''Jewboy'' is a 2005 Australian film directed by Tony Krawitz. The film stars

Ewen Leslie Ewen Leslie (born 27 July 1980) is an Australian stage, film and television actor. Career Theatre His first work on Sydney stages was performing at the Old Fitzroy Hotel theatre in Woolloomooloo. In 2007 he was cast by Philip Seymour Hoffma ...

Chris Haywood Chris Haywood (born ) is an English-born Australian actor, writer and producer, with close to 500 screen performances to his name. Haywood has also worked as a casting director, art director, sound recordist, camera operator, gaffer, grip, l ...

Saskia Burmeister Saskia Burmeister (born 12 February 1985) is an Australian actress. She is most known for her roles in '' Hating Alison Ashley'' and '' Sea Patrol''. Early and personal life Born in New South Wales, Burmeister grew up in Bellingen on the Mid- ...

, and

Nicholas Eadie Nicholas Eadie (born 1958) is an Australian television, film and theatre actor. Biography Born in Sydney, New South Wales to actor and Australian Broadcasting Commission radio announcer Mervyn Eadie, he attended Waverley College from 1968 to 19 ...

. It won the 2005 Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Short Fiction Film, Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay in a Short.

Plot

The film tells of a young

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...

ish man's struggle after the death of his father. The young man returns from

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to find that he would prefer to leave Orthodoxy, and departs from his remaining family to become a taxi driver. He gradually assimilates into secular life, soon finding himself tempted to fornicate. The film appears to mimic the Parable of the Prodigal Son, with the main character appearing to reconsider Orthodox life at the end of the film by reuniting with his family.

Release

The film showed in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

at the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival started on 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on 21 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Belgian film '' L'Enfant'' by Dardenne brothers. ...

, as well as in official selection in the

2006 Sundance Film Festival The 2006 Sundance Film Festival was held in Utah from January 19, to January 29, 2006. It was held in Park City, with screenings in Salt Lake City; Ogden; and the Sundance Resort. It was the 22nd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival, and the ...

. After the presentation, Tony Krawitz, the Jewish director, and Ewen Leslie (who is not Jewish) responded to various questions, claiming that the title was not meant to be offensive, and the film had been prescreened by a Jewish audience to positive reviews.

Cast

– Yuri *

Naomi Wilson Naomi Kate Wynn Wilson (born 27 January 1940) is a former teacher and Tanzanian-born Australian politician, who was a National Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1995 to 1998, as which she represented the district o ...

– Minnie *

– Rivka * Leah Vandenberg – Sarita *

– Isaac *

– Sam * Nathan Besser – Alon *

Alice McConnell Alice McConnell is an Australian actress. For her performance in ''The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant'' she was nominated for the 2005 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama. McConnell ...

– Cheryl * Nicholas Calafato – Jew Boy *

Kelly Butler Kelly Don Butler (born July 24, 1982) is a former professional gridiron football offensive lineman. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue. Butler was a member of th ...

– Woman in Taxi * Alan Flower – STA Passenger * Richard Green – Gary *

Jake Stone Jake Stone is the name of: *Jake Stone (singer) Bluejuice was an Australian band based in Sydney, active between 2000 and 2014. The group's final line-up consisted of lead vocalist Jake Stone, backing vocalist Stavros Yiannoukas, bassist Jami ...

– Yossi *

Sky Tse The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

– Chinese Man *

Adam Rosenberg Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

– Dovid * Shivani Dewan – Nina

Box office

''Jewboy'' grossed $19,118 at the box office in Australia.''Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''

References

External links

*
Jewboy at the National Film and Sound Archive

official website
2005 films Australian drama short films 2005 drama films Films about Jews and Judaism Films produced by Liz Watts 2000s English-language films 2000s Australian films {{short-drama-film-stub