Experiencing Interruptions?

Unorthodox

An orthodox Jewish teenager is struggling to find his path between his family's culture and the temptations of the outside world by deciding to abandon his family for a world of underground music and a secular girl he falls for, but things do not turn out like he expected.

  • Tomer Preis
    Director
  • Tomer Preis
    Writer
  • Kseniya Yorsh
    Producer
    Mask-Up, What's Next?, Love In Porn
  • Evan Weinkle
    Key Cast
  • Joe Karam
    Key Cast
  • Rachel Scorpio
    Key Cast
  • Victoria Lee Brown
    Key Cast
  • Tim Peck
    Key Cast
  • Rosalie Roder
    Key Cast
  • Philip Sokoloff
    Key Cast
  • Robin Roth
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 17, 2015
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • HollyShorts Monthly Screening Series
    Hollywood
    United States
    March 31, 2016
Director Biography - Tomer Preis

I am a New York Film Academy Graduate and an aspiring filmmaker. Making short films with friends since elementary school, I considered myself an aspiring storyteller. I was raised in a European family with an American education within Israeli culture in Israel.

Growing up and at 18 serving in the Israel Defense Forces I realized I wanted to make films and explore the unique cultural prospective that I was a part of. I wanted to express myself and bring issues of my culture to light through film.

I have experience working in Documentary film production, TV on set work, editing, and cinematography work.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Unorthodox involves a cultural rift that I am part of in my country between seculars and orthodox Jews. Furthermore many young men and woman in Israel abandon their orthodox life only to end up with uncertainty and no tools to deal with their new secular lifestyle.

The aspects of maturity and self-truth were the main reasons I came up with this story. I mirror my view of Aaron Schwartz, a young man portrayed through soul searching, wondering what it would be to escape the norms of society. I wanted to show how a man can go against himself, his society and family, dealing with the big bad world, a new world that is unknown to him just so he could be true to himself and live as he wants.

The film involves aspects of the Jewish culture and my heritage. I explored the life of an orthodox Jew and what would drive and motivate someone to abandon their family, culture, and turn their life upside down in order to have a better new life.

The aesthetic nature of the film relates to ancient culture, wooden and dark tones, and the tribal xenophobic nature of a tight family cell. I showed the inner world of the orthodox branch of Judaism and explored the life of a young man who thinks of everything else but god.

I made this film because it depicts a part of the culture I wish to further understand and to explore the psychological basis for my inner desires and previous decisions in life. The story is partly about my self-indulgence and self-exploration but has separate values as a contemporary cultural piece.