By Dikla Tuchman , Special to JTNews
Seattle filmmaker Lisa Cohen worked in technical post-production for 15 years before leaving her job to stay at home with her two young children. About two years ago, the idea for her first documentary film, B-Boy, came to her by happenstance, and the timing was right for Lisa to make her first film, which premieres on March 20 at the AJC Seattle Jewish Film Festival. The documentary looks at the story of a young Jewish teen, Eli, who must navigate two different communities: His Jewish community, in which he must prepare for his Bar Mitzvah; and the break-dancing community, in which Eli participates as one of the youngest members of an intensely competitive genre.
JTNews: The topic of your documentary is really unique and different. What prompted you to create a documentary on this particular subject?
Lisa Cohen: The subject of the film came to me through the character, Eli. Eli is the son of an old, old friend of mine. I was back east at a college reunion two years ago and I reconnected with Beth, Eli’s mom, and she started telling me about her kids and what they were doing. She told me about Eli and his breakdancing and I thought, wow, that’s interesting. I’d like to see that. So, I went out there to Connecticut to check it out, and it was interesting. I thought, this is an exciting juxtaposition of cultures that they’re exploring, this family. And that’s what precipitated my interest.
JT: How did you approach Eli and his family about doing the film from there?
LC: After the reunion, I came back to Seattle and kept in touch with Eli’s mom and talked about it. Could this be a film project? A documentary? His Bar Mitzvah was coming up in a year and I thought, “˜Wouldn’t it be kind of interesting to go out there and explore his processing his coming of age as a Bar Mitzvah. And while I’m out there, I’ll check out the breakdancing and see how he behaves in both worlds and see how he manages each in his life.” After a few months of discussing it, I decided I’d take a trip out there with my cameraperson and shoot some footage and see what it would turn into.
JT: What was your favorite part of making the film?
LC: I think my favorite part was getting to know the [breakdancing] group. I had no experience with the breakdancing scene before this, and it was interesting to see what a supportive environment it is. It was very similar to the environment of a synagogue, which was also very supportive of Eli with his Bar Mitzvah training. The most exciting part of making the film for me was to learn about the breakdancing culture and compare it to the Jewish culture that Eli was growing up in.
JT: What were some of the challenges you faced with making the film?
LC: The biggest challenge for me was that Eli is such a great kid and has so much support in every aspect of his life that there was no major conflict. A good film typically needs a strong conflict. But I decided to continue with the film even though there wasn’t a serious conflict because of Eli and who he is as a person, able to navigate two worlds and bring them together in such a graceful way.
JT: What is it about Jewish film that makes incorporating Jewish life into the subject of your movie so important?
LC: In my opinion, there isn’t only one way to have a Jewish life. I think it’s really important for us to explore the variety of ways in which people are living Jewish lives.
JT: Being that you’re located in Seattle but the film does not take place here, did you have to do a lot of traveling to make the movie?
LC: I made four trips to the East Coast; three trips to Connecticut and one to Atlanta over a two-year period. It was challenging, as I have two small children, but my husband’s really supportive and my trips weren’t too long.
JT: Where will you be taking your film next?
LC: I’ve been approached by a couple of festivals and I’m exploring other festivals to submit my film to. Right now on my list are: Jewish film festivals, dance film festivals, and children’s film festivals.
JT: Now that you’ve completed your first writing/directing project, are there any other projects on the horizon?
LC: Going through this experience and definitely sparked an interest for me in filmmaking on the creative end. I’ve got some ideas that I’m exploring right now and I think I’d like to make another short. We’ll see.