US PREMIERE

Q&A Recorded with Filmmaker Stephen Lentini

Closed-off to most of the world, the filmmakers were granted exclusive access to an isolated Jewish settlement in the Northern West Bank called Itamar which sits between two mountains- the Mountain of the Blessing and the Mountain of the Curse.

On the night of March 11, 2011, two terrorists penetrated the security fence of the community, entered the home of the Fogel family, who were asleep in their beds, and brutally murdered the parents and three of their children, including a three-month-old who was nearly beheaded. THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE is an intimate portrait that explores the aftermath of the crime and examines how the memory of that night still haunts the people of Itamar, and poses the question: Why would anyone choose to raise their family in such a dangerous place?

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT FILM FROM THE SETTLER'S POINT OF VIEW!

Here is an exclusive video of Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith discussing murder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpo7WQnpqIM

Director Biography - Stephen Lentini

"The Blessing and the Curse" is Stephen Lentini's directorial debut in the feature length documentary category.

In 2018, he directed the narrative short film, "Theo's Trade," that garnered acclaim and film festival success. "Theo's Trade" is about a disheartened news reporter who escapes a racially-charged situation in Chicago and returns to his childhood home in the South. Here