Documentary About Streit’s Matzo Scores Festival Run Just Before the Lower East Side Departure
This image has been archived or removed.
The Streit’s Matzo factory only has a few months left on the Lower East Side, the neighborhood it called home for ninety years. After Passover – concluding April 11 – it’s all she wrote.
In the end, it was filmmaker Michael Levine and producer Michael Green who chronicled the final years of the matzo-makers at 148-154 Rivington Street, diving into the everyday minutia that makes the brand great. The resultant documentary, Streit’s: Matzo and the American Dream – in production since 2013 – is now available for public consumption.
We are told that Menemsha Films, a leading independent film distrbutor, and the premier distributor of Jewish-themed films in North America, has acquired the North American rights to distribute the indie doc. The film will see its festival premiere at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival in February, and is also slated to appear on at least four screens in South Florida beginning March 20.
But you can catch it at the JCC Manhattan shortly thereafter. There are four showings on two dates – March 29 and April 7. Head here for tickets.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have found, in Menemsha, a distributor who not only has an amazing reputation in the independent film world, but who is truly passionate about the story we’re telling,” producer Michael Green noted. “Menemsha’s founder, Neil Friedman, has family roots of his own on the Lower East Side, and the whole company has really rallied around the film.”
This image has been archived or removed.
The packaging machine
Nevertheless, it goes without saying that this is a bittersweet time for team Levine and the matzo movie.
“It wouldn’t be truthful to say there isn’t something bittersweet in the timing of film’s release, coming on the heels of the devastating news of the factory leaving the Lower East Side,” Levine quips. “We are still coming to terms with the loss to the neighborhood, and with our own feelings, having come to see the factory and those who work there as a second home, and a second family.”
Even though Streit’s: Matzo and the American Dream is just about ready to hit the silver screen, they are still raising some last-minute funds to finance costs of archival footage and music licensing, and a final studio mix, so feel free to chip in on the film’s website.
Recent Stories
A Scene, Unseen: LES Music Venues, Musicians Stay Visible Despite Closures
By the time this article is published, 11 weeks of self-isolation will have passed. It’s been 11 weeks since many of us have gone to work, since grocery stores have felt safe, and since handshakes have felt friendly. And those are only the most banal, everyday changes. When it comes to the moments we share […]
Lower East Side Businesses Boarded up their Storefronts Amidst Citywide Looting
When the pandemic hit, it was mainly the luxury stores in SoHo that began boarding up the windows for fear of looting. It’s now a reality in the atmosphere following the controversial death of George Floyd, an African American man who died in Minneapolis police custody. For days, looters took to the streets, oftentimes piggybacking off […]
Chinatown Mom-and-Pops Hit by Vandals and Looting [PHOTOS]
The rioting and violence has clouded (and overwhelmed) the national protest movement formed in response to the controversial death of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops last month. It’s what dominates the narrative now. And no neighborhood is immune. Chinatown was also hard hit by looters this week. Mom-and-pop shops Buy Rite Pharmacy (215 Grand Street) […]
Protest Violence: LES Small Businesses Vandalized
A fifth night of protests spilled onto lower Orchard Street yesterday, as several businesses were vandalized. The Roasting Plant coffee shop, R&D (formerly Brigitte) on Canal street, and the Alexander Olch boutique, were all hit. Shattered windows and looting. It’s unclear what was taken from each store. With regard to Olch’s store, vandals tagged it […]
Scenes from the Looted Streets of Downtown [PHOTOS]
A weekend of violent protests and looting – fueled by the death of George Floyd at the hand of Minneapolis cops – left downtown Manhattan charred and shattered. Businesses in SoHo up to Union Square were some of the hardest hit. Boogie contributor Eddie Panta was eyewitness to the smash-and-grab bedlam. Part I: The Nike Store […]
