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Nov. 8, 2013
A design for the ages
Sukkah City chronicles the 2010 competition.
JACOB KAMARAS JNS.ORG
The Sukkah City exhibition in September 2010, much like the temporary dwellings that it showcased, came and went. But a new documentary might make its legacy more permanent.
Director Jason Hutt’s Sukkah City chronicles the event in phases, including the jury debate on more than 600 creative sukkah designs, construction of the 12 winning designs, and a two-day exhibition in New York City’s Union Square. A few years later, Hutt says his 67-minute film provides a new angle for those who experienced the event in varying degrees.
“This was only a two-day event, so there are people that simply never heard of this event,” he said. “There are people that read about it, but didn’t get a chance to come down and see the event. And then there are people who attended the event but still didn’t get the level of depth of knowledge and insight that the film provides. The film has a lot to offer to everyone, whether you were there or not.”
Screenings of Sukkah City, including at the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, which happens this week on Nov. 9, 7 p.m., at Fifth Avenue Cinemas, have been planned for the fall in cities across North America and in Australia. (In Vancouver, Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathan Infeld and Temple Sholom Rabbi Dan Moskovitz will be the guest speakers at the screening.) The New York City première was a free outdoor screening in Union Square just before Sukkot in September. Hutt discussed the film in an interview at the event.
JNS: Why did you choose the Sukkah City competition as the subject for a film?
Jason Hutt: Basically I learned about [Sukkah City] as [competition organizers] were seeking out applications and entries, submissions and designs. I met [Sukkah City design competition co-creator, journalist and author] Joshua Foer in Park Slope years back. It sounded like it was going to be both an interesting artistic adventure in terms of trying to reimagine the traditional sukkah, and it also seemed like this dramatic experience: putting together this competition with a jury, discussing and debating the merits of these submissions, and then the process of these architects building these structures and then having them exhibited to the public. With all of these different components, it seemed like coming together would make an interesting documentary film.
JNS: What about the holiday of Sukkot makes it appealing for the medium of film?
JH: The sukkah is something that is described in the liturgy. I would say that it definitely provides a nice visual component to a film. But, for me, it was more about this creativity, this process of the design community, the architecture community, the skill set of this creativity being applied to this tradition. The sukkah has become a very generic box structure, literally a pop-up tent.
The fact that [Sukkah City] was going to be a design competition to completely reimagine the way [a sukkah] was possible was definitely exciting to me. And, in the film, it does become a very interesting visual story, in the sense that you’re seeing these architects and designers – most of them not Jewish – applying their knowledge, intelligence, creativity and resources to coming up with these amazing designs, 12 of which are realized in the film.
JNS: Which phase of the Sukkah City event represents the climax of your film?
JH: I think the different parts of the film are all equally interesting. The jury section is fascinating because you get some of the most intelligent and creative architects, academics and critics in the architecture, design and art world debating these submissions. You don’t often see such intellectuals having such a passionate debate about anything, because that’s usually behind closed doors, especially if it’s a serious competition.
Second, what you didn’t get by attending the Sukkah City exhibition were all these background stories from the architects on how they came up with the designs, what sparked their interest in even applying for this competition. They read the original rules from the Talmud on what the sukkah can be and what it can’t be. All of these designers, they were all intrigued and inspired by different aspects of the rules.
The third piece, the installation and the exhibition, that’s sort of more a capturing of this event that was only two days long in Union Square, one of the busiest spaces in North America, and just to see what happened. Seeing the people of New York and elsewhere coming here and interacting with these structures and with each other, learning about the sukkah and choosing their favorite.
As a film, it’s offering these different pieces of this one project, and I think it’s really interesting from start to finish because of that.
JNS: You previously directed Orthodox Stance, a documentary on Orthodox Jewish boxer Dmitry Salita. What has drawn you to make films on Jewish topics?
JH: Jewish culture and Jewish life have always been important to me, ever since I was a little kid. I grew up as an athlete, and hearing stories about [Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher] Sandy Koufax was really important. Always knowing who is Jewish and involved in this film or in this business – or in this baseball team – it’s something that we as Jews always do. We take pride in the accomplishments of fellow Jews, and of Jewish life and Jewish civilization. As I got into documentary filmmaking and I look around, and I see some very interesting aspects, some characters, some subjects in the contemporary Jewish experience. It makes me want to learn more about them, whether it’s Dmitry Salita or the Sukkah City design competition and exhibition. It’s just me really following my curiosity to learn about what I think are interesting projects, and to ultimately share them with an audience.
JNS: What insight do you hope for viewers of the film to gain on both the holiday of Sukkot and on the competition?
JH: The film is not just about the holiday of Sukkot, it’s not simply about the sukkah. It’s also about creativity. It’s also about how we as Jews continue to find meaning in ancient tradition, and how Judaism is what seems like an endless desk for interpretation and reinterpretation. And sort of the ways that we can continue to draw meaning and inspiration, and relevance, from a tradition that is thousands and thousands of years old. And that’s what I think people can get from this film. I think it’s a film that on the one hand is informative, and then also inspirational.
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