Trailer Watch: Three People Struggle to Leave Hasidic Judaism in Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady’s “One of Us”
“I called my mom and I said, ‘Hey, Mom. Can I talk to you?’” recalls Luzer, a subject of Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s upcoming documentary “One of Us.” “I said, ‘I’m not religious anymore.’ She said, ‘Okay.’ Then she just hung up and then we didn’t speak for seven years.”
The doc follows Luzer and two other subjects as they struggle to rebuild their lives after leaving Hasidic Judaism. Not only do they have to acclimate themselves to the modern secular world — Ari explains that he was initially confused by Google — they have to contend with family and friends who aren’t happy to see them go. Etty, for example, faces threats of violence from her husband’s family after she leaves the community.
Per the “One of Us’” official synopsis: “The film follows Etty, a mother of seven, as she decides to leave a violent marriage and divorce her husband; Ari, a teenager on the verge of manhood who is struggling with addiction and the effects of childhood abuse; and Luzer, an actor who, despite having found success in the secular world, still wrestles with his decision eight years earlier to leave the Hasidic community. Produced over three years, ‘One of Us’ offers unique and intimate access to the lives of all three as they deal not only with questions of their beliefs but also with the consequences of leaving the only community they have ever known.”
In a soon-to-be-published interview, Grady told us that she and Ewing were drawn to the film partially because of Footsteps, a support group for those leaving the Hasidic community. “These people are essentially willing to give everything up in order to explore their own identities,” she said. “There’s something so universal about that, something that surpassed even the idea of this being a religious community. Not fitting in at some point in one’s life is something a lot of people can identify with.”
Ewing and Grady have previously directed six feature-length films together, including “Jesus Camp,” “Detropia,” and “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.”
“One of Us” will make its world premiere at TIFF on September 10. It will be available on Netflix and screen in select theaters beginning October 20. Check out the trailer and poster below.
