A neo-Western complete with an all-star cast and a rabbi as a sure-fire action hero. After an attack on his community, Mo Zaltzman is the only one who doubts the anti-Semitic motive behind the crime. He takes the investigation and a gun into his own hands, thus putting himself in the firing line of unscrupulous gangsters.
The Jewish community of the desert town of High Desert is set to get a new synagogue. Yet soon after a businessman and popular community member announces his million-dollar donation at a gala, he is shot dead. The authorities hope to close the case by arresting a teenager with ties to right-wing extremist circles. Rabbi Mo however sees the boy as a lost, desperate troublemaker rather than a murderer. Convinced of the boy's innocence, he stumbles upon an alternative lead: the murdered man's business dealings. He begins his own investigation, which leads him to further murder victims, larger connections, and ultimately to a showdown that will decide between life and death.
Set in the expansive landscape of the desert, husband-and-wife team Nina and Salvador Litvak bring to life a fast-paced crime thriller with a star-studded cast (including Mark Feuerstein, Christopher Lloyd, Mercedes Mason, Dermot Mulroney, Neal McDonough, and Tal Alona). The film goes beyond classic Western motifs by exposing these to critical examination with its portrayal of a battle for land, the construction of a railroad, and a mayor who also happens to be the chief of police.
Text: Merlin Webers
Additional Screening
Thur, May 8, 18:00
KULTURMANUFAKTUR GERSTENBERG
(Ziegelstraße 28A, 15230 Frankfurt (Oder))
Organized by Europa-Universität Viadrina
Credits
original title Guns & Moses
international title Guns & Moses
german title Guns & Moses
JFBB section Feature Film Competition
country/countries US
year 2024
duration 94
Salvador Litvak
BIO Sal was born in Santiago, Chile and moved to New York at age five. He attended Harvard, NYU Law, and UCLA Film. He directed the Passover comedy and cult hit, When Do We Eat?,
starring Max Greenfield, Ben Feldman, Shiri Appleby, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Lerner and Jack Klugman in his final role. Sal directed Saving Lincoln, based on the true story of Abraham Lincoln and his closest friend & bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon. This epic indie features a new visual style called CineCollage, which places the actors within actual Civil War photographs. The film's Gettysburg Address scene has been incorporated into Houghton Mifflin's standard American history textbook, used by students across the country. Sal wrote both films with his wife, Nina, and produced them
under the banner of his production company, Pictures From The Fringe. Sal & Nina share Jewish wisdom, humor and history with over a million followers at Accidental Talmudist. He teaches a daily Talmud class to a diverse audience of thousands of people around the world. His first book, Let My People Laugh: The Greatest Jewish Jokes Of All Time!, published by Skyhorse, is an Amazon bestseller.
