With its trademark ringletted hairstyles, tall fur hats (even in summer) and long dark coats, the Hasidic Jewish community of Stamford Hill maintains a strictly 18th Century lifestyle in a 21st Century city. For the most part this community is reserved and publicity-shy, but I got to spend six months with a few people who decided it was time to let the rest of world inside their personal and religious lives. “A gemstone in the marshes of the May-time viewing schedules, a documentary brimful of life, joy and sweetness. In one sense this was straight-up anthropology, a no-frills peek inside a fascinating community. However it aimed much higher than that and achieved much more, taking us behind the frock coats and the rituals to the beating hearts of the people beneath.”
This documentary delves into the Hasidic Jewish community of Stamford Hill, north London, where the people live in a unique world divided between 21st-century urban life and 18th-century traditions.
For the most part this community is reserved and publicity-shy, but filmmaker Paddy Wivell has spent three months with members of the community who have decided it is time to let the rest of the world inside their personal and religious lives. Father of five Avi Bresler invites him to his eldest son's wedding - a scene of religious solemnity, family gathering and drinking - and on his quest to find a wife for his second son.
Over the months there ensue trips to spend Jewish New Year in the Ukraine at one of the world's largest Hasidic festivals, a visit to Avi's family in Jerusalem, regular audiences with a Hasidic scholar to find out about his notions of love and mariage, and a meeting with a shadchan (Jewish matchmaker) at which the family-loving Avi reveals something from his past that takes everyone by surprise.
This documentary delves into the Hasidic Jewish community of Stamford Hill, north London, where the people live in a unique world divided between 21st-century urban life and 18th-century traditions.
For the most part this community is reserved and publicity-shy, but filmmaker Paddy Wivell has spent three months with members of the community who have decided it is time to let the rest of the world inside their personal and religious lives. Father of five Avi Bresler invites him to his eldest son's wedding - a scene of religious solemnity, family gathering and drinking - and on his quest to find a wife for his second son.
Over the months there ensue trips to spend Jewish New Year in the Ukraine at one of the world's largest Hasidic festivals, a visit to Avi's family in Jerusalem, regular audiences with a Hasidic scholar to find out about his notions of love and mariage, and a meeting with a shadchan (Jewish matchmaker) at which the family-loving Avi reveals something from his past that takes everyone by surprise.
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