{"id":171883,"date":"2026-02-12T15:35:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=171883"},"modified":"2026-02-13T09:53:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:53:31","slug":"filmmakers-visit-creates-a-full-circle-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/12\/filmmakers-visit-creates-a-full-circle-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Filmmaker\u2019s visit creates a full circle moment\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

L’dor v’dor<\/em> in Hebrew or \u201cfrom generation to generation\u201d in English refers to the responsibility of passing down history and values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what happened when Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Stephanie Pridgeon brought award-winning director Sandi DuBowski to Bates to screen his critically acclaimed 2024 documentary Sabbath Queen<\/em> and meet with students in several classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pridgeon\u2019s research and teaching expertise are on Jewish and Latin American film, where she often focuses on issues of gender and sexuality. When she was a freshman in college, 22 years ago, she saw Trembling Before G-d<\/em>, DuBowski\u2019s 2001 groundbreaking documentary about gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews trying to reconcile their religion and sexual identities and was fascinated by it. That film, Pridgeon says, \u201cstuck with me all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Professor
Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Stephanie Pridgeon and filmmaker Sandi DuBowski speaking to members of the Bates community after a Feb. 4, 2026 screening of his film Sabbath Queen<\/em> in the Keck Classroom of Pettengill Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/em>)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When she saw Sabbath Queen<\/em> last year she realized it was thematically something of a follow up to Trembling Before G-d<\/em>. When DuBowski visited Maine to screen the film at SPACE Gallery in Portland last May, Pridgeon had an opportunity to be his interviewer for a Q&A with the audience. That’s when she got the idea to invite DuBowski to Bates, to give her students a chance to see his work and discuss it with him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The feature documentary was filmed over 21 years. It follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie on an epic journey. He\u2019s the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis. Two of his relatives, a first cousin and an uncle, were elected Chief Rabbis of Israel and served lengthy terms in these powerful positions. Arguably, his destiny was linked to the traditional, and as the film shows, he was torn between embracing that destiny and rejecting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Filmmaker
Ellie Millard \u201926 of Harrison, N.Y., a double major in environmental studies and Hispanic studies, poses a question to filmmaker DuBowski during his on-campus visit. Millard is taking Pridgeon\u2019s Jewish Latin American film class. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over those 21 years of being filmed by DuBowski , Lau-Lavie becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab\/Shul\u2014an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. The New York Times<\/em> reviewer called Sabbath Queen<\/em> a \u201cfascinating look at the act of questioning yourself and your family, your surroundings and your decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Filmmaker
A moment from the Bates screening of Sabbath Queen, director Sandi DuBowski\u2019s documentary about Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie. The film was shot over 21 years and follows Lau-Lavie\u2019s break with religious tradition. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DuBowski\u2019s work struck a chord with Pridgeon\u2019s student, Ellie Millard \u201926 of Harrison, N.Y., a double major in environmental studies and Hispanic studies who is taking Pridgeon\u2019s Jewish Latin American film class. \u201cThe film is incredibly interesting,\u201d Millard says. \u201cBecause it is the first time that I am seeing anyone from an Orthodox Jewish background coming out and being openly vulnerable about their sexuality and gender expression in media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millard credits Pridgeon with \u201callowing students to experience a diverse range of media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Filmmaker
Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Stephanie Pridgeon leading a post-film discussion with Sabbath Queen <\/em>director Sandi DuBowski. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The gratitude goes both ways. \u201cBeing able to bring Sabbath Queen<\/em> to campus and discuss it and Sandi\u2019s other films with my students has been really just a huge privilege for me,\u201d Pridgeon says. \u201cIt felt like a really beautiful kind of full-circle moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generation to generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DuBowski\u2019s visit was co-sponsored by the Office of Equity and Inclusion, Hispanic studies, religious studies, SPARQ, Multifaith Chaplaincy, gender and sexuality studies, humanities division, and interdisciplinary studies division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When she was a college student, Stephanie Pridgeon fell hard for a documentary by award-winning director Sandi DuBowski. In this full circle moment, she introduced her students to DuBowski’s work through his latest acclaimed film. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":171888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12441,12439,12440,11434],"class_list":["post-171883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews","tag-bates-college","tag-sabbath-queen","tag-sandi-dubowski","tag-stephanie-pridgeon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171883"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172011,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171883\/revisions\/172011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}