Conversation Is Interruption Press Kit

Director's Statement from Anne Galisky

Three Jews, four opinions, is how the saying goes. And for me, that's one of the aspects I love most about Jewish culture. In a time in our country's political history when critical thinking is often viewed suspiciously, many Jews continue to challenge ideas and ideologies as well as each other. I have known many Jewish women who struggle in this mostly gentile town of Portland, Oregon with other's misperceptions about their communication style. Because most of them are white, their Jewish cultural style gets missed in discussions of ethnic and cultural diversity. Too often these women find themselves trying to "tone themselves down" so as not to be seen as rude, aggressive and argumentative. I wanted to explore whether there were in fact common traits of debate, argument and interruption in Jewish tradition and if so, to explore the origins of these styles. What we found in the process of talking to secular and religious Jews alike was a millennia-old tradition of Talmudic debate that could be heard in the shtetls of Eastern Europe and has been inherited by many of the modern day women we meet in this film. This film is one of a series that will explore other misperceptions about cultural styles in various ethnic groups. Our goal is not to answer all the questions, but to begin a Conversation that, we hope, simply leads to more conversation.

Production Notes:  "You Don't Have to Be a Jewish Woman"

Jewish women aren't the only people who have this conversational style. And not all Jewish women have it. Time and time again as we've screened this short documentary in various groups, workplaces, and homes, we hear questions like: "What about Italian culture? Doesn't that culture have some of these same communication styles?" Or: "This sounds like my African-American family." Or: "I'm not Jewish, but I also feel like I'm seen as a loud and aggressive woman."  What we know is that the qualities described in this film are not exclusive to Jews, or to Jewish women. Other cultures have some of these styles though in some cases from different origins. Bold, outspoken women - whether Jewish or not - are often labeled as loud and aggressive as discussed by one of the interviewees in the film. The conversations that ensue are as exciting as making the movie - which is our goal. And the fact that audiences begin to ask these questions pleases us to no end.