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Photos: Filming a Movie on Kingston Avenue

A group of Columbia University students are shooting a film in Crown Kosher, a store on Kingston Avenue.

The title of the film is “Storm Up the Sky”, a Columbia University thesis film directed by Jon Kauffman and produced by Veronica Nickel.

In a strict Jewish family, one brother wants out while the other will do anything to stop him. Set amongst the diverse population of Brooklyn, this Cain and Abel retelling explores the themes of conformity, love, and religion when a family begins to splinter.

Actor, Dan Pfau
Actors, Richard Masur and Elli Meyer

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25 Comments

  • curious

    oh, no i understand! i noticed a large crowd there on the sidewalk near crown kosher today and was wondering what was going on. thank you for explaining!

  • cool

    im trying to figure out who’s real and who’s not..
    (being that im not from ch and dont know anyone there…)

  • Shakespeare

    OOOH! Do they need extras? How about a starring role for yours truly?! I need a new job, movie star sounds great!

    The Oscars, here I come!!

  • Anon

    are they going to show the beauty of CH? or twist it to whatever idea they have of CH…

  • Makeup

    Whoever did the make up on the model with the tichel/ snood, has no idea about chassidic communities.

  • zalmen

    hey for comment one…just like to see we are loving people we are not like the guys in bp or willy. we welcome all.

  • not me

    i hbope they arent trying to show life in ch
    bec as usual they want to show lubav women and fat and ugly and we are NOT

  • Hey Zalmen

    These type of stuff usually…
    a-bring in the opposite of holiness and tznius
    b-distort what really goes on

    So, yeah, they are welcome…to leave. Not necessarily them as individuals, but for what they are in Crown Heights for.

    You say we should welcome everyone in…that’s a dangeous statement. Not everyone or everything is good for our community, and if it ain’t good for our community then it should NOT be welcomed here.

  • anon

    i dont think the lady with the tichel/ snoode is “real”
    why do you think shes in every pic

  • Jewish Life...

    Crown Kosher would not offer their store if they were interested in depicting CH in a bad light. They are prob shooting a film on jewish life not nec. Crown Height life.

  • Carpetbaggers, go somewhere else!

    B“H

    To make a story effective, you have to create a sense of empathy for all of the characters, including the ”son who wants out“.

    To this extent, it’s perhaps questionable to be supportive of such projects, although that of course depends upon the way the plot ends — does the son do teshuvah?

    Also, once it’s filmed here, it creates interest and curiosity among the locals, who will want to see the finished product, which they feel a part of just because the film will have been made here. It’s not necessarily the case that the finished product will be something appropriate for frum Lubavitchers.

    There are similar stories written by the formerly frum who frei-d out in America — Isaac Bashevis Singer, etc. Not the best material for the young and impressionable in our community.

    But forbidding it makes it into ”forbidden fruit,“ all the more desirable, so this is not a simple issue.

    Ask yourselves, ”Would the filmmaker have success trying to get Williamsburgh, Lakewood, or Boro Park to cooperate with such a venture???”

    If you ask me, they should have done this in Flatbush.

    But it’s a free country!

  • Columbia University is no good for us!

    The general outlook of Colombia university is extremely liberal and alomost never in favor of religious people. Especially Frum Jews, being that most of the very liberal professors at the university are secular jews!!!! I would welcome any hollywood film crew to Crown Heights, but am very concerned about the motivation of any student coming from Columbia!!!

  • Just passing by

    I past by the set. Low budget not much to gape at, but it reeked of liberlism and condescenment only found amongst those with expensive education and little experience. The movie will probably paint a stereotypical view of Crown Heights to fall comfertably in the realm of orthodox distaste to be crooned by the liberal artsy crowd. Any other angle will not be involve enough “soul searching and anguish” needed to dramatize a low budget film of this nature.

  • me

    they all think that every orthodox jew looks the same.
    they once made a movie about lubavitch but they made them peyos like satmar

  • a-non-eeee-mouse

    the women in the tichel is real i know who she is and ate at her house over Shabbos one time she’s a really sweet lady.
    and this is nice that we let them come into our restaurants and stuff but i hope they don’t portray CH or the Chabad community the wrong way
    good luck!!