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With marriage equality in the spotlight this week, it seems apropos that two lesbian filmmakers would make a documentary about one of the most popular wedding songs in the country. Hava Nagila (The Movie) examines the history and societal impact of “Hava Nagila,” a song both adored and bemoaned by American Jews.
The film is written, directed and produced by Roberta Grossman and Sophie Sartain, a couple who live in LA with their three children. Grossman, who was raised Jewish, told SheWired that she was inspired to make a film about "Hava Nagila" because, “Hava had been very important to me, growing up as kid in LA.” She explains, “I remember those Hava moments at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs as very joyful and powerful. Holding hands with my mother and my grandmother, I felt a tribal connection. I felt Jewish.”
Roberta Grossman
The doc also delves into the kitschy aspect of this now very famous song, describing that the love Jewish Americans have for “Hava Nagila” is often overshadowed by the groans you’ll hear due to its ubiquity. “Hava is so hopelessly overused, that it is ripe for ridicule,” says Grossman. “It's everywhere and things that are mass produced are seen as cheap. So for American Jews in the last few decades looking for an ‘authentic’ Judaism, Hava was seen as something to throw out in the trash along with ‘Hanukah Bushes’ and Jewish mother jokes.”
Grossman and her partner and filmmaking partner Sartain have been together for 18 years. Grossman remarks on her craft as a medium for her to be a positive lesbian role model. “It has always been incredibly important for young women to see older lesbians who have made a life, made a career, a family, not in spite of being gay, but with being gay as one part of who they are, overall as complex human beings,” she says.
Hava Nagila (The Movie) is now in select theaters in cities across the country, including LA and Palm Springs, but only for a limited time. Today is the final screening day in NYC, and all other release dates can be found at Hava NagilaMovie.com.
As the country moves forward towards marriage equality, Grossman talks about the film’s predominant theme of celebration. “Hava Nagila literally means let us rejoice,” she tells SheWired. “And it's not a silly, let's ignore the problems of life command to rejoice, but rather an urging to be grateful for the positive things in our life, despite our struggles.”
Watch the trailer for Hava Nagila (The Movie) below.
