Thread:

My tweet on an alternative for a Fiddler on the Roof remake got a little bit of traction, so I decided to put some more ideas for new Jewish representation out there because we truly need it. Here we go!!! 1/

I know I said Salonika before, but a story about Sephardi Jews anywhere in the Ottoman Empire (Istambul, Izmir, etc) would be phenomenal in all its complexity and drama. Ladino folk songs would lend themselves beautifully to a Fiddler-esque musical. 2/

A Rom-Com “sweeter than apples dipped in honey.” I propose a Hallmark-type movie about two singles, a no-nonsense type lawyer and a creative graphic designer who are reluctantly placed next to each other at their meddling friend’s Rosh HaShana dinner... 3/

...They realize their attraction, and begin a relationship from this unwanted shidduch. But could a fallout on Sukkot prove to be the end of their short affair? 4/

A Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat remake with an all Jewish and super diverse cast. 5/

Documentary portrait of Daniel Libeskind. The starchitect is an immigrant and the son of holocaust survivors. His Jewishness has never been peripheral and he rose to fame with the iconic Jewish Museum in Berlin and has created a number of other Jewish museums and Memorials. 6/

A Western-adjacent film about the Ashkenazi immigrants fleeing Russia and Eastern Europe who settled in Argentina and became gauchos aka South American cowboys.
(There is actually already a movie about this, but the topic urgently needs more attention because I am obsessed.) 7/

Instead of the overdone ‘Orthodox Jew leaves the fold,’ a story about a B’aal Teshuva. A highly educated woman from a starkly secular Jewish family accidentally stumbles onto religion, and finds solace in spirituality. 8/

A movie about Hannukah that doesn’t end with a Jewish person celebrating Christmas. 9/

A dramatization of when two high class Northern-Italian Jewish women in the late 15th century each commissioned a prayer book that changed the infamously controversial “thank God for not making me a woman” to “thank God for not making me a man” (true story)...

...Feminist, powerful, and taking advantage of Early Rennaissance and the richness of Italian Jewish culture as a backdrop. Think ‘The Favourite’ but Italian Jewish Bourgeois. 12/

Pixar-like animated movie for kids set during a large family seder. The middle child is unphased by the tradition and wishes he could be out with his friends instead. In some quirky way, he falls into the haggadah, and is pulled into helping the Israelites escape egypt. 13/

A narrative that puts Beta Israel at the forefront. And I’m not talking Operation Solomon, but a coming-of-age story that tells us what it’s like to be an Ethiopian Jewish teenager today. 14/

A Syrian Jewish family is celebrating the engagement of the eldest daughter. When the anti-Jewish riots of 1947 ensue, we follow the family’s last few days in Aleppo as they abruptly decide to pack up and head to Palestine. (Unsure about the history; correct me if I’m wrong.) 15/

Rom-Com idea #2: They meet at a Purim masquerade ball, and it’s love at first sight. But, before they get a chance to take off their masks, or even tell each other their names, one of them has to leave... 16/

...to take care of a friend who took the mitzvah of getting drunk a little bit too seriously. In the midst of the Big City… will HaShem lead them to each other again? 17/

Finally, “Frozen Chosen.” A light documentary about the Jewish community in Alaska and the relatively new Alaska Jewish Museum. (Yes, the Alaska Jewish community calls themselves the Frozen Chosen and it is the best thing I’ve ever heard.) 18/

I love Fiddler, and my half Ashkenazi heart is so full whenever I watch it… which is often. But why recreate one of the few well-done pieces of Jewish representation we have, when there are so much many more facets of ‘Jewishness’ left to show? 20/

We deserve original, unapologetic, diverse, new and old Jewish stories told. We deserve Jewish writers and actors telling them. We want to be seen and to see ourselves on screen.

If you have any more ideas drop them in my replies :) End/