Trembling Before G-d started as a video diary—an exploration of whether there is homosexuality in the Jewish Orthodox world. But over the six years making it, it became something much larger, more global and complex than I ever imagined. Having grown up a Conservative Jew and having never known anyone Orthodox and gay, I started to meet people who were kicked out of their Orthodox families, thrown out of yeshivas or religious schools, and in marriages where they were betraying their husband or wife.

The project grew to embrace the responsibility and accountability necessary to do justice to the people, to the issue, and to the community I was representing. I spent thousands of hours being filmmaker, peer counselor, rabbi referral service, friend, fundraiser. . . . I introduced Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, to his partner of three years now. At the outset, I never anticipated how much my life would transform, how I would make a film that would, in turn, make me. I became more religious through doing the film.

Do you see the film as "straight documentary" or more as outreach/activism?

Media puts a human face on what is often an abstract issue—in this case the Biblical prohibition in Leviticus, cited by many rabbis and preachers, against homosexuality. They regard it as black and white, an open and shut case. The human beings who struggle with these verses every day are never heard, and the complexity of their faithful lives are never seen. The film, for me, is a witness and a catalyst for social change, and this is inseparable. All of our events and dialogues and discussions geometrically expand the experience of the film for audiences who walk away with an emotionally intense experience, no easy answers, and many tough questions. It can open dialogue between groups that rarely speak. That is the joy of theatrical distribution over television—the sense of live presence, as opposed to sitting safely in one’s own world with the fridge and the remote.

Documentary is the stepchild of the film industry, and you are fighting for screen time against companies with far larger ad budgets. Once in theaters, a documentary needs to perform fast and strong or else it will be yanked or have fewer shows. Trembling played New York City for an amazing four months because of our outreach. We created special nights, from Catholic-Jewish gay dialogues (with local churches), to a human rights forum (with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch), to a night with seven Orthodox synagogues (the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers generously hosted dialogues, and we found other spaces near the theater). This built a large following, and we kept finding new audiences through reaching out to different communities.

What has it been like traveling with the film?

It really is a blessing and a pleasure to be able to engage with audiences for whom Trembling can function as a lifeline to their own struggles—whether that means being childless in a community that values procreation, escaping from a fundamentalist community of any stripe, or just feeling like an outsider. And it is amazing to watch lives change and communities transform before your eyes. Rabbi Greenberg and I traveled to England recently for the Limmud conference, which brought 2,000 British Jews to Nottingham University, near Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest. They were very reluctant to screen Trembling because of community conservatism, but the film took off like a fireball, to the point that we had to turn hundreds of people away and schedule additional screenings. At one showing, a woman stood up and said she had stepped into a mikve, a ritual bath, three weeks earlier to cure herself of her homosexuality. Her parents had thrown her into a mental asylum because she was a lesbian. Now, after seeing the film, she was going to re-enter that mikve in order to accept her homosexuality.

I am getting revved-up now for the tour of Christian theological seminaries in the American South that we are launching with Working Films. Myself and Rabbi Greenberg, who has come on board as our Director of Education, will go to Duke Divinity School, as well as Pat Robertson’s, Jerry Falwell’s, and Bob Jones’ universities. I want to take the film to the religious places that are hardest to reach.

How did the idea of doing discussion groups come about?

At our world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, I linked up with my friends at Working Films. We decided to hold an unprecedented Mormon-Jewish gay dialogue. I think most filmmakers approach the festival and theatrical space without any of the creativity that these spaces can embody. Most come to a festival like Sundance with their cell phone ready, hoping to make a deal. They forget that Sundance is even in Utah, and what that could potentially mean. We had an incredible level of attention at the festival—especially for a documentary. The ground paved in Sundance meant that in San Francisco we received a grant from The Walter and Elise Haas Foundation to launch and fund dialogues and outreach during the theatrical release there.

What are some common criticisms/complaints/concerns? How do you deal with these?

The Agudas Israel—the main ultra-Orthodox organization in the US—released a critique called "Dissembling Before G-d." Cute wordplay, at least, but it has now been published in a number of Jewish newspapers. It basically criticizes the film for not treating homosexuality as a mental illness that can be cured. They ask: "Where are the stories of those who have fought their homosexuality and won, who are now straight, married, and happy?" I always ask these detractors: "Are you prepared to allow your daughters to be in relationships with gay men who claimed they have changed?" It is the best conversation stopper. Most say no. They are happy to promote conversion therapies as cure-alls, but are not prepared to test the results on their own families.

Have you taken the film to the Orthodox community? What has that reaction been like?

With the film, I began what I am calling the Outreach TV project. Many Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jews do not watch television or go to movie theaters. So I began a project that brings the film—and televisions—to religious homes. Our first screening in Brooklyn was for 40 Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jews at the home of a teacher I had come to know. People packed in after Shabbat to watch a computer monitor in a small room lined with shelves of religious tomes, and then argued until 2:30 A.M. about the issues. The evening led to invitations to show the film in three more very religious homes in Borough Park and Flatbush, Brooklyn. We also began screening the film in Orthodox synagogues; we are currently up to 12 invitations, which is mind-blowing. And 16 Orthodox synagogues have sent their members and co-sponsored post-screening discussions. At our first—which was at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, in the Bronx—we had a panel discussion following the film, yet Rabbi Greenberg was not allowed to sit on it. Since then, we have wrestled with trying to assure Orthodox synagogues about showing the film, while ensuring that a context is set up so that the voices that need to be heard are not silenced.

Do you foresee taking the film to schools?

We just did our first-ever screening at a Hebrew Day School, Akiba Hebrew Academy, in Philadelphia. The Orthodox principal, Rabbi Field, came to our theatrical launch on opening night, and immediately said: "I want this to screen for all my 11th and 12th graders." No parent—and this includes many Orthodox parents—pulled her or his child out. Rabbi Field is incredibly passionate about Trembling and wants to bring together students and faculty to design curriculum and study guides with the film.

As we tour different cities, we are doing public speaking in high schools; for instance, we just spoke about the film and its issues to hundreds of students at Milliken Academy and Beverly Hills High School in Los Angeles, and look forward to many more appearances.

Visit www.tremblingbeforeg-d.com for more information or email info@tremblingbeforeg-d.com. To book screenings, contact New Yorker Films at (212) 247-6110. For speaking engagements, email Sandi Dubowski at the above address.