PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! When your destiny is mapped out from birth by your upbringing and centuries-old family heritage, it can be hard to find your identity in the midst of it all. Directed by Sandi Simcha Dubowski, the documentary Sabbath Queen follows the atypical journey of Amichai Lau-Lavie, a gay Jew descended from a long generation of rabbis from Father to Son, as he tries to make sense of his purpose and values as a human being and as a Jew.
More than simply following the man on his religious and moral journey, Dubowski gives his documentary an astonishing breadth by covering several decades of Amichai’s life, from his youth in Israel under a clear Jewish doctrine to his arrival in New York in 1997 and his affirmation as a drag performer and within the Lab/Shul group he leads. We follow him through every fundamental stage of his life and the questions that arise along the way.
For it is in these fundamental questions that the interest of Sabbath Queen lies: can a homosexual man be part of the Jewish community and even represent it in ceremonies? And above all, how does Amichai manage to combine the two pillars of his life, his freedom to be who he wants and his family and religious heritage? By interviewing different points of view, such as Amichai’s brother, a rabbi, or his close associate at Lab/Shul Shira Kline, Dubowski places the man at the center of an existential crisis within Judaism but within religions more broadly in the 21st century. As his brother puts it, “Amichai plays a game with Judaism” between what is within Orthodox norms and what is forbidden, practicing his religion and welcoming other faiths into his multicultural community.
“…Amichai Lau-Lavie, a gay Jew, tries to make sense of his purpose…”
In this balance between orthodox and libertarian views of religion, Sabbath Queen perfectly balances the two camps in its narration. Dubowski frequently takes us back to Amichai’s father and grandfather during the war when the family lived in Poland. Fractured by the deportation of his father, his uncle, and the death of his grandfather in the camps, the family’s religious heritage and continuity is not a choice but an obligation. To perpetuate his vision of Judaism through a generation of rabbis. But Amichai doesn’t see himself that way; he can’t help but see through the cracks in this religion, the clear and patriarchal separation between men and women, or the progressive radicalization of part of the Jewish community in recent years.
What is clear is that Sabbath Queen’s pacing and editing perfectly reflect Amichai’s moral tug-of-war and his constant search for answers to continue representing who he is. Perhaps the answer lies in the disguise and make-up he wears when portraying a woman; perhaps it must lie in the multicultural community of Lab/Shul, or perhaps the answer must lie in a better understanding of religion by standing before a rabbi.
Director Sandi Dubowski doesn’t insist on giving clear-cut answers as to what needs to be done; instead, he observes, wonders, and openly questions the situation with his main character, who is also in search of answers. Sabbath Queen constantly finds ways to renew our interest throughout its 105 minutes and does so with great intelligence and respect.
Sabbath Queen screened at the 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival.
"…finds ways to renew our interest ... with great intelligence and respect..."
