Divan

To reclaim an ancestral couch upon which Hasidic rebbes slept, Pearl Gluck travels from her Hasidic community in Brooklyn to her roots in Hungary. Along the way, she wrestles with the faith of her forebearers, their heartbreaking fate and extraordinary resilience, and finally, what it means to claim both one's tradition and one's independence.

Completed:

2004

Running Time:

77 minutes

Writer:

Susan Korda

Editor:

Zelda Greenstein

Director of Photography:

William Tyler Smith

Music:

Frank London

Producer/Director: Pearl Gluck

Click to view trailer

"Charming! At once precocious autobiography, vivid travelogue, and sly wonder-tale. Warmhearted but unsentimental, touching but not mawkish, clever but never cute."
- J. Hoberman, Village Voice

"At once witty and profound, Divan documents a series of quests - for a special sofa, for remnants of a Jewish life in post-Holocaust Hungary, for a way to reconcile one's life choices with parental expectations... the longest journey of all turns out to be the one from Brooklyn to Manhattan."
- Dr. Barbara Kirshenblatt Gimblett, New York University

"A playful journey... both deeply committed and slyly ironic, Divan offers a glimpse into the richness of Yiddish folklore."
- Variety

"Divan takes on a powerful spiritual journey full of humor, enriched by quirky Jewish family and ancestors, studded with profound moments. Through the story of a fabled couch, Gluck explores feminism, Hasidism, the Holocaust, matchmaking, upholstery, and the meaning of Jewish identity. Divan's message is delivered with a post-modern lightness and love."
- Rabbi David Seidenberg, Jewish Theological Seminary

"A charming and astute first-person documentary."
- Mark Jenkins, Washington Post

Price: $29.99

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