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IIJS Film Series: "The Floaters"

  • Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies 617 Kent Hall, 1140 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10027 United States (map)

Join us for an in-person film screening of The Floaters, followed by Q&A with director, Rachel Israel.

Tuesday, December 1, at 6:00 p.m. | 617 Kent Hall

Just fired from her rock band, Nomi (Jackie Tohn, Nobody Wants This) takes a last-resort job from her best friend Mara (Sarah Podemski, Reservation Dogs), who is now the director of their Jewish sleepaway camp. As Mara contends with all manner of chaos at camp, she tasks Nomi with supervising an eclectic group of teenage misfits. Nomi and the teens must confront their insecurities and band together to save their camp by winning a Maccabiah against their overprivileged rival camp. Featuring a cast of veteran comic actors (Aya Cash, Seth Green, Steve Guttenberg) and hilarious up-and-coming teenage actors, The Floaters offers multigenerational perspectives on Jewish summer camp with affection for all the ways camp shapes identity – Jewish and otherwise.

(101 minutes; English with English subtitles)

Rachel Israel received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from Columbia University's School of the Arts, where she has also taught Screenwriting and Directing Actors. Rachel’s feature film debut, Keep the Change (2017), won Best Narrative Feature Film and Best Director at Tribeca Film Festival, among other honors. The Floaters, her second feature, won the NYWIFT Best Directing Award at the Woodstock Film Festival. Her third feature, Influenced, is currently screening in theaters and digitally.

*Guests must register by Friday, November 27, to be approved for campus access; unregistered guests will not be permitted on campus. Each guest must register individually using a unique email address.


Supported by the generosity of the Radov and Kaye families.

While all IIJS events are free and open to the public, we do encourage a suggested donation of $10.