A light-hearted glimpse into a Lower East Side lingerie shop, where owner and Jewish grandmother, Magda, embraces and enhances women of all shapes and sizes in pursuit of the prefect bra. Behold as Orthodox Jewish Culture meets – and embraces – modern day struggles with sexuality, body image and women’s roles.
Directed and Produced by Faye Lederman, Cheryl Furjanic & Eve Lederman
Watch A Good Uplift
Broadcast
2004 REEL NEW YORK (WNET/PBS)
Film Festivals & Screenings
2003 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
2003 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
2003 Rooftop Films – Brooklyn, NY
2003 Rochester Jewish Film Festival
2003 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
2003 Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival
2003 Boston Jewish Film Festival
2003 Nashville Jewish Film Festival
2004 New York Jewish Film Festival
Screening of Highlights from the 2004 New York Jewish Film Festival
An Evening of Jewish Shorts – Hosted by the Columbia/Barnard Hillel
2004 San Francisco Independent Film Festival
2004 Hartford Jewish Film Festival
2004 Fast Forward Film Festival – NYC
2004 Freedom Cinema Festival – Park City, Utah
2004 Jewish Cinema South – Jackson, MS
2004 Maine Jewish Film Festival
2004 Newport Film Festival
2004 Seattle Jewish Film Festival
2004 New Jersey Jewish Film Festival
2004 Rutgers New Jersey Jewish Film Festival
2004 Boston Jewish Film Festival – Encore screening
2004 Bust Film Festival – NYC
2004 – 2005 Lunafest Tour – A traveling festival brought to sixty cities across the U.S. that raised $30,000 for The Breast Cancer Fund.
2004 UK Jewish Film Festival
2004 Brooklyn Jewish Film Festival
2005 Jewish Film Festival – Tuscaloosa, Alabama
2005 Houston Jewish Film Festival
2005 Contra Costa International Jewish Film Festival
2005 New Orleans Jewish Film Festival
2005 Rooftop Films @Montreal’s Société des arts technologiques
2005 Body cinema. Old women and their stories. Film program for the exhibition “Ines Doujak. Dirty Old Women” @ Salzburger Kunstverein – Salzburg, Austria
2005 Girls On Film Night – Pioneer Theater – New York City
2006 Lunafest 5th Anniversary Tour
2006 San Diego Jewish Film Festival
2006 Tucson Jewish Film Festival
2006 The Garment Industry in Film @ Yeshiva University Museum
2007 Gender, Body and Performance: The Films of Cheryl Furjanic – Wellesley College
2007 Charlotte Jewish Film Festival
2008 Jewish Women in Global Perspective Film Festival
2009 Wellesley College New Directions in Documentary Film Showcase
2014 Cleveland Jewish FilmFest
Screenings + Body Image Workshops / Screenings + Jewish Community Workshops
Study guides developed to accompany film screenings and generate discussions about body image, self-esteem, religious significance and more:
Congregation Agudat Achim (Schenectady, NY)
Congregation Rodeph Sholom (NYC)
Congregation Beth Sholom
Congregation B’nai Israel (Albuquerque, NM)
Congregation B’nai Israel (Sacramento, California)
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun
Drisha Institute
Brooklyn Jews
Chizuk Amuno Congregation (Maryland)
Temple Israel in Memphis
Camp Isabella Freedman
Camp Ramah, Nyack
Camp Pembroke
Center for Girls, YWCA, NYC (part of “Every Body is Beautiful” event)
Lower East Side Girls Club
Girls Inc. of NYC
Ma’yanot School
College of New Rochelle
Cornell University
Ball State University
Boise State University
Arizona tour – three synagogues and youth groups in Tucson and Phoenix
Temple Aliya, Needham, MA
Temple Israel, Natick, MA
Press
THE JEWISH WEEK: “a deliciously funny short” – George Robinson
INDIEWIRE.COM (4/21/03): Confronting Reality From Home and Abroad; the 2003 Full Frame Doc Fest. “an amusing and slyly empowering portrait” – David Fellerath
THE VILLAGE VOICE (1/6/04): The Searchers. “an engaging documentary”- Leslie Camhi
Other projects
Back on Board: Greg Louganis
(Documentary feature, 86 minutes, 2015)
Back on Board: Greg Louganis is an intimate portrait of the public triumphs and private struggles of trailblazing openly gay athlete Greg Louganis. A refreshingly candid documentary about this four-time Olympic champion, Back on Board follows Louganis for three years as he struggles with financial security and reunites with the sport he once dominated but did not feel welcome in. The threat of losing his house during the recent financial crisis forces Louganis to re-evaluate the choices, relationships, and missed opportunities of his career.
Sync or Swim
(Documentary feature, 90 minutes, 2008)
A splashy look at a marginal sport: U.S.A.’s top synchronized swimmers endure rigorous training and overcome unthinkable obstacles to compete for Olympic glory.