Menemsha Films

OUTREMONT AND THE HASIDIM reveals the challenges of accommodating the “Hasidim” – or ultra-Orthodox Jews – in the affluent Montréal borough of Outremont.​Some 7,000 Hasidim live in or near this choice neighbourhood of Québec’s Francophone elite. After settling there more than 70 years ago, the Hasidim are a rapidly growing minority group which today represents about 23% of Outremont’s population.​Thanks to unprecedented access to this self-isolated community, the film lifts the veil on its practices, traditions, music and life as they had never before been seen on Canadian television, without ignoring the community’s expectations, fears. and hopes.

Tamar Manasseh, the charismatic rabbi and community activist from the south side of Chicago, wants African Americans and Jews to become closer allies. With one foot firmly in each of these two communities, Black Jews like Tamar are the natural bridge to help overcome decades of fear, misunderstanding, and lack of communication.

In 2021, Israel's baseball team competed in the Olympics for the first time. With no media allowed in Tokyo's Olympic Village, the players record their own experiences. Mostly newly minted Israelis, they log unexpected battles against antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Victory for Israel comes on the playing field, even if not on the podium. Israel Swings for Gold follows the 2018 hit Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, about Israel's Cinderella run at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.