Mazel Tov: Lesbian and Gay Weddings

Get ready to sing "simon tov and mazel tov" at two Jewish lesbian weddings in the U.S. and a gay Jewish wedding in Rotterdam. February’s historic decision by San Francisco’s mayor to issue marriage licenses to gays and lesbians affected both Jews and non-Jews profoundly. We celebrate the Jewish ritual of marriage, and offer this program as a commemoration of Jewish gay and lesbian trailblazers who have affirmed their right to tie the knot. From joyful to wacky, this program offers something for all wedding aficionados. In local filmmaker Bonnie Burt’s MY SISTER, MY BRIDE, we first meet Nevada residents Farrell and Caren in 2002 as they are joined together amongst friends under a chuppah. We find them together again in San Francisco’s City Hall this year for what they hope will be a legally binding civil ceremony. This tender film captures the highs and lows of their journey as a couple, and now a growing family. Academy Award-nominated CHICKS IN WHITE SATIN (SFJFF 1994) is a groundbreaking documentary about two women who plan their traditional wedding, including registering for china, meeting with the rabbi, and donning dresses with enough material to drape a banquet table. THE GIL & MOTI WEDDING PROJECT is one part civil rights celebration, one part public performance art, and one part affirmation of love. Gil and Moti, two Israeli artists living in Holland, were married on June 21, 2001 by the mayor of Rotterdam. Their entourage is outfitted in a fashion best described as Ben Hur on glitter. The film follows the couple in the weeks before the wedding; including split-screen shots of Gil and Moti at the gym, in the shower, and getting coiffed, which are projected live in public spaces.

BONNIE BURT has been documenting Jewish life and culture for 20 years. After a career as a psychotherapist, she produced a trilogy of videos about Jewish life in Cuba including: “The Believers” , “Abraham and Eugenia” (SFJFF premiere)and “Trip to Jewish Cuba”. In addition, she has produced a video about adult bat mitzvah, “Coming of Age: Adult Bat Mitzvah”, and “Trees Cry For Rain: A Sephardic Journey” (SFJFF premiere), about Sephardic history and culture. Her work has been shown in film festivals worldwide and on television. Ms. Burt currently lives in the Bay Area of California and is working on a documentary about the radical chicken ranchers of Petaluma, California., Elaine Holliman, a graduate from the M.F.A. film production program at USC School of Cinema and Television, was nominated for an Academy Award for her documentary film, Chicks in White Satin. She has written several feature screenplays, including the adaptation of Rubyfruit Jungle; a comedy adaptation of Chicks in White Satin; Freestyle; The Fat Lady Goes Camping. Chicks in White Satin screened at Sundance Film Festival, Berlin, Toronto, and London, and garnered awards at the Student Academy Awards, International Documentary Association, Aspen Film Festival, and San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and Washington D. C. Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. She has written television documentary, spoken frequently on film workshop panels, and teaches at the Iowa Summer Writer's Festival. She is currently producing and directing, Gone Straight...to Hell, a documentary on bisexuality., We are duo interdisciplinary artists who live and work together since 1994. In order to construct a new identity we moved out of Israel to live and work in Holland, in 1998. A year later we publicised our life by choosing to make our home in a gallery space (Gil & Moti Homegallery Rotterdam). The motivation derived from the need to be close to the public and also out of interest in the limits of privacy and its social political contexts. Our work moves freely from life to the visual arts and to performance. The decision to live life as a performance and art as a way of living creates a tension, which motivates our work. This concept of living a staged life publicly dictates our daily life and results in a manipulative exhibited biography; in painting, installation, video, performance, writing, etc. With our work we explore surprising juxtapositions of private space and public life. The multimedia installations and performances are consistently image based; the images we use are extraordinary and approachable, meant to capture the viewer like popular icons. The work examines the relationship between biographical inquiry and popular culture. Further, our art questions the normative borders marking bourgeoisie high culture by introducing a gay perspective as a refreshing alternative., We are duo interdisciplinary artists who live and work together since 1994. In order to construct a new identity we moved out of Israel to live and work in Holland, in 1998. A year later we publicised our life by choosing to make our home in a gallery space (Gil & Moti Homegallery Rotterdam). The motivation derived from the need to be close to the public and also out of interest in the limits of privacy and its social political contexts. Our work moves freely from life to the visual arts and to performance. The decision to live life as a performance and art as a way of living creates a tension, which motivates our work. This concept of living a staged life publicly dictates our daily life and results in a manipulative exhibited biography; in painting, installation, video, performance, writing, etc. With our work we explore surprising juxtapositions of private space and public life. The multimedia installations and performances are consistently image based; the images we use are extraordinary and approachable, meant to capture the viewer like popular icons. The work examines the relationship between biographical inquiry and popular culture. Further, our art questions the normative borders marking bourgeoisie high culture by introducing a gay perspective as a refreshing alternative.