Torah Treasures and Curious Trash

Description

Official Selection
Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival
Vancouver Jewish Film Festival
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

Synopsis

Jo Milgrom’s outsider art mixes Torah and trash. The 87 year old artist/feminist/Jewish thinker scavenges Jerusalem dumpsters for choice junk that she combines with worn out ritual objects rescued from synagogues and funeral homes. Armed with only a glue gun, she challenges the religious establishment by juxtaposing the sacred and the mundane in her assemblage. The film reveals Jo’s deep knowledge of Jewish tradition while celebrating her irreverent attitude. She brings the spirit of iconoclastic Berkeley, where she lived for decades, to the holy city of Jerusalem. This film is a rich visual portrait of Jo’s world: an overflowing treasure trove of antique typewriters, computer parts, broken glass and esoteric Judaica. This film will forever change the way you see a trash can.

Director

Paula Weiman-Kelman is an American-born Jerusalem-based documentary filmmaker and founding partner in Moving Portrait Productions and not-so-simple productions. She has directed, produced, and shot dozens of films ranging from intimate portraits of individuals to broad-ranging mosaics with ensemble casts intended to explore controversial issues in the contemporary Jewish world.

Torah Treasures and Curious Trash is Weiman-Kelman’s most recent work, the culmination of twenty years documenting Jo Milgrom’s outsider art.
Previous films directed, produced, and filmed by Weiman-Kelman include: Fringes: New Adventures in Jewish Living (Israel 2013), Eyes Wide Open (Israel 2008), Blessings (Israel 2002), Rites of Passage: The Spiritual Journey of Alice Shalvi (Israel 1999).