25th Annual Hartford Jewish Virtual Film Festival | City of Joel

Documentary | 2018 | USA | 84 minutes

English | Directed by Jesse Sweet

Small-town politics and ancient tradition collide deep in the Hudson Valley, in City
of Joel, an absorbing account of a high-profile turf war between an ultra-Orthodox community and its neighbors. Located in rural upstate New York, Kiryas Joel is a modern shtetl in the town of Monroe, home to over 20,000 Yiddish-speaking Satmar sect members, one of the country’s fastest growing Hasidic enclaves.

When a plan is created to double the size of the village to keep up with its growth, their secular neighbors fight back, believing that the expansion will disrupt their lives, harm the environment, and tilt the balance of local political power. With unprecedented access, the documentary presents people on all sides of a conflict as they struggle to find their place in the City of Joel.

TRAILER: https://youtu.be/RmiyYgRg-z8

Sponsored By: Solinsky Eyecare