Jason Schwartzman stars as a cantor who encounters an adult Bat Mitzvah student, played by veteran actress Carol Kane, in an upcoming comedy film.
“Between the Temples,” a self-described “curious comedy,” has already completed shooting, Variety reported on Wednesday, but no release date was given. The film was written and directed by Jewish filmmaker Nathan Silver, whose previous films include the well-received indie comedy “Thrust Street” and “The Great Pretender”.
“This is the story of a cantor locked in a crisis of faith and finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher re-enters his life as his new adult bat mitzvah student,” Variety told.
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The news comes two weeks after Netflix announced that another Jewish actor, Adam Brody, will play a “charming rabbi” in the comedy series co-starring Kristen Bell. Netflix Also Launched Its “Jewish Matchmaking” Dating series to praise earlier this month.
Schwartzman – the son of Jewish filmmaker Jack Schwartzman and actress Talia Shire and nephew of famed director Francis Ford Coppola – is best known as a recurring face in Wes Anderson films and other indie films and shows. He has previously played Jewish characters, including a character inspired by Philip Roth in the 2014 comedy-drama “Listen Up Philip”.
Kane, who is also Jewish, has had a long career on stage and screen, dating from 1975’s “Hester Street” about Jewish immigrants to New York City’s Lower East Side—for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. “Hunters,” an Amazon series about post-war Nazi hunters that debuted in 2020.
Other “Among the Temples” cast members include Jewish actress Carolyn Aaron, who plays the protagonist’s mother-in-law. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, Jewish East “Saturday night Live” writer and Adam Sandler collaborator Robert Smigel; and Dolly de Leon, who is receiving late-career acclaim for her recent performance in the Oscar-nominated film “Triangle of Sadness.”
Variety said the film is produced and financed by Le Line Entertainment, which co-produced this year’s Oscar winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and a handful of other acclaimed indie films since its inception in 2018.