Film
Faith and Sexuality, On Film and In Person

Trembling Before G-d United States/France/Israel, 2001 84 minutes, English/Yiddish/Hebrew (English Subtitles) Directed by Sandi Simcha Dubowski Winner of the Best Documentary prize at the Berlin Film Festival, Trembling Before G-d shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, 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 drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality. We meet a range of complex individuals—some hidden, some out—from the world’s first openly gay Orthodox rabbi to closeted marrried Hasidic gays to Orthodox lesbian high school sweethearts, many who have been tragically rejected. Their pain is raw, yet with irony, humor, and resilience, they love, care, struggle, and debate with a thousands-years-old tradition.. Tuesday June 12, 7:30pm Buy Tickets Here For the Bible Tells Me So United States, 2007, 95 minutes, English Directed by Daniel Karslake Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families—including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson—we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard’s Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For the Bible Tells Me So offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity. “No handwringing or bile-spewing in this entertaining film, but plenty of reasoned examination…Gets at the historical distortions of the Good Book as well as the ease with which holy writings have been used in America to propagate hate.” –New York Newsday Tuesday July 22, 7:30pm Buy Tickets Here A Jihad for Love United States/United Kingdom/France/Germany/Australia, 2007, 81 minutes English/Arabic/Hindi/Persian/Urdu/French (English Subtitles) Directed by Parvez Sharma Islam is today the world’s second largest and fastest growing religion. Filmmaker Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of this dynamic faith, discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims. Filmed over five years, in twelve countries and nine languages, A Jihad for Love explores the complex global intersections between Islam and homosexuality. The international chorus of gay and lesbian Muslims in Sharma’s debut feature does not seek to vilify or reject Islam, but rather to negotiate a new relationship to it. Each interviewee has a vastly different personal take on Islam, some observing a rigorously orthodox regimen, others leading highly secular lifestyles while remaining spiritually devout. The camera attentively captures the stories of these gays and lesbians, giving the viewer an honest rendering of their lives while complicating our assumptions about a monolithic Muslim community. Thursday September 18, 7:30pm Buy Tickets Here These screenings are FREE for JCC Members. A general admission ticket is $8 per screening.; You can also purchase a $15 pass for the entire series. Co-Presented by Jewish Mosaic, Frameline and the Queer Cultural Center.

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