The Return of Sarah's Daughters

This provocative documentary delves into the private world of Orthodox Judaism to follow the journeys of three modern women. Rus, a social worker who was raised in a non-religious home, discovered a supportive community and sense of belonging in the Lubovitch community. There, she established a new network of friends and met her husband. Myriam, also raised in a secular home, was seduced by the security and romance of Orthodox religious observance. However, once Myriam began to explore her identity as a lesbian, she faced rejection and scorn and left Orthodoxy to become a rabbi. The filmmaker juxtaposes the lives of these two women with her own and questions the relevance of seemingly archaic laws. She struggles with her own identity as a Jewish woman in the conflict between assimilation and tradition.

Director, Producer, Writer, Marcia Jarmel most recent project is The F Word: A Short Video about Feminism, screened at AFI Video Fest, ImageFest, and on San Francisco public television's "Living Room Festival." Marcia was co-editor and associate producer of the Academy Award nominee For Better Or For Worse, assistant producer of the multi-award-winning Berkeley in the Sixties, and researcher/assistant producer on the Sundance-winner Freedom On My Mind. She holds a M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication and a B.A. in Philosophy, both from the University of Colorado. Marcia Jarmel grew up as a secular Jew. Drawn to learning about Orthodox life after attending a former feminist friend's wedding, her experience changed her sense of identity. She is the mother of a year-old son, Mica, who spent his first year in the editing room, setting the schedule and nursing during the writing of narration.