PUNK JEWS – New Orleans Premiere

Please Join Us for the New Orleans Premiere of PUNK JEWS by Jesse Zook Mann, Saul Sudin & Evan Kleinman.

Profiling Hassidic punk rockers, Yiddish street performers, African-American Jewish activists and more, PUNK JEWS explores an emerging movement of provocateurs and committed Jews who are asking, each in his or her own way, what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century. Jewish artists, activists and musicians from diverse backgrounds and communities are defying norms and expressing their Jewish identities in unconventional ways. In the process, they are challenging stereotypes and breaking down barriers. Meet Yishai, lead singer of Moshiach Oi; Radical performance group, the Sukkos Mob; the renegade Orthodox participants of Cholent; the Amazing Amy Yoga Yenta; Kal Holczler, founder of Voices of Dignity; and African American Jewish hip hop sensation Y-Love.  (2012, 60 minutes) There will be a Q&A session following the screening with PUNK JEWS Producers Evan Kleinman and Saul Sudin. SEATING IS LIMITED.  Free Admission.

Hosted by CHARITABLE FILM NETWORK with support from Press Street’s MiniPlex, The National Center for Jewish Film and LummudFest.

For more information contact mail@charitablefilmnetwork.org, visit punkjews.com or follow PUNK JEWS on Facebook.

Can’t Attend The Premiere Screening?  Check out PUNK JEWS at LimmudFest on Sunday, March 9th!  LOOK HERE for additional screening details.

PRESS:
New York Times: “Side curls flailing, knees jackknifing up around his torso, leaping, crouching, shouting a Scriptural message from the Book of Ramones: “Avraham was a punk rocker.”

Huffington Post:  “‘Punk Jews’ …exists because a resurgence of pride in one’s Judaism is taking hold among many… ‘Shtick,’ as they like to say in Yiddish, is falling by the wayside to make way for more authentic approaches to meaning.”

The New Yorker: “’Convention is constricting,’ he tells the filmmakers of ‘Punk Jews.’ ‘Convention is anti-growth.’”

Haaretz: “The title, says Zook Mann, made sense. ‘Punk is a rock and roll movement with a do-it-yourself philosophy. In punk rock, artists don’t work with corporations or recognized institutions,’ he says. ‘They simply make their art in their backyard, in a garage, in their homes. The idea of the Jews in the film is similar and focuses on the feeling of rebellion and spiritual independence.’”

The Jewish Week: “…has the peculiar feel of a version of ’60 Minutes’ concocted by the demented offspring of some MTV producer and a wonder-working chasidic mystic.”

Ynet (Hebrew): (Abraham wasn’t just the first Jew. He was the first Punk Jew)

Jerusalem Post: “Evan gives us a behind the scenes look, not to the production set, but rather to the producers’ mindset and soul.”

The Algemeiner Journal: “Hassidic punk rockers, Yiddish street performers and African-American-Jewish activists, the characters in ‘Punk Jews,’show an emerging movement in New York City of people asserting their Jewish identity by defying the norm.”

Cool Hunting: “Originally announced on the crowd-sourced funding site Kickstarter, Punk Jews just reached their goal of raising $10,000 to make the film. Featuring musicians, artists, fashion designers and philosophers, Zook Mann describes Punk Jews as, ‘People owning their heritage, being creative with it, having fun with it—and doing so at any cost.’”

Haaretz: The artists in “Punk Jews” represent the pioneering, creative spirit within Judaism of this era.”