Festivals: San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 07, Boston Jewish Film Festival 07, Margaret Mead Film Festival 07, Washington DC Jewish Film Festival 07, New York Jewish Film Festival 08, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival 08, Denver Jewish Film Festival 08, Caracas Jewish Film Festival 08, San Diego Jewish Film Festival 08, New Jersey Jewish Film Festival 08, Hartford Jewish Film Festival 08, Tampa Jewish Film Festival 08, Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival 08, Sarasota Film Festival 08, New Jersey Jewish Film Festival 08, Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival 08, Pacific Jewish Film Festival 08, Rockland Jewish Film Festival 08, Vancouver Jewish Film Festival 08, Winnipeg Jewish Film Festival 08, Seattle Jewish Film Festival 08, Pittsburgh Israeli-Jewish Film Festival 08, HAIFA International Film Festival 2008, Copenhagen Jewish Film Festival 09, DOCNZ 2009 New Zealand
Upcoming Festivals: • 13th Festival de Cinema dei Judaico de São Paulo 2009, Brazil
Awards: Audience Award, Best Documentary, Boston Jewish Film Festival 07, Audience Award, Best Documentary,Washington DC Jewish Film Festival 07, Audience Award, Best Documentary, San Diego Jewish Film Festival 08, Audience Award, Best Documentary, Vancouver Jewish Film Festival 08, Audience Award, Best Documentary, Seattle Jewish Film Festival 08
Broadcast: YES DBS Israel, Rain TV Optimistic Channel, MTS New Zealand
Original Language: English
Praying With Lior
USA / 2007 / Ilana Trachtman / 87 & 58 mins
"Triumphant. A small miracle!" -Washington Post
"Captivating ... makes believers of us all." -LA Times
"Warm-hearted and mesmerizing, made with equal parts admiration and astonishment." -NY Sun
"CRITIC'S PICK! The extraordinary life of Lior Liebling...touching." -NY Times
"Poignant and profound." -Philadelphia Inquirer
An engrossing, wrenching and tender documentary film, PRAYING WITH LIOR introduces Lior Liebling, also called "the little rebbe." Lior has Down syndrome, and has spent his entire life praying with utter abandon. Is he a "spiritual genius" as many around him say? Or simply the vessel that contains everyone's unfulfilled wishes and expectations? Lior - whose name means "my light" - lost his mother at age six, and her words and spirit hover over the film. While everyone agrees Lior is closer to God, he's also a burden, a best friend, an inspiration, and an embarrassment, depending on which family member is speaking. As Lior approaches Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony different characters provides a window into life spent "praying with Lior." The movie poses difficult questions such as what is "disability" and who really talks to God? Told with intimacy and humor, PRAYING WITH LIOR is a family story, a triumph story, a grief story, a divinely-inspired story.