Sabbath Queen
This epic documentary follows a man’s provocative journey from radical drag queen to influential rabbi of a God-optional, artist-driven New York synagogue.
Film/Video Theater
(Sandi DuBowski, 2024)
Sandi DuBowski and Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie in person
Two decades after his groundbreaking Trembling Before G-d, Sandi DuBowski has released his second feature documentary, the equally charged and exhilarating Sabbath Queen. Amichai Lau-Lavie is Israeli, descended from an unbroken line of 38 rabbis stretching back 1,000 years. The film opens in the late 1990s as Lau-Lavie has just arrived in New York. As a deeply curious and wildly creative young gay man, he begins using drag to challenge patriarchal orthodoxy. He embraces a wide range of creative spiritual endeavors over the years until he shocks everyone with his decision to become a rabbi and challenge the canon from within. The powerful film follows Lau-Lavie for decades as he courageously and gracefully grapples with the key questions of who we are and who we will be. Stimulating and moving, DuBowski’s film ends with Lau-Lavie’s words on Israel and Palestine after October 7th, evoking the challenge of our lifetime: “How do we reimagine our sacred traditions to achieve peace?” In English, Hebrew, and Yiddish with English subtitles. (105 mins., DCP)