Tahara
TAHARA
Featuring Rising Star Rachel Sennott
Directed by Olivia Peace
Written by Jess Zeidman
Philadelphia Premiere
Carrie Lowenstein (Madeline Grey DeFreece) and Hannah Rosen (Rachel Sennott) have been best friends since childhood. When their former Hebrew school classmate, Samantha Goldstein, unexpectedly commits suicide, the girls attend the funeral together, as well as the “teen talk-back” session designed to help them process their grief through their Jewish faith. Even with their teacher’s guidance, with so many memories to reconcile and dramas to unpack, the teens spend the afternoon just as confused, misguided, and stuck in their own heads as ever.
A day in the life of high school students, TAHARA is both a small independent film directed and written by two gifted young filmmakers and an extraordinary breakthrough in Jewish representation in cinema. Maybe you are the Carrie Lowenstein in your group of friends or maybe you have met someone just like her. The fact is if Jews of Color make up 11% of American Jewry, why do we so rarely see stories like Carrie’s told on screen? Fortunately, this poignant, funny, and utterly of-the-moment film is ready to put questions like these to bed and make way for a new generation of forward-thinking filmmakers and storytellers.
Includes pre-recorded virtual interview with director Olivia Peace and writer Jess Zeidman! Moderated by Rav Tiferet Berenbaum, Rabbi of Temple Beth Zion (Brookline, MA).
Official Selection:
- Slamdance Film Festival