Sukkah City

Synopsis:

When best-selling author Joshua Foer (Moonwalking With Einstein) began to build his first sukkah, a small hut that Jews build and dwell in every fall for the holiday of Sukkot, he wanted to move beyond the generic plywood boxes and canvas tents that have become the unimaginative status quo. He discovered that while the bible outlines the basic parameters for what a sukkah should look like and how it should function, it leaves plenty of room for variation and interpretation. Foer thought, what if contemporary architects and designers were challenged to design and construct twelve radical sukkahs? What would they come up with? And so was born the design competition and exhibition known as “Sukkah City.”

The film tracks the competition from jury day, as an all-star cast of architects, academics and critics (Thom Mayne, Paul Goldberger, Ron Arad) debate the merits of the 600 submissions; to the construction, installation and exhibition of the twelve winning structures in Union Square in the heart of New York City; and the critical and popular response of some of the 200,000 New Yorkers who attended the two-day exhibition.

The film explores the artistic process of architects, documents how an ancient building was reinvented for the 21st Century, and reveals how there is a good story behind all interesting architecture.

Short Synopsis:

SUKKAH CITY chronicles the architecture competition created by bestselling author Joshua Foer (Moonwalking With Einstein) and Roger Bennett (Reboot co-founder) that explored the creative potential of the ancient Jewish sukkah and created a temporary exhibition of 12 radically designed sukkahs in the heart of New York City.  The film goes behind the scenes of the jury day, the construction, and the exhibition to provide an entertaining and inspiring portrait of the project’s visionary architects, planners and structures and celebrates an exciting, singular moment in the American Jewish experience. 

Credits:

Director: Jason Hutt
Producer: Jason Hutt
Editor: Jason Hutt
Camera: Jason Hutt

Specifications:

Run Time – 67 Minutes
HD / 16 x 9 / Stereo

Director’s Bio:

Jason Hutt’s films are portraits of unique cultures and innovative individuals found within the contemporary Jewish landscape and beyond.  They have screened around the world and been broadcast on networks including PBS, BBC and YES Israel.

Hutt’s first feature length film BREEZEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA shows how service workers and a truck stop ministry in a tiny interstate crossroads have found a mission in providing for the social, spiritual and material needs of the truck drivers, travelers and homeless of the American road. BREEZEWOOD was broadcast by PBS affiliates in 2004, and the New York Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis called it “one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen.”

Hutt’s second film ORTHODOX STANCE follows Dmitriy Salita, a Russian immigrant, professional boxer and religious Jew, and the diverse characters (boxing trainers, promoters and rabbis) supporting his devotion to both Orthodox Judaism and the pursuit of a professional boxing title. The film premiered at the 2007 SILVERDOCS Festival and was broadcast by BBC Storyville in the UK, YES in Israel and MSG Network in New York.  It played theatrically in New York & Los Angeles, was a “Critic’s Pick” of the NEW YORK TIMES & NEW YORK MAGAZINE and won 2008 Best Documentary honors from the London Jewish Cultural Awards.

In addition to SUKKAH CITY, Hutt recently worked as a producer on Michael Kantor’s PBS Peabody Award-winning PBS documentary BROADWAY MUSICALS: A JEWISH LEGACY.

Hutt grew up in Maryland, graduated from Harvard College, and has lived in Brooklyn for the last 12 years.

Director’s Statement:

What I love about Judaism, and why I think it remains vibrant after thousands of years, is that it has the strength and flexibility for interpretation and re-interpretation.  From generation to generation, the tradition allows Jews to discover meanings for themselves through life experience and intellectual investigation and it resonates in different ways, at different times, for different people.

Joshua Foer realized that there was tremendous creative potential in the sukkah and believed that a competition and exhibition could breathe new life into the structure and spark renewed interest in the holiday and the meanings surrounding it.  And for me, the project promised to be an innovative and original undertaking and therefore an exciting documentary film.

In a sense, the film provides audiences with a more comprehensive understanding of Sukkah City than the exhibition did – the architects share the stories behind their designs; the audience sees how and why the winning structures were chosen; as well as the labor that went into their construction.

I greatly enjoyed making this film and my hope is that audiences will feel inspired, excited and energized by the creative process of the architects; the vision and ambition of the project’s planners, and the singularity of this moment in contemporary American Jewish life.

Press Coverage:

• The Atlantic – 7/11/13 – [link]
• Haaretz – 7/15/13 – [pdf]
• San Francisco Chronicle – 7/28/13 – [link]
• Jewish Voice NY – 8/28/13 – [link]
• The Jewish Star – 9/16/13 – [link]
• The Jewish Week – 9/17/13 – [link]
• Jewniverse – 9/18/13 – [link]
• Architizer – 9/18/13 – [link]
• Jewcy – 9/18/13 – [link]
• The Forward – 9/19/13 – [link]
• Algemeiner – 9/19/13 – [link]
• Metropolis – 9/20/13 – [link]

Past Screenings:

