For those of you who would still dis’ and dismiss the connection between Jews and Rastafarians, a documentary by Jewish filmmaker Monica Haim is making the rounds at indie film festivals (some Jewish, some not) around the country. ‘Awake Zion” began as a formal study of the confluence of Hebraic and Rasta symbols, practices and beliefs, but the result turned out a little more irie than all that.
Says J. Weekly: “Opting for gentle irreverence rather than scholarly rigor, Awake Zion has a funky, homemade vibe. But the one-hour documentary turns out to be surprisingly ambitious, as the reggae-mad Haim shleps from Manhattan to Kingston to Tel Aviv. And in its determination to narrow the distance between blacks and Jews, the film has a social conscience that lifts it beyond the bounds of the typical music doc.”
With all the Jewish reggae links out there, why question your rasta roots? Come groove, mon.
“Awake Zion” screens at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 15, in the fourth annual DocFest, the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival.