Film: Sabbath Queen - IDFA

Free-spirited, queer drag queen Amichai Lau-Lavie has set up his own inclusive, art-driven Jewish community in New York. He stands on the shoulders of 38 generations of Jewish Orthodox rabbis who went before him. It’s a huge responsibility.

Does remaining true to the traditions of his forefathers mean that he has to do exactly what they (including his uncle, the chief rabbi of Israel) tell him to do? Or are you allowed to adapt those traditions to accommodate new insights and your own moral conscience? Amichai grapples with these kinds of questions throughout the 21 years in which this film closely follows him. He opposes injustice, but pays a price for doing so, encountering overt hatred at protests for peace and human rights.

Amichai talks candidly about the choices he makes. His brother Benny Lau, an Orthodox rabbi, comments on Amichai’s actions. We see criticism, rejection, and pain, but also love and a need to connect. Sabbath Queen jumps back and forth in time to sketch a family history that nearly stopped in Auschwitz. Survival is of immense importance; the question is how.