Name: Anonymous 2008-01-12 12:15
Trembling Before G-d is a 2001 documentary film about gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews trying to reconcile their sexuality with their faith. It was directed by Sandi Simcha DuBowski, who wanted to compare Orthodox attitudes to homosexuality with his own upbringing as a gay Conservative Jew. The film received ten award nominations, winning seven, including the Teddy Award for Best Documentary Film at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival, 2003 GLAAD Media Award for Best Documentary. The film is mostly in English, but also has some subtitled Yiddish and Hebrew. The film follows the lives of several gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews and includes interviews with rabbis and psychotherapists about Orthodox attitudes towards homosexuality. During the film's six-year production, DuBowski met hundreds of homosexual Jews but only a handful agreed to be filmed out of fear of being ostracized from their communities. Many people who agreed to be interviewed are shown only in silhouette or with their faces pixelized. Trembling Before G-d was moderately successful at the box office, grossing over $5,500 on a single screen on its first day of release and $788,896 on eight screens by its close date on January 5, 2003.
With a seed grant from Steven Spielberg, the creators of the film have set up the Trembling Before G-d Orthodox Education Project, to teach Orthodox educators and rabbis about homosexuality, as well as convening the first Orthodox Mental Health Conference on Homosexuality and training facilitators to show the film to community leaders. Over 2000 principals, educators and school counselors have attended screenings within Israel's religious school system. The film has now been seen by an estimated 8 million people worldwide. Following the success of Trembling before G-d, DuBowski is now working to produce a documentary about gay devout Muslims entitled A Jihad for Love.
With a seed grant from Steven Spielberg, the creators of the film have set up the Trembling Before G-d Orthodox Education Project, to teach Orthodox educators and rabbis about homosexuality, as well as convening the first Orthodox Mental Health Conference on Homosexuality and training facilitators to show the film to community leaders. Over 2000 principals, educators and school counselors have attended screenings within Israel's religious school system. The film has now been seen by an estimated 8 million people worldwide. Following the success of Trembling before G-d, DuBowski is now working to produce a documentary about gay devout Muslims entitled A Jihad for Love.