Leaps of Faiths
Love tests faith. Faith tests love. Interfaith marriage - how does that work? What about the in-laws? How to raise the kids? For 30 years, Catholics and Jews in Chicago have found that the answers don't have to be so hard - boundaries can be crossed - divisions healed. And the kids? We follow five who grew up learning both Judaism and Catholicism from 8th grade through high school, college and beyond. Their families imagined possibilities - and discovered them.
LEAPS OF FAITHS is about interfaith (Jewish-Catholic) marriage, with implications for other kinds of intercultural families. In the film, love is tested by faith, and faith is tested by love. A Jew and a Catholic may have grown up looking at the other faith as ‘over there’ or ‘the other’ … but when they fall in love, that’s no longer possible. Now they’re family, and that’s when things get really interesting. 80% of Reform Jews who got married in the last 5 years intermarried, and a majority of American Jews today are partnered with someone of a different cultural or religious background. In a world that can seem increasingly polarized and tribal, interfaith families are crossing borders.
"The film is split into three main parts and is upfront about its outcomes, which is to explore how families make the choice about which religion to raise their children in and how their children look back at their lives as they’ve grown... Several different professionals in each faith are interviewed and provide different perspectives on the issues, as well as the children who grew up in interfaith families. Their interviews are the most impactful as they provide the most powerful insight into how this impacts families and that it is possible to raise children among two faiths... The concepts of the film can be taken across different cultures and types of interfaith marriages. I recommend this film for middle school, high school, and college audiences as well as school, public, and academic library collections."
- Lara Fountaine, NC State University Libraries, EMRO (Recommended)
Cast
- John Cusick
- Chava Bahle
- Tom Hurley
- Tracey Preminger
- "Though it focuses exclusively on Catholic-Jewish unions, it totes the universal message that religion need not divide people... What they are doing, basically and effectively, is giving us a series of love stories between men and women, parents and children, people and their God. It’s uplifting."
- "Several different professionals in each faith are interviewed and provide different perspectives on the issues, as well as the children who grew up in interfaith families. Their interviews are the most impactful as they provide the most powerful insight into how this impacts families and that it is possible to raise children among two faiths."
- "Wonderful! An enduring contribution to making this a better world."
- "Finally -- a film documenting the rich and complex experiences of interfaith couples and families celebrating both their religious traditions. No matter what you believe, Leaps of Faiths will surprise you, as you discover our new religious landscape. "
Gallery
Awards & Recognition
Chicago Jewish Film Festival
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