Join us for our August Work-in-Progress screening of THE RABBI & THE REVEREND, directed by Evan Haiman.
RSVP Coming Soon
Logline:
The Rabbi & The Reverend tells the story of Rabbi Israel S. Dresner and his indispensable Civil Rights work with and for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Synopsis:
The Rabbi & The Reverend” tells the story of Rabbi Israel S. Dresner and his indispensable Civil Rights work with and for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rabbi Dresner was the most arrested Rabbi during the Civil Rights Movement, the most jailed Rabbi in American History and, in the words of one of the film’s interviewees, “King’s Rabbi.” In this film Rabbi Dresner recounts his Civil Rights involvement, beginning with the First Interfaith Clergy Freedom Ride in 1961, which resulted in him being one of the “Tallahassee Ten” whose case made it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and which bears his name as the lead plaintiff. In addition to a treasure trove of never before seen archival materials, including some of the many letters and telegrams the Rabbi received from Dr. King, the film features extensive interviews with the ninety-one year old Rabbi himself; his sisters; children; former congregants; former Civil Rights activists, including the legendary Andrew Young; Senator Cory Booker; Civil Rights Historians Taylor Branch and Dr. Raymond Arsenault