SHABBAT DINNER

A short film about coming out

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Festival awards:

WORLD PREMIERE
GOLDEN FIREBIRD AWARD

(nom)
Hong Kong IFF
AUDIENCE CHOICE
ZERO Film Festival NY
CRYSTAL CACTUS
BEST GAY FILM

Out in the Desert
AUDIENCE CHOICE
Barcelona International
Gay & Lesbian
AUDIENCE CHOICE
SECOND PLACE

Miami Gay & Lesbian
BEST COMEDY
Amsterdam
Gay & Lesbian FF
Frameline36
NewFest NYC
Inside Out
Chicago Int'l
Social Change FF
Q! Film Fest
Indonesia
Brown University NYC
Filmmakers Showcase
ZERO Film Festival
Los Angeles
Kashish Mumbai
Bangalore Queer
Boston LGBT FF
Rhode Island
International FF
Torino GLBT FF
Julien
Dubuque IFF
New York
GLBT Expo
ImageOut
Rochester
Outfest Peru
Vinokino
Austin
Gay & Lesbian
DC Shorts
Image+Nation
Montreal
ReelOut Ontario
Seattle
Lesbian & Gay FF
Portland
Lesbian & Gay FF
Chennai
Rainbow FF
Sacramento
International
Gay & Lesbian
Mt. Hood
Independent FF
West Chester FF
Asheville QFest
Tampa Int'l
Gay & Lesbian FF
Philadelphia
QFest
Utah Arts Festival
OutRageous
Santa Barbara
Bloomington
Pride
Tacoma
Film Festival
Annapolis
Film Festival
TBGALA
Fall Event
NewFilmmakers
Los Angeles
Crown Heights FF
Washington
Jewish
Out On Film
in Atlanta
Pink Apple FF
Zurich & Frauenfeld
Fresno
Reel Pride
Southwest
Gay & Lesbian FF
Queer Film Festival
MEZIPATRA
CMG Short FF
Charm City
Baltimore
Pride FF
Brazos
Freiburg Gay
Germany
UK Jewish
Film Festival

About the film

Shabbat Dinner was shot with a small crew in a friend's apartment, as part of an application to film school. It wasn't ever meant to be a bigger film, but once we started submitting it to film festivals, the response was overwhelming.

It premiered at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and what followed was a whirlwind tour of over 50 film festivals. The film screened twice to a standing ovation at the San Francisco Castro theater. In Indonesia, where LGBT people are labeled mentally disabled, it was snuck in to an audience with no access to this type of media.

Perhaps it is because of Shabbat Dinner's tension and true-to-life depiction of the feelings of growing up, or the tensions between parents and children, or perhaps it is the wonderful performances that have made this film an audience favorite far beyond the narrow groups of LGBT people, Jews, or New Yorkers.

We like to think that more than any of the above, it's a film about growing up.

About the director

Michael Morgenstern is a filmmaker based in New York City and occasionally Los Angeles. He has been making films since the age of 12.

Michael's films include Lily in the Grinder, an upcoming short about existence and time, Castle on High, a mini-feature documentary about a university election described by IvyGate Blog as "nothing short of a miracle." He has directed numerous music videos. With the nonprofit FilmAid, Michael created films and taught production in the Kenyan refugee camps and screened the national presidential debates to refugees in Haiti. He also directed "Projecting Hope," a commercial for the organization voiced by Linus Roache.

He is the organizer of the first inaugural Nametag Day, a New York City-wide event where volunteers will encouraged thousands of New Yorkers to wear a nametag, to create a friendlier and more open city. The project was featured in Gothamist, the New York Times, and TIME Magazine.

Michael is a graduate of Brown University. He is writing two features and a webseries and hopes to direct one of them soon.

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Shabbat Dinner