DOC NYC Review: All God's Children

Another day. Another review from DOC NYC. We got to watch the documentary "All God's Children" which focus on two churches in Brooklyn, New York: The oldest Black baptist church and the largest reform synagogue. The pastor and the rabbi both decided to meet and discuss ways to bring their communities together in these turbulent times. The documentary is directed by Ondi Timoner who is a two time winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. In a strange twist Ondi's sister Rabbi Rachel Timoner is the rabbi profiled here and she tries to reach across religious lines to develop a relationship to combat racism in Brooklyn. The film starts off rocky where Rachel and the Reverend Robert Waterman have a clash of idelogies stemming from their backgrounds. That's the foundation of the film is how cultures, religions and race can clash but can find a common ground to work from there.

There are some tense moments in the film for example during Resurrection Sunday the Rabbi and her congregation are disturbed by the play of Jesus where they view it as disrespectful to their religion. The aftermath was a meeting with a third party which lead to serious arguments between the sides and it look like it will fall apart. Then a few weeks later war is declared in Israel and that brings the reverend and rabbi closer in conversation and respect to each others struggles. The film is shot over a five year period and show recent events like the war in Israel and this year's Passover. It really show how even in New York where everyone comes to make it big, that there still are boundaries to cross and it will take a community or two to get there. All God's Children is a great documentary suited for today because of the dialogue between the Jews and Black communities to show that they are and still learning about each other just they can make it through these modern times. A fascinating film that is definitely one to look for whether in limited release or video on demand. If you can try to catch the premiere weekend at DOC NYC either November 14th or November 16th.

All God's Children is produced by Dirty Robber with Xpedition Media and Gigantic Studios and distributed by Interloper FIlms.