Alison Klayman said she knew her film was onto something late last year after her father told her about an interaction he’d had. Someone at his synagogue had asked him if he was worried about Zohran Mamdani, the soon-to-be sworn in New York City mayor whose pro-Palestinian activism marked a shift in the city’s political order.
“He said no,” Klayman said, recalling her father’s response. “And the guy said to him, ‘Oh, so you’re one of those self-hating Jews, huh?’”
That someone would say this to her father, an active participant in Jewish life, further drove home the premise of her film “Scenes from the Divide,” which is currently playing at the IFC Center. The 32-minute film features interviews with Jewish New Yorkers about Mamdani in the lead-up to the November election.
“It’s been really clear to me for a while that we’re at an inflection point as an American Jewish community,” she said.
She said her film “holds up a mirror for this moment.”
Klayman’s documentary, which was made on a shoestring budget, captures moments from the mayoral race, including a speech at an Upper West Side synagogue by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, interlaced with dinner table conversations and interviews with those on different ends of the political spectrum.
The film mostly follows Nicole Krishtul, a Jewish millennial who supports Mamdani and whose Ukrainian-born parents are deeply critical of socialism and fiercely protective of Israel. In one scene, Krishtul and her parents argue over which side is to blame for the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and the war in Gaza.
Before preparing to knock on doors and canvas in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, she and her fellow volunteers practice saying in Russian, “Zohran is not an antisemite.”
Klayman also speaks to Ramon Maislen, who protests Mamdani’s appearance at a synagogue. He’s among several people in the film who poignantly reflect on what Israel means to them as a sanctuary and community. She shows how the leftist anti-Zionist movement embodied by Mamdani caught many Jewish Democrats off guard. Maislen speaks of feeling “politically homeless.”
Klayman said she interviewed a range of subjects, but not all of them were ultimately comfortable with being in the documentary. Some were interested in participating until they learned about her project’s support from Jewish Currents — a progressive publication critical of Zionism and the Jewish establishment — even though she assured them that she had the final cut.
“This one very prominent Manhattan rabbi said, ‘I think you sound great, and this approach sounds great, but I have a rule — I won’t platform anti-Zionists,’” she recalled. “And I was like, ‘With respect, I think they’re the ones platforming you. You would just be reaching their audience.’”
Reaction to the film has so far been positive from both audiences and those who participated, Klayman said. Showings at IFC, which are followed by a Q&A, have been sold out, and she is planning to show the documentary at upcoming film festivals.
Mamdani, who is seen briefly in the film delivering his victory speech on election night, has not attended a screening to Klayman’s knowledge, but members of the mayor’s office came to the premiere in February.
Phylisa Wisdom, who heads the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, praised the documentary in a statement to Gothamist, calling it a “beautiful reflection of a simple truth: The Jewish community is not, and has never been, a monolith.”
Klayman said she viewed interest in the film as a sign that people are looking to engage with these fraught issues beyond social media.
“People want to have more conversations, and this could potentially be a way to start one,” she said.
Robert Taichman attended a recent showing with his Ukrainian parents, who turned out to be nearly mirror images of those in the documentary.
Standing outside the theater, Taichman’s 77-year-old father Herman had plenty to say about the new mayor.
“It’s not about Jewishness, it’s about the ideas, what he wants to build, the communism and socialism,” he said. After a reporter explained that Mamdani is a democratic socialist who wants to raise taxes on the wealthy, he likened the policy to killing a chicken.
“Who’s gonna give you the eggs?” he exclaimed.
The younger Taichman was similarly skeptical of the mayor’s politics. Nevertheless, he said, “I think it’s important to see things that you don’t agree with.”
He added: “That’s the beauty of New York.”
Then, interrupting his father, who was animated and in mid-argument, he said, “OK, it’s time to eat.”
