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Documentary Film »

Leaving the Fold (2007)

Status: Available for broadcast

Film Trailer

"Leaving the Fold - chronicles the difficult life paths chosen by young Hasidic Jews who decide to turn their backs on the insular fundamentalist world into which they were born..."

Official Web Site: http://www.leavingthefold.net

About the Film

«I crawled out of the fold with a crease across my head that never goes...»

What happens when a person is born a Hasidic Jew, but knows that they don’t belong?

Filmed in Montreal, New York and Israel. LEAVING THE FOLD is a documentary film, which tells the story of five young people born and raised within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish world who no longer wish to remain on the inside. As children they grew up in a closed society where deviation from the rules of conduct is often punishable by ostracism, intimidation or worse. As young adults they pay a steep price for abandoning their parents and community to seek the freedom to make their own choices.

A STORY OF COURAGE

Finding the courage to leave the fold is only the beginning for most of these young people. Those who have decided to take this step become pariahs, often completely cut off from the emotional and financial support of their families. To make matters worse, judged by our secular standards, they have no marketable skills. Many only speak Yiddish – or some Hebrew that is stilted and archaic because it is restricted to use only for prayer.

Ultimately, LEAVING THE FOLD is a film about complex, spiritual journeys in the opposite direction, from the constraints and the strange beauty of religious fundamentalism inside the Hasidic world to the intoxicating uncertainties of personal freedom of those few who would escape it. [ Read the full synopsis ]

Creative Team

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Eric Scott
PRODUCERS: Frederic Bohbot / Evan Beloff
EDITOR: Carl Freed
DISTRIBUTED BY: Bunbury Films
Produced in association with: SRC (Société Radio Canada)

Awards & Recognition

2009 - Best Documentary - Religion Today Film Festival in Italy
2009 - Official Selection - Montreal World Film Festival

Technical Specifications

GENRE: Documentary
CATEGORY: Society, Religion
LANGUAGE: English
LANGUAGE DUBBED: French
DURATION: 43:00 & 52:00 minutes
DELIVERY FORMAT: HD (High-Definition)
FRENCH TITLE: Quitter le bercail
TV BROADCAST : Available immediately

Screenings & Broadcasts

AT FILM FESTIVALS

2011 - Jan 24th at 7: 30PM - OFF - Festival du Film Israélien de Montréal (Montreal, QC, Canada)
** The film will be followed with a debate
2010 - Jul 30 - Aug 09 - Limmud SA (South Africa)
2010 - Jun 11-17 - Roma Nuovo Cinema Aquila (Rome, Italy)
2010 - May 23-28 - International Film Festival Jewish Motifs (Wroclaw, Poland)
2010 - May 05-11 - Monaco Charity Film Festival (Monaco)
2010 - Apr 25-29 - Ann Arbor JCC Jewish Film Festival (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
2010 - Apr 10-16 - 8th Annual Austin Jewish Film Festival (Austin, TX, USA)
2010 - Mar 20-25 - MJFF - Maine Jewish Film Festival (Portland, ME, USA)
2010 - Mar 09-21 - 6th Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival (Houston, TX, USA)
2010 - Jan 15-24 - AJFF - Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (Atlanta, GA, USA)
2009 - Cleveland Jewish Film Festival (Beachwood, OH, USA)
2009 - Religion Today Film Festival (Rome, Italy)
2009 - BJFF - Boston Jewish Film Festival (Boston, MA,, USA)
2009 - Jewish Film Week Dresden (Germany)