Kosher food, tradition and a pious existence are of little interest to singer Viv. Her career stalls however and forces her back to her mother's house and patchwork family. Worse still, she's supposed to fill in as cantor at the synagogue which she hasn't set foot in since she ran away from her own bat mitzvah.
Viv only reluctantly attends service – and comes across there as quite the outsider in her band shirt, bleary-eyed and listless. Yet as soon as she starts singing, everyone immediately takes notice: she has “rûaḥ” – a special energy, divine breath. And before she can say “no”, the woman with tattoos and a fondness for ham who, furthermore, barely speaks a word Hebrew, is enlisted by the rabbi to sing at religious ceremonies. She blossoms when she sings as life – and the film itself – evolves into a musical.
At top speed, Viv ends up in a new chapter of life, the instability of which proves as exhilarating as it is frightening. Having had the way to social media stardom paved for her by her younger sister, she becomes involved with the rabbi's son and, at the many brit milah and shiva ceremonies, gradually discovers that her vocals are more than just a string of notes. Especially in those moments when Viv performs traditional songs the action can be said, in many respects, to transcend the metaphysical.
Text: Rainer Mende
English: Peter Rickerby
SPECIAL SCREENING
Sa 22.6. 18:00
BÜRGERBILDUNGSZENTRUM AMADEU ANTONIO (Puschkinstraße 13, 16225 Eberswalde)
free entry, donations are welcome
Credits
original title Less Than Kosher
international title Less Than Kosher
german title Less Than Kosher
JFBB section Feature Film Competition
country/countries CA
year 2023
duration 67
Daniel AM Rosenberg
BIO Daniel AM Rosenberg is an award-winning director from Toronto, Canada. With a passion for creative storytelling, Daniel has directed programming airing on CBC, A+E Networks (UK), FYI, HGTV, MTV, Much Music, and BET. Daniel co-created and directed the CBC short-form comedy series The Ninth (12 series awards and nominations) as well as developed & directed the comedy series Cam_Girlfriend (20+ series awards and nominations). Daniel will also be directing season 2 of Cam_Girlfriend, currently in pre-production. He also recently directed the musical comedy series Less Than Kosher. Daniel has acted as creative director on multiple projects including the “Kensington Market” Heritage Minute and The Strumbellas Live at the JUNO Awards. He got his start directing music videos, where he won an iHeartRadio MMVA for Rock Video of The Year, as well as a JUNO nomination for Video of The Year, and multiple MMVA nominations.
