The Believer: Confronting Jewish Self-Hatred

by Henry Bean

Overview

The Believer relates the disturbing and provocative story of a Jewish skinhead from Brooklyn. Screenwriter Henry Bean (Internal Affairs, Deep Cover) was inspired by an actual case to write an original script exploring issues close to his own Orthodox Judaism -- and then to direct what became the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Everywhere The Believer has been shown it has provoked passionate debate about fundamental assumptions of faith, belief, and ethnic identity. The Believer: Confronting Jewish Self-Hatred is intended to provide a context for the discussion sparked by this controversial film. In addition to the script with an explanatory essay by the filmmaker, The Believer will include additional essays on related topics from such authorities as Cornell Professor Sander Gilman (Anti-Semitism in Times of Crisis), Northwestern Professor Lester Friedman (The Jewish Image in American Film), and Professor of the Talmud and Rabbinics at Jewish Theological Seminary David Kraemer. The Believer will feature the script of the award-winning film and also be punctuated by shorter "reactions" to the film and its topic solicited from pivotal opinion-makers. "Henry Bean is a big talent and The Believer is his most courageous and thought-provoking work yet!" -- Spike Lee

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560253723
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	02/25/2002
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Henry Bean is a successful screenwriter whose credits include such major motion pictures as Internal Affairs starring Richard Gere and Deep Cover starring Jeff Goldblum and Laurence Fishburne. Bean has also published a novel, False Match. He lives in New York City with his wife and children and is at work on his next film.

Editorial Reviews

In 1965, a young man named Daniel Burros was arrested at a Ku Klux Klan demonstration in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was a skinhead, a KKK Grand Dragon, a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party and a Jew. When the New York Times exposed his Jewish identity in a front-page article, Burros put a bullet through his head. His story has recently been made into a film called The Believer, which won the Grand Jury Prize at last year's Sundance Film Festival and has garnered much critical acclaim (although distributors have been shy of the film's controversial content). In The Believer: Confronting Jewish Self-Hatred, screenwriter Henry Bean presents the entire shooting script of the film, along with additional essays about the movie and its potential impact. This volume will make a fine companion when the film appears on Showtime this month and has its long-awaited theatrical release in May. (Mar.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly