV broadcast. I had many Orthodox and Christian Evangelical people who challenged me and said “Homosexuality is a sin, it is a choice.” I asked “Do you have a daughter?” They usually did with so many children. I said “Would you marry your daughter to a man who claimed he changed from gay to straight?” Most of them would not know how to answer. As soon as I moved it from this abstract theology to the possibility that they might harm the future of their child and their family, we were having a very different conversation. TREMBLING became a tipping point in the Jewish world.
Q: In what ways do you feel your work may have contributed to increasing visibility and dialogue around LGBT issues in religious communities globally?
I was screening TREMBLING BEFORE G-D in DC and a man approached me and said, I would like to do a film on Islam and homosexuality. Can you give me some advice? Fast forward six years, and I became the producer of A JIHAD FOR LOVE with director Parvez Sharma which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and went to Berlin Film Festival, theaters, TV and beyond. While screening TREMBLING and doing an interfaith panel in South Africa with Christians, Catholics, Muslims and traditional African sangomas/healers, I met a man on the panel who was the first openly gay imam. I said, you have to be in A JIHAD FOR LOVE. And so we began filming with him. With TREMBLING, we held the first-ever Shabbat at Sundance with Tilda Swinton, Sundance programmers, local Jewish Utah community and we also held a Mormon-Jewish Gay Dialogue at the festival. And I had someone who was working on TREMBLING who showed the film to her fiancée. After seeing it, he turned to her and said, “You know what. I'm gay, I can't marry you.” So whether it was on a very personal level or a big communal level, so much of my work has been about transformation in religious worlds around gender, LGBTQ issues, spirituality.
Q: Congratulations on the completion of SABBATH QUEEN! What initially drew you to Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s story, and how did your vision for the documentary evolve over the 21 years of production?
I met Amichai in Jerusalem. I was looking for people to be in TREMBLING BEFORE G-D and everybody kept saying that the Chief Rabbi of Israel’s nephew is gay, you should meet him. I asked him to be in the film and he refused because well, he's too much of a diva and he wanted his own movie. He said, “I don't do collage.” In all fairness, he was right. He didn't quite fit into TREMBLING. TREMBLING was so much about belonging within the bounds of Orthodoxy, and he was already smashing the box and was post-denominational. He described himself as not Orthodox but Flexidox, Paradox. So we became dear friends and 5 years later in 2003, we began filming. We had built a deep trust. At first I was entranced by his drag queen persona, Rebbetzin Hadassah and the counter-culture performance art that he was doing. Over time, he took off the wig and the mask to try and better serve people’s needs off-stage and he decided to become a rabbi and entered seminary. So there was a lot of twist and turns in the process. And I just had patience and listened and documented the unfolding of his life and the story. And that patience extended to his family as well. I waited 13 years to ask Amichai’s brother, Rabbi Benny Lau, who is an Orthodox straight rabbi in Jerusalem to be in the film. He decided to go to Amichai’s rabbinic ordination at a liberal seminary which is a big deal for someone so Orthodox. I felt an opening and asked him to be in SABBATH QUEEN, he agreed, and I flew to Jerusalem to film. He became a real spine of the film. It was a very Biblical narrative of two brothers - one straight, one gay; one Orthodox, one progressive. Rabbi Amichai and Rabbi Benny do not always agree politically and ideologically, but they disagree with love and respect. In this toxic polarized time when we can barely speak to one another, they are role models for difficult dialogue. And witnessing that evolved over the course of editing of the film.
Q: Can you talk about the emotional and personal growth you experienced while following Amichai’s spiritual journey over two decades? Did the process alter your view of self or your view of the world in any significant ways?
When I began the film in our early 30’s, we were friends. But over the course of 21 years, the layers of our relationship grew. Amichai’s Dad died and I supported him. Amichai buried my father and comforted my Mom and I in our year of Kaddish, of mourning. I fell in love with Eric and Amichai officiated our interfaith queer wedding. There were so many dimensions of our relationship - director and protagonist, rabbi and congregant, dear friends. And some of why I made this film was to express and share what I experienced at Lab/Shul - Amichai’s God-optional, artist-driven, everybody-friendly experimental pop-up spiritual community. Amichai really helped me reimagine rituals and traditions for being a Jew and a human in the 21st century - to not have to negate any of who I am and to embrace radical innovation, playfulness, imagination, progressive politics, criticism and protest of Israel, queerness, doubt, deep learning, the Female Divine, singing, and performance in my religion.
Q: How did the extensive 1,800 hours of footage and archival material shape the storytelling process
during editing? What were some of the key challenges in condensing such a rich and detailed narrative?
