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Logline

When a rebellious 12 year old from Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox community sneaks out to a punk show, he discovers a life altering family secret about his beloved older brother.

Synopsis

Sheigetz is a coming of age drama set in Brooklyn’s Hasidic community. At twelve years old, Yoni Hershkowitz lives under the shadow of his older brother Arieh, who passed away five years earlier. The only thing he has left is Arieh’s collection of punk music which he listens to obsessively. When a band from Arieh’s collection called Tzeitel’s Revenge plays in nearby Bushwick, Yoni’s determined to attend as a way to honor his brother’s memory.

At the chaotic venue known as the Wet Spot, Yoni meets a ragtag crew of punk misfits, feeling more at home than he ever did in Williamsburg. But what becomes the best night of his life turns into the worst when Yoni goes backstage and meets the band’s frontman: Lou Rollins, who is, unmistakably, Arieh. The shocking truth, that Arieh didn’t pass away but was excommunicated by his community, completely unravels Yoni and his world view. Yitzhak, Yoni’s father, crashes the show, setting off a public breakdown of long-buried family trauma.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Lu Robinson — Producer
Lu most recently produced the feature film Crumb Catcher, which premiered at Fantastic Fest and was bought for distribution by Music Box.

Alex Casimir — Producer
Alex Casimir’s last short Everything Goes Dark screened at Palm Springs, Atlanta Film Festival , and premiered online on Short Of The Week.

Gera Sandler — Actor/Yitzhak
Gera is a veteran of the Yiddish theater, and most notably starred in Netflix’s Unorthodox

Kevin Xian Ming Yu — Director of Photography
Kevin Xian Ming Yu is a filmmaker from Queens, NY. They are a 2024 Film at Lincoln Center Artist Academy Fellow and 2023-2024 UFO Film Lab filmmaker. They were also selected to be a part of the 2024 NewFest/Concord Originals Sound & Scene Cohort. Their latest short film, Yú Cì (Fish Bones) premiered at SXSW 2025.

Jaclyn Goldstein — Production Designer
Jaclyn Goldstein, whose most recent short UNHOLY premiered at Sundance, will be the Production Designer.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.