“One of the best films I’ve seen this year.”
– Hollywood Reporter
SABBATH QUEEN, a feature documentary filmed over 20 years, follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 39 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel.
He is torn between rejecting and embracing his traditional destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad, and the founder of Lab/Shul. SABBATH QUEEN joins Amichai on a lifelong quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, champion interfaith love and challenge patriarchy and right-wing orthodoxies. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century.
Follow along at @sabbathqueenfilm and visit sabbathqueen.com to learn more.
Looking for more Sabbath Queen in your life? Join Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie online Tuesday evenings starting in January for Alef/Bet, an online series of interactive study sessions exploring the big ideas, core concepts, tough questions, essential values and best practices of Jewish life, from an inclusive, evolving and justice-driven perspective, reimagined for right now. Learn more here >
Scheduled Screenings:
For the latest on upcoming screenings, visit sabbathqueen.com/screenings
Latest Press
Provocative documentary “Sabbath Queen” looks at a queer Rabbi’s 21-year journey to help define faith, identity & tradition
The Hollywood Times
December 4, 2024
Read here >
Welcoming the ‘Sabbath Queen’
TABLET
November 19, 2024
Read here >
Amichai Lau-Lavie Is a ‘Drag Queen Rabbi’ — And This Documentary Shows He’s Also So Much More
HEY ALMA
September 6, 2024
Read here >
S.F. Jewish Film Festival: ‘Sabbath Queen’ follows drag queen rabbi over two decades
THE JEWISH NEWS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
July 12, 2024
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Pushing Boundaries’: The Ex-Yeshiva Boy Turned Drag Queen Behind New York’s ‘God-Optional’
HAARETZ
June 16, 2024
Read here >
This Docu Offers A New Contract For Judaism. The Crowd In New York Went Crazy For Him
WALLA
June 16, 2024
Read here >
From Director Sandi DuBowski:
“SABBATH QUEEN, a feature documentary filmed over 21 years, follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his traditional destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad, and the founder of Lab/Shul – an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. SABBATH QUEEN joins Amichai on a lifelong quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, challenge patriarchy and supremacy, champion interfaith love, and stand up for peace, ceasefire, and an end to the Occupation in Israel/Palestine. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century.”
Amichai and I have been on a transformative journey together since we met in the late 1990’s, forging a unique creative collaboration over the decades since between groundbreaking spiritual leader and filmmaker. I am deeply grateful for our friendship and trust and am always moved by how courageously he shares his powerful story with the world. In a toxic time where we as individuals, families, communities, Jews, are wrestling with so many deep and difficult questions, Amichai holds urgently to a fierce moral vision – as well as helping people through the complexity and nuance around so many binaries – that feels so urgent and necessary. He has a life-long commitment to struggle in the hardest places.
Sabbath Queen is an incredible opportunity to challenge and change the cultural, religious and political landscape. It asks big questions and poses critical issues to be used as a rich springboard for discussion. The film is poised to inspire individuals and communities around the world to connect, reflect, debate, and act. It will be a tool for intergenerational dialogue between parents, kids, and grandparents. It offers a unique global platform to elevate Rabbi Amichai’s profile, amplifying his voice, teaching and activism.”
Many, many thanks to all who made this dream possible and especially this circle, including many longtime Lab/Shul Partners:
Our Executive Producers Adrian Salpeter, Darren Aronofsky, Jen Chaiken, S. Asher Gelman, Bruce Heavin and Lynda Weinman, Jess Jacobs, Jewish Story Partners, Audrey Rosenberg, Jeffrey Solomon and Audrey Weiner; our Co-Producers Ben Lowy and Simon Mendes, our Co-Executive Producer Matt Nosanchuk, and our Contributing Producers Jeannie Blaustein, Carla Solomon and Jeff Schoenfeld.
For more information visit our website, SabbathQueen.com.