Make Me a Match

Description

Official Selection
Melbourne International Film Festival

Award of Distinction
The Videographers Awards

Synopsis

“Have I got a nice Jewish girl/boy for you!” has been a familiar rallying cry among the Jewish people for over 5000 years. How these matches are made today would startle Abraham and Sara — or would it? Filled with hope and humor, trials and tribulations, Allen Mondell and Cynthia Salzman Mondell’s entertaining documentary captures the passion of Jewish singles looking for a match in today’s America and the extent to which they will go to find a “catch.” From Morristown, New Jersey to Crown Heights, Brooklyn to Dallas, Texas to San Diego, California, MATCH introduces viewers to diverse styles of matchmaking. Witness a rabbi and rebbetzin’s probing questions as they interview prospective clients the “old style” (but with a lap top); sit-in on a round table session with 24-enthusiastic suburban matchmakers as they ponder the dating lives of their clients; see how singles are searching and finding their Jewish better halves over the Internet.

Directors

Allen Mondell has worked in films and television as a writer, producer and director for 30 years. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Baltimore in the mid-sixties and then went to work for Westinghouse Broadcasting in Baltimore (WJZ-TV) as a writer/director of documentary films. Allen spent five years at KERA-TV in Dallas as a writer, producer and director of documentaries and special programs. He taught in the Peace Corps in West Africa after graduating from Williams College with a B.A. in American History and Literature.

Cynthia Salzman Mondell is an independent filmmaker who is committed to making films and videos that she feels have something to say about the world she lives in. Her first documentary on housing and the lack of it , Promise and Practice aired on public television in l977. She then teamed up with Allen Mondell to form Media Projects, a non-profit production and distribution organization.

Together, Cynthia and Allen have been making award-winning docudramas and documentary films and videos for over twenty years. Their work explores a wide range of subjects but always with the goal of personalizing often complex social problems. They’ve looked at different cultures and issues using dramatic re-enactments, intimate character studies and archival footage. Many of their films have aired nationwide on public television, cable and at festivals worldwide.