Director Robin Garbose is planning protest screenings of her film “A Light for Greytowers” at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Israel on December 13 and 15, coinciding with the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival, which refused to screen the movie for women-only audiences.
Organizers of the weeklong festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque originally accepted the film based on its artistic quality, but insisted on maintaining the usual policy of inviting the general public.
“Greytowers” is a musical set in 19th century Victorian England, featuring young Orthodox actresses as orphans forbidden to practice Judaism under the menacing rule of the orphanage headmistress, Miss Grimshaw.
Garbose, a theater and television director who became Orthodox 18 years ago, created the movie under rabbinic supervision. Consistent with Kol Isha laws in Orthodoxy that do not permit women to sing or dance in front of men, the film has screened exclusively for girls and women over the past year in New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles.
