Featuring a young widower straying from the designated path while bending strict Hasidic rules in a Jewish enclave, Menashe is an orthodox take on the typical Woody Allen-esque eccentricity.
Religion and tradition continue to determine everyday life in an orthodox Jewish neighbourhood in Brooklyn. But the young widower Menashe is different. His appearance alone makes him stand out. His ten-year-old son Rieven asks why he doesn’t wear the same tall black hat and black coat as the other men. The community wants him to remarry as fast as possible. But he can’t imagine a future with another woman and snubs all the prospective brides sent his way. Since he doesn’t earn enough money, an uncle decides to take over the job of raising his son. Coming off like an unorthodox rendering of the biblical Job, Menashe will have a hard time coming to grips with that.
“The community is usually depicted according to the views of outsiders and frequently appears cold and generally without joy. Yet the Hasidic culture that I have experienced is one that is funny, beautiful and deeply spiritual. While I was researching the film I would walk the streets of Borough Park and have frank conversations with the people I encountered, many of whom were wonderful and exceedingly curious about the outside world. My goal with the film was to humanise these people to an audience of outsiders and share moments of their everyday lives that are rarely seen.” (Joshua Z Weinstein)
Joshua Z Weinstein
Born in 1983 in New York City. He studied film at Boston University. Following three documentaries, Menashe is his first full-length feature film. In addition to directing his own films, he also works as a director of photography.