At one point, my editors turned to me and said “Sandi, this is so sprawling and it encompasses so many worlds - the Radical Faeries, Rebbetzin Hadassah, Amichai’s love life, his kids, Lab/Shul, his Orthodox family, the Holocaust. We need a narrator and we need it to be you.” I said no. Please no. I did not set out to make a personal film called "My Rabbi and Me." But they said you are in the footage speaking and appearing. We even had a moment where Amichai says, “Stop being behind the camera. Come here next to me. You are my sidekick.” So we brought in all the work I did with TREMBLING on the road, my father, my wedding. Test audiences kept wanting more. I recorded tons of voiceover and developed “my character.” Finally after nine months at another test screening, a group of great filmmakers and editors said, “Sandi we love you. Get out of the movie.” So we took nine months of work and threw it to the ground. And what filled that space was Benny, Amichai’s brother. I was just scaffolding and once we built the building, the film did not need me.
Q: SABBATH QUEEN navigates many different cultural, religious, and political landscapes. How did you balance these complex, sometimes conflicting narratives while maintaining a cohesive storyline?
I truly had the best creative collaborators - writer/editors Francisco Bello and Jeremy Stelberg. The edit took six years and it was an enormous mountain of material and every image and every word was a minefield. It was a constant delicate, deft weaving of many complicated worlds that don't ever see each other and are often in opposition. The principle of looping time became foundational to our process. It's very Jewish. We celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and then we return again to the holiday the following year. How are we the same and how are we different? And what does this new beginning mean? Amichai holds past, present and future in a way that so few other people I know do. He's simultaneously in the ancient and in the contemporary and he's imagining a better future for the world all at the same moment. So there are phrases and images in the film that return and they accumulate deeper significance as viewers. And bringing in animation to evoke mystical and spiritual worlds, the Female Divine, ancient Roman-Jewish history also was critical. So once we were freed from the linear and were in non-linear storytelling, while at the same time holding the audience and anchoring them so that they felt guided, and threading animation and not just literal verite and interview, it opened worlds of filmic possibility to navigate so many terrains.
Q: After spending 21 years on this project, what are you looking forward to in terms of your next filmmaking or social activism ventures?
SABBATH QUEEN had the highest box office opening weekend of any documentary at IFC this year. People are coming to see it multiple times. Boomer and GenX parents are bringing their teens and 20somethings to see it - sometimes grandparents are coming too - and it is opening up intergenerational dialogue on so many issues especially the challenges in Jewish families around Israel/Palestine since October 7th. I am raising funds for a Sabbath Queen Education and Impact Campaign and just received our first major grant that I need to match. My goal is to turn this movie into a movement like what we did with TREMBLING. To convene the critical intergenerational dialogues across the US and the world with Rabbi Amichai. To launch a college campus and high school screening tour. To infuse ritual and community-building with the film - SoulSpas and Sabbath Queen Friday Night Feasts. The potential is enormous. And I feel in this next chapter of America, we will need inner tools of spiritual resistance and resilience ever more so.
Visit www.sabbathqueen.com and @sabbathqueenfilm on Instagram for more info. SABBATH QUEEN is in US theatrical release at NYC's IFC Center and The Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles starting on December 5th.
Shaping the Future of Animation with Danielle Feinberg AB '96, VFX Supervisor at Pixar (Virtual)
Thursday 12/05 Free for all members
Did you cry over COCO? What about MONSTERS, INC. or TOY STORY? Industry trailblazer Danielle Feinberg worked on all of these films and more! Come hear her talk about becoming the first woman to hold the Visual Effects Supervisor role on a film at Pixar in twenty years.
Suggests: PIPPIN at the Agassiz Theatre
Thursday 12/05 - Sunday 12/08
The Office for the Arts presents PIPPIN at the Agassiz Theatre. Written by Stephen Schwartz, creator of WICKED (the musical), PIPPIN is the story of a young prince, heir to the throne, who is searching for his own “corner of the sky.”
LA Harvardwood Holiday Party 2024 (LA)
Friday 12/06 Discount for members
You're invited to a wonderful, wintry fest for mingling, mixing, and much holiday cheer. Drink tickets and passed hors d'oeuvres included with ticket purchase.
Last Month at Harvardwood
Last Month at Harvardwood, we learned about Portrayals of Kids, Adolescence and Puberty in Media and Entertainment, attended WE LIVE IN CAIRO with a talkback by the creatives, listened to the Veterans Day Pitch Panel, mingled at the NYC Harvardwood Holiday Party, and more!
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
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