Trembling Before G_d

Synopsis

Shot in Brooklyn, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, London, Miami, and San Francisco, Trembling Before G_d explores the dilemma faced by Orthodox Jews who are homosexual. How can they reconcile their love of God and Judaism with their sexuality, which is strictly forbidden by Jewish law? The subjects of the film include a gay Orthodox rabbi, closeted, married Hasidic gays and lesbians and those abandoned by religious families. Their stories give an insight into the struggle to maintain religion in the modern world and the desire to live life truthfully.

Impact

The theatrically released film premiered in competition at Sundance in 2001 and garnered the most prestigious international award for gay and lesbian cinema, the coveted Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival, where it screened in the International Forum for New Cinema. The ground-breaking documentary screened at more than 200 film festivals worldwide including Jerusalem, Karlovy Vary, Pusan, Sydney and Melbourne, was the closing night film of the 2001 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, broke Opening Day box office records at Film Forum in New York, was winner of the 2003 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary of the Year, and was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

At the Sundance Film Festival the director DuBowski and gay Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Steve Greenberg, hosted Shabbat and, with partner Working Films, a Mormon-Jewish gay dialogue. DuBowski and Rabbi Greenberg have traveled to over sixty cities conducting discussions with the public and other organizations concerned with faith, sexuality, age, racial and Jewish issues.

An Orthodox community education project utilizing the film has been launched in the US, Israel and UK, with seed funding from Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation. Outreach strategies include an Orthodox Mental Health Conference on Homosexuality, the formation of an Orthodox Mental Health Network to work with rabbis, families, schools, rebbetzins, teachers, and synagogues. Facilitators have been trained in Jerusalem to hold screenings of Trembling Before G-d and have led discussions with principals, teachers, and school counselors, largely in the religious school system in Israel. Outreach work is also being conducted in other faith communities.

The website for the film contains links to resources for homosexual Jews. There is also a list of ways to help the filmmakers with their outreach, such as requesting your local video shop to stock the DVD, putting announcements in newsletters, linking your website to the film’s site and giving the DVD as a gift. There is also a sample fundraising letter for the film’s outreach program.

The film was supported by over 30 foundations :
The Rockefeller Foundation – 1999 Film/Video/Multimedia Fellowship – $35 000.
H van Ameringen Foundation
Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation – In 2003, a grant of $10 000 for outreach.
The Burstein Family Foundation
The Creative Capital Foundation – DuBowski was one of Creative Capital’s initial grantees in 2000, when he was awarded $5000 to support the completion of the film. Shortly after the film opened, the producer left the project and Creative Capital gave assistance in assembling a new production team. DuBowski received a $5000 Strategic Support grant to implement a broad individual donor campaign, which yielded over $30 000 in donations. He was also awarded a $5000 Competitive Funding Opportunity grant to start a straight-gay Orthodox Alliance. Creative Capital invited DuBowski to three retreats where he was able to form valuable strategic partnerships for his outreach program.
The Nathan Cummings Foundation – In 2003 a grant of $30 000 to CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, for the film’s outreach.
Dorot Foundation – Gave $5000 to the mental health conference that was part of the outreach.
Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund – no website.
The Gelman Foundation
Tom Healy and Fred Hochberg Foundation
David Hochberg Foundation
The Jerome Foundation – Gave less than $20 000 to this project.
The Peter T Joseph Foundation
The Rita J and Stanley H Kaplan Family Foundation
The Karma Foundation – The Foundation only funds finishing costs (including distribution, music rights and study guides). They do not fund production. They give between $5 000 and $10 000 to films as finishing funds.
The Mathilde & Arthur B Krim Foundation.
Michael Palm Foundation
Richard Nathan Anti-Homophobia Trusts
The Paul Rapoport Fund
Rapoport Family Foundation
The Recanati Foundation
The Donna and David Reis Family Foundation
Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media
The Rosenthal Foundation
The Shefa Fund – in 2004, a grant of $5000 to CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, for the film’s outreach.
The Ted Snowdon Foundation
Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation – seed funding for outreach.
Threshold Foundation – An outreach grant of $30 000 for their New Visions of Culture and Community, for risk-taking in activism.
Ruth/Allen Ziegler Foundation