• Cherry Hill Volvo Jewish Film Festival / Cherry Hill, NJ  – March 31, 2016
• Albany JCC / Albany, NY  – January 17, 2016
• Temple Beth Hatfiloh / Olympia, WA  – October 11, 2015
• Temple Isaiah / Lafayette, CA – October 4, 2015
• Boston Society of Architects AIA / Boston, MA – October 2 @ 6 PM
• JCC of Mid-Westchester / Scarsdale, NY – October 1, 2015 @ 10:30 AM
• Congregation Beth Am / Los Altos, CA – September 26, 2015
• Temple Concord / Syracuse, NY – September 19, 2015
• University of New Mexico School of Architecture  – March 25, 2015
• Center for Contemporary Arts / Santa Fe, NM – November 9, 2014
• Harvard University Hillel / Cambridge, MA – October 14, 2014
• Garage Museum of Contemporary Art / Moscow, RUSSIA – October 13, 2014
• Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival / Minneapolis, MN – October 12, 2014
• Congregation Beth El / Yardley, PA – October 12, 2014
• University of Vermont Hillel / Burlington, VT – October 9, 2014
• Cleveland Jewish Film Festival, “Best of the Fest” Encore Screening / Cleveland, OH – September 28, 2014
• Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation  / Reston, VA – September 20, 2014
• Temple University Architecture Department / Philadelphia/PA – September 17, 2014
• North Shore Beth El Synagogue  / Chicago, IL – September 7, 2014
• University of California Berkeley – ARCH Lecture Series / Berkeley, CA – September 3, 2014
• Berkshires Jewish Film Festival / Lenox, MA – July 14, 2014
• American Institute of Architects – Brooklyn  / Brooklyn, NY – May 21, 2014
• Toronto Jewish Film Festival  /  Toronto, ONT – May 4 & 7, 2014
• Lenore Marwill Jewish Film Festival /  Detroit, MI – May 4, 2014
• Downing Film Center / Newburgh, NY – April 26 & 28, 2014
• Asheville Jewish Film Festival / Fine Arts Theater, Asheville, NC – April 10 & 11, 2014
• Sarasota Film Festival / Sarasota, FL – April 8 & 9, 2014
• Westchester Jewish Film Festival / Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville, NY – March 28 & April 9, 2014
• Jewish Film Festival Berlin & Potsdam / Kino Arsenal, Berlin, GERMANY – April 7, 2014
• Budapest Architecture Film Days / Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Center, Budapest, HUNGARY – March 8, 2014
• Washington Jewish Film Festival  / Washington, DC – March 6 & 9, 2014
• Cornell Cinema  / Ithaca, NY – March 2, 2014
• Seattle Jewish Film Festival  / Seattle, WA – March 2, 2014
• Boulder Jewish Film Festival / Boulder, CO – February 27, 2014
• Atlanta Jewish Film Festival / Atlanta, GA –  February 16 & 17, 2014
• Denver Jewish Film Festival / Denver, CO  –  February 16,  2014
• San Diego Jewish Film Festival / San Diego, CA – February 10 & 16, 2014
• Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival / Palm Beach, FL – January 20 & 21, 2014
• JIFF AUSTRALIA / Melbourne, VIC – November 17 & 21, 2013
• Calgary Jewish Film Festival / Calgary, AB – November 17, 2013
• Boston Jewish Film Festival / Boston, MA – November 13, 14 & 18, 2013
• Columbus Jewish Film Festival / Columbus, OH – November 10, 2013
• Vancouver Jewish Film Festival / Vancouver, BC – November 9, 2013
• JIFF AUSTRALIA / Sydney, NSW – November 7, 2013
• Rutgers Jewish Film Festival / North Brunswick, NJ – October 27, 2013
• Creative Soul Gallery / Brooklyn, NY – October 8, 2013
• Cleveland Jewish Film Festival / Cleveland, OH – October 4, 2013
• Contemporary Jewish Museum / San Francisco, CA – October 1, 2013
• JCC Manhattan / NYC – September 23 & 24, 2013
• Sukkot at the Ranch / San Diego, CA – September, 22, 2013
• Barshop JCC / San Antonio, TX – September 22, 2013
• Union Square Park / NYC – September 22, 2013
• San Francisco Jewish Film Festival – July 30 – August 5, 2013
• Jerusalem International Film Festival – July 8 & 9, 2013

Photos:

The following photos are available as high resolution, print-quality JPGs.

NOTE: To download any of the photos, RIGHT-CLICK (PC) or CONTROL-CLICK (MAC) the links below and save the file to your computer.

Sukkah City Poster
> hi res color JPG (8.6″ x 5.7″ @ 300dpi) [6 MB]

Fractured Bubble Weaving Interior (Christopher Farber)
> hi res color JPG (14.5″ x 9.7″ @ 300dpi) [6 MB]

Fractured Bubble Installation 2 (Christopher Farber)
> hi res color JPG (14.5″ x 9.7″ @ 300dpi) [5 MB]

Jury Day 1 – Ron Arad, Josh Foer, Thom Mayne (Oxbow Lake Films)
> hi res color JPG (5.6″ x 3.25″ @ 300dpi) [800 KB]

Sukkah City – The Gathering (Michael Surtees)
> hi res color JPG (3.4″ x 2.4″ @ 300dpi) [700K KB]

LOG (Christopher Farber)
> hi res color JPG (14.5″ x 9.7″ @ 300dpi) [5 MB]

Jason Hutt Press Photo
> hi res color JPG (5″ x 7″ @ 300dpi) [2 MB]