Raunchy Israeli TV Series About Orthodox Woman’s Escapades in Israel Premieres at Sundance Film Festival
by Shiryn Ghermezian
A promotional photo for Chanshi, starring Aleeza Chanowitz. Photo: Ohad Romano.
The first four episodes of a new Israeli comedic television series being screened at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival are about the audacious adventures of a Orthodox Jewish 20-something-year-old who runs away from her fiancé in Brooklyn to find freedom and fun in Israel, specifically with Israeli soldiers.
Chanshi is the first Israeli show to be screened in Sundance’s Indie Episodic Program, which includes non-fiction features and short films.
The series is about an engaged woman named Chanshi from a religious community in Brooklyn but she realizes she’s not ready to settle down just yet. In the midst of deciding on a wedding hall and getting final preparations done for her wedding, Chanshi heads to Israel with the hopes of living out her fantasy of being with an Israeli soldier.
Chanshi creator Aleeza Chanowitz, 32, who also stars in the leading role, told The Algemeiner that she drew from her own life experience in developing the show. Chanowitz was born and raised in Brooklyn and attended Yeshiva of Flatbush before moving to Israel, where she studied at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem.
“Obviously everyone who writes takes inspiration from their own lives, and though I would like to think that at this point in my life I have a bit more of an awareness than the character Chanshi of how my actions affect others, she is definitely some kind of alter ego who can say and do things that I can’t get away with in real life,” Chanowitz said. “I moved to Israel because I wanted to get with Israeli guys who were either serving in the Israel Defense Forces, or had done so in the past. It was important for me to marry someone Jewish. In the end, the soldiers stayed young, and I got older, so I found different reasons to stay.”
When asked what the experience was like seeing, and also acting, moments of her life in front of the camera, Chanowitz said:
“I can differentiate between myself and my character, though some people in the street cannot, therefore when it came to filming scenes that were based on real experiences, my thoughts were mostly with the production side of things (Does it look good? Does it tell the story? How’s the lighting?). The emotional and therapeutic side of things happened before and after in the writing and the editing process.”
The series was filmed in Israel, mostly in the Tel Aviv area but also in Netanya, an Israeli settlement and Jerusalem. Henry Winkler (Barry, Happy Days) plays Chanshi’s Orthodox father, who wants to see his daughter return home and get married. Caroline Aaron (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Marnina Schon (Dollface), Tomer Machloof (Tehran), Lee Bader (Super Lady), Roni Dalumi (Euphoria), and Dor Gvirtsmam also star in the Israeli show, which is produced by Kastina Communications and is being sold internationally by the Israeli broadcaster HOT.
Chanshi will have a total of five in-person screenings at the Sundance Film Festival, both in Park City and Salt Lake City, with the last one taking place on Saturday. Chanowitz said that so far, although the crowds have been small at the screenings, “they laughed in the right places, and approached us afterwards to tell us that they can’t wait to see more episodes.”
As for the premiere that took place on Jan. 21, Chanowitz said, “I think it went really well, I got a lot of good feedback from the crowd, and almost everyone stayed for the Q&A. Now we just have to sell the show.”
Watch the trailer for Chanshi below.
