Boruch, Bernie to his family, is my uncle.
My uncle Boruch and I always had a special bond. From the time I was young, I sensed there was something unique, if not mysterious about him. He had a long beard, wore a black hat, seemed more committed to a Orthodox Jewish lifestyle than my parents and grandparents yet had no wife or children. I was intrigued by his intense spiritual demeanor, which isolated him from the rest of 'us,' and hoped I could one day impress him with my own spiritual dedication. I looked up to him. Only later on, did I learn the magnitude of his situation. As I got older, I realized that Boruch's inability to have a family of his own and a steady career was not coincidental. Beneath his strict observance of Judaism, Boruch grappled with inner demons and personal affliction.
When I made a short documentary about my uncle Boruch years ago at Tisch School of the Arts, I knew I had unearthed a larger project. Back then, Boruch was certainly on his way to recovery but still had some way to go — he lived in an Ohel Family Services residence with 24 hour surveillance where he followed a strict schedule. Yet, he also spoke for the first time of his budding independence and desire to have a fulfilling life. Boruch's optimism, despite his current situation and history of relapse, interested me both as his niece and a filmmaker. As I edited my five-minute short those years ago, I hoped this would be the introduction to a greater journey that was yet to unfold. I've been rooting for Boruch ever since I was a child.
So when Boruch entered into a new phase of recovery two years ago, I knew his story had to be told now. I immediately picked up my camera to capture this crucial turning point. I observed my uncle's challenges, triumphs, and daily life over the course of a year and half resulting in 170 hours of footage. And as my cinematographer and I filmed Boruch, I realized that my uncle’s story is not only a testament of personal redemption, hope and acceptance; It also explores the complexities of mental illness and addiction, as well as their relationship with spirituality, through a very particular lens.
Religion or spirituality's role in healing or inciting mental disorder is especially curious as spiritual health and mental health are often viewed as a single interconnected state of mind, creating the notion that a spiritually "fit" individual is immune to mental illness. Boruch's continuous faith despite his psychological upheaval, present an alternative perspective to this assumption.
FOLLOWING BORCUH is a subjective documentary about one man's determination to move forward that will educate audiences about mental illness and addiction through a personal process. Rather than exploring interview-based critiques and facts about mental health, Boruch's experience alone dispels mental health myths and combats stigma.
I’ve been granted exclusive access to my uncle's life, his therapists, Ohel and various institutions and events within the Hasidic community providing this documentary with a rare and authentic point of view.
Although, FOLLOWING BORUCH may be set in a very particular community, like mental illness and addiction, it reaches far beyond societal customs, ethnicity, gender and race; Boruch’s resilience, and desire to create a new life at forty-seven-years-old presents a universal story of the human condition.
As a filmmaker I am telling this story as a testimony to one man's victory over illness and addiction, raising awareness about one of society's most critical issues. As a niece, I am documenting my uncle's triumph over genetic disposition, and rediscovering my unrelenting admiration for him.