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Logline

Much has been made about the Jewish tendency to obsess over everything – especially food. In this film, prominent Jews from around the world kvetch and kibbitz over whether a potato pancake or a triangular cookie is the more perfect Jewish delight, using a satirical debate to do it. With anti-semitism on the rise, this film makes us chuckle and reminds us of everything we love about being Jewish.

Synopsis

A love letter to Jewish culture, Latke Vs. Hamantash dives into a hilarious debate that’s been a tradition at the University of Chicago since 1946. We see the stuffy world of academia poke fun at itself as Nobel Prize winners, Treasury Secretaries, and other renowned geniuses use their intellectual prowess to debate which Jewish food is better, a potato pancake or a triangular cookie. Along with their witty mock arguments, we get delicious little side trips. We see the debate playing out in the culinary world with rising Jewish chefs advocating for the latke or hamantash in their kitchens as well as some Jewish foodie tips. Historians and young rabbis get into the act, too, with context about Jewish food, why Jews love to kvetch about every little thing, and how that is now woven into American culture.

Created in the wake of the Holocaust, the debate originally aimed to unite Jewish students and professors, and to bring a positive image of Jews to students flooding college campuses after WW2. Flash forward to October 7th and you can see why that goal is still relevant. Latke Vs. Hamantash noshes on it all in a way that leaves us smiling, buoyed by our shared history and hopeful that remaining connected can lead to a better future.

WHY THIS FILM

Right now, anti-semitism is on the rise and there’s a heaviness to being Jewish. So it is good to remind everyone – especially ourselves! – of what we love about Jewish culture. And how do we do it? Through humor and good-natured debate, of course. As only we can.

This film celebrates the joys and foibles of being Jewish in a way that is accessible and endearing. We follow a satirical Jewish debate at the University of Chicago that’s been held annually for 80 years. Its topic? Delightfully silly and quintessentially Jewish: debating which is better, the latke or the hamantash.

At first, you’ll think it’s a film about Jewish food. But by the end, you’ll realize it’s about more. It’s about our shared history and traditions going back thousands of years. It’s about the value of talking, laughing and staying connected in a world that is complex and often threatening. And that’s not just a Jewish thing, it’s a human thing.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Amy Krause – Director/Executive Producer
With over 20 years as an advertising producer, working with budgets ranging from huge to tiny, Amy Krause has acquired a formidable set of skills and connections. Of late, she’s turned her talents to directing and producing documentaries focusing on social change.

Her first short film, We’ve Been Sentenced, is about the impact of incarceration on families. Sensitively produced on a shoestring budget, it was a featured selection in several prestigious film festivals.

Now she’s using a lifetime of inside knowledge to direct a film celebrating Jewish culture in the face of rising antisemitism. Warm and witty like Amy herself, Latke Vs. Hamantash is a hilarious look at the Jewish tendency to obsess about everything, told through the lens of a famed scholarly satirical debate about Jewish food.

After successfully parenting two children, Amy currently resides in San Diego with her husband Paul and dog Farfel. She enjoys Pilates, passionately supports the arts, and cheerfully multitasks most days.

David Beerman – Editor/Post Production Producer
David Beerman is a Los Angeles based editor with over 15 years experience. Beginning his career in commercials, he later expanded into narrative filmmaking, working with other editors on films such as The Bronze which opened Sundance in 2015 and The Pirates of Somalia which premiered at Tribeca in 2017. David continued with the feature documentary, Day One, shown on PBS nationwide, and the forthcoming documentary feature Clean Wine. He began his television career editing numerous episodes of the docu-series The Chef Show directed by Jon Favreau on Netflix. David is working on The Curse of Oak Island, which is the highest rated show on the History Channel.
davidbeerman.com

Marilyn Zornado – Animator/Graphic Designer
Marilyn Zornado is a director, animator, motion graphics artist, and calligrapher. After a career as Senior Producer at Will Vinton Studios, she now works
full time as an artist and educator. She is currently in production with Academy Award-winning director Joan C. Gratz, working on special effects for an independent short film. Marilyn teaches motion graphics and animated arts classes at PNCA in the BFA program. She is a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences and ASIFA International.
zornadodesign.com

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.