Exclusive Screening with talk back by Kathryn Bernheimer, Founding Director of the Boulder Jewish Film Festival.  In this polished, high-concept, and all-too-relevant crime thriller – a fictional genre film inspired by the Poway shootings – a rabbi in the American west takes up arms to defend his community after a fatal attack devastates his congregation. This stylized Hasidic western is sure to provoke strong reactions.

Movie Synopsis:

In this polished, high-concept, and all-too-relevant crime thriller, a rabbi in the American west takes up arms to defend his community after a fatal attack devastates his congregation. Mark Feuerstein plays the founder of the fictional High Desert Jewish Center, a Chabad-like synagogue in rural California, where the fast-paced action unfolds. This stylized Hasidic western, which is sure to provoke strong reactions, borrows from Tarantino movies as well as classic cinematic tales of the wild west. It offers a new take on self-defense in the face of growing threats of violence and security concerns in the Jewish community and beyond. 

Director Litvak, who co-wrote the screenplay with his wife Nina, has said his fictional genre film was inspired by the Poway shootings, after he completed weapons training through the Los Angeles volunteer security group Magen Am, which was founded by a Chabad rabbi to teach situational awareness and promote responsible gun ownership.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVoEMo1jGfw