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Special Co-presentation with the Boston Jewish Film Festival
World Premiere! Filmmakers will attend in person.
Date: November 10, 2013
Time: 2:30PM
Location: Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Boston
Details: 89 min, USA / Israel, 2013
Filmmaker(s): Anna Wexler and Nadja Oertelt
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Synopsis:
UNORTHODOX is just that: an unprecedented look at the explorations of three American Modern Orthodox teenagers who spend a post-high school year studying in yeshiva in Israel. They couldn’t be more different — an intellectually gifted young woman questioning her commitment to Orthodox practice, a talented musician conflicted between his religion and his music, and a half-Dominican “bad boy” prepared to party. Filmmakers Nadja Oertelt, from a secular family, and Anna Wexler, raised in a Modern Orthodox family and whose story is part of the film, met as undergrads at MIT.
Anna Wexler is a is a science/travel writer and documentary filmmaker who is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at MIT in the STS (Science, Technology, and Society) Program, where she is studying the social, ethical and legal implications of neuroscience advances. She graduated from MIT in 2007 with two Bachelors’ of Science degrees, one in Brain and Cognitive Science and the other in Humanities and Science with a focus in Writing. Afterwards, she was selected as a 2007-2008 filmmaker-in-residence at WGBH for Unorthodox.
Nadja Oertelt is a scientist and filmmaker interested in the intersection of science and the arts. She is currently a HarvardX Fellow, producing and creating a multimedia, interactive, educational open-source documentary on topics within neuroscience. She graduated from MIT in 2007 with a BS in Neuroscience. She has studied visual arts, film, archaeology and anthropology, directed and produced short documentaries for Vice/VBS and published research as a neuroscientist at MIT and Harvard. She has conducted archaeological fieldwork in South Africa and investigated the evolution of primates while at UCL in London.
The DocYard is an award-winning film and discussion series at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, and which also sponsors special screenings and co-presentations throughout the year. Each screening is a new experience as we connect audiences directly with filmmakers exploring the documentary form through insightful post-screening discussions.
