An Unorthodox Education is a 40-minute documentary that exposes a shocking truth -- tens of thousands of Jewish schoolchildren graduate from ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn yeshiva high schools without the legally-mandated education they need to become independent adults. Some are never even taught how to read, write, or speak English.
DIRECTOR + PRODUCER
JOE KOLMAN
PRODUCER
ELANA SIGALL
CINEMATOGRAPHER
ANNA ANDERSEN
EDITOR
GEORGE ITZHAK
CINEMATOGRAPHER
KALEN CHENG
ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHER
GIL FERMON
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
YEHUDIS MOSKOVITS
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
JUDY TASHBOOK SAFERN
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
MAX DIAMOND
ADVANCE PRAISE
An Unorthodox Education is a powerful indictment of the failures of the educational system within the ultra-Orthodox (Hareidi) communities of New York State. More than that, it documents in painful detail the human costs of these failures. This film is a must-see for anyone interested in education rights, religious freedom, and the intersection of those values in a system seemingly unwilling to enforce minimum standards that would insure that all children growing up within these communities are equipped to face life’s basic demands.
JEFFREY S. SHOULSON, Ph.D.
Professor of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages and Professor of Judaic Studies
University of Connecticut
