Author Archives: basiltsiokos

Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan for several screenings beginning tomorrow, Friday, January 3:
CITY OF JOEL

Director:
Jesse Sweet

World Premiere:
Hamptons 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Palm Springs, Jewish fests in San Francisco, Atlanta, Moscow, Rutgers, Boca Raton, Washington DC, and Phoenix

About:
An expansion plan by a Hasidic community leads to a turf war in a small New York town.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Located in the town of Monroe, NY, just over 50 miles north of New York City, the village of Kiryas Joel claims one of the fastest-growing Hasidic communities in the US. When the secular residents of the larger township – already wary of their insular neighbors – learn of Kiryas Joel’s desire to annex adjacent land to address its population growth, this sets off a turf war with political, economic, and religious implications, echoing the divide within our nation as a whole.