Queer Orthodox Jews and Holocaust Memory: ‘Unspoken’ Film Screening and Q&A
Join us as we screen Unspoken (2024), a groundbreaking new feature film following Noam, a closeted Jewish teenager in a religious community who discovers that he might not be alone. When he finds a love letter written to his grandfather by another man before the Holocaust, he sets out to find this mysterious person and uncover his grandfather’s identity as well as his own. Following the film screening (90 minutes), Prof. Golan Moskowitz will moderate a Q&A with Jeremy Borison, the film’s director, and Tali Kuhel, who grew up as a queer person in the same Orthodox community as Jeremy, and is a social work student currently working with LGBTQ+ teens from Orthodox Jewish backgrounds.
Jeremy Borison is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles, whose films have received grants from organizations including Micah Philanthropies, Aviv Foundation, and the Steven Spielberg supported Jewish Story Partners, for their efforts in creating discourse around LGBTQ inclusion in religious communities. Jeremy has been selected for various initiatives that explore art and religion, as an Asylum Arts Fellow, a writer for Imagination Productions, a Wexner Heritage fellow, and a Filmmaker in Residence for the Jewish Film Institute. His debut feature film, ‘Unspoken,’ which follows a closeted teenager in a religious community, premiered at the British Film Institute’s Flare Film Festival, and recently received the audience award for Best Narrative Film at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival. He is currently working on a documentary about the lawsuit between Yeshiva University and its Pride Alliance, regarding the Orthodox institution’s rejection of an LGTBQ club on campus.
Tali Kuhel is currently an MSW student at The University of Michigan School of Social Work and a Social Work Intern with JQY, a mental health agency that supports LGBTQ+ teens from Orthodox Jewish backgrounds. They are training to become a therapist grounded in promoting self acceptance, mindfulness and healing in their community and for all future clients.
