Private Project

Girls in Trouble: The Series - Episode 2 "Esther"

"Girls in Trouble: The Series" is an indie web episodic created by two Portland-based Alicia’s, musician/writer Alicia Jo Rabins and filmmaker Alicia J. Rose, and produced by Lara Cuddy. After their successful collaboration on award-winning feature film “A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff,” this three-woman filmmaking team now brings their focus to stories of Biblical women, expanding Rabins' acclaimed song cycle into a series of snappy storytelling episodes. In each episode, Rabins takes the viewer on a journey into a Biblical woman's story through a feminist diasporic lens; visits scholars, artists and culture-bearers to learn about their work and hear their take on the story; and celebrates the resilience and strength of these ancient characters.

Episode 2 “Esther” features a deep dive into Queen Esther, who rises from rags to riches and risks her life to save her people. This episode includes interviews with chef Sonya Sanford and soferet (Hebrew scribe) Julie Seltzer; conversations about hamentashen, vulnerability, Esther as a scribe, and the difficulty of Jewish life in the former Soviet Union; a live performance of Rabins’ new ballad about Esther with piano, accordion and violin; and original animation from Lettie Jane Rennekamp.

Created by Alicia Jo Rabins & Alicia J. Rose
Directed, edited & filmed by Alicia J. Rose
Written by and hosted by Alicia Jo Rabins
Produced by Lara Cuddy
Music by Alicia Jo Rabins
Additional musicians: Eric Stern, accordion; Michelle Alany, violin
Animation & Illustration by Lettie Jane Rennekamp
Design & motion graphics by Lara Cuddy
Additional writing by Alicia J. Rose
Additional camera by Bela Balogh, Seani Galloway, Jodi Darby
East Coast Transportation: Michael Bull
Live Mix by Justin Phelps ‪@TheHallowedHalls‬
Sound mix by Corey Crawford
Color by Katy Gilmore
Featuring Sonya Sanford and Julie Selzer

Created with generous support from The Covenant Foundation, Peleh Fund and RACC Fund.

More info:

http://www.girlsintroublemusic.com

  • Alicia J Rose
    Director
    A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff, The Benefits of Gusbandry
  • Alicia Jo Rabins
    Writer
    A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff
  • Lara Elyse Cuddy
    Producer
    A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff, Lorelei, Badland, The Mortuary Collection
  • Alicia Jo Rabins
    Producer
    A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff
  • Alicia Jo Rabins
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
    A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Short, Television, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Documentary, web series, adventure, travel, Jewish, Jewish Art, female filmmakers, female director, indie episodic, Jewish Documentary
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 58 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 12, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Winter Film Festival
    New York, New York
    United States
    February 20, 2025
    New York Premiere
    Nominated "Best Web Series"
Director Biography - Alicia J Rose

Filmmaker Alicia J. Rose has directed over 3 dozen music videos for artists like First Aid Kit, Cake and Bob Mould as well as visually branding popular bands like The Decemberists and many others with her imaginative portraiture. In 2009 she founded her own production company and started creating a growing amount of striking commercial and creative work. Her approach to directing utilizes her unique sense of visual style, grounded humor and snappy storytelling to deliver authentic narratives that resonate deeply with viewers.

Scripted comedic web series “The Benefits of Gusbandry” was her first foray into digital episodic storytelling and over its two seasons received wide acclaim from press outlets like The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, A/V Club, PASTE, OUT and others. Her feature directorial debut - hybrid narrative/musical "A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff" was an official selection at the New York Jewish Film Festival, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Europe's Black Nights of Film and won both the Narrative Audience Award at the 2021 Ashland Independent Film Festival and the Best New Directors Award at the 2021 Port Townsend Film Festival. She is currently directing/editing "Girls in Trouble TV" a new episodic project in collaboration with "Kaddish" star Alicia Jo Rabins.

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Director Statement

This series is a challenging delight to make. Acting as primary DP/Cinematographer as well as director/editor with a tiny 3 person crew made up of me and our host and producer, we traversed both the East and West Coast in pursuit of interviews with exciting Jewish feminist voices like groundbreaking soferet (female Torah scribe) Julie Seltzer, chef & cookbook author Sonya Sanford, Black rabbi/artist/organizer Rabbi Kendell Pinkney, pioneering klezmer fiddler Alicia Svigals, and queer radical Jewish herbalist Dori Midnight. It was an interesting challenge to create a consistent format for the show, then use it to dig deep into episode doc-style storytelling. To complement our efforts we got to work with an incredible animation team and sound mixer and colorist. But mostly it was just the 3 of us, showing up, showing out, having deep conversations with super compelling artists and activists and working hard to make something thoughtful and different to share with the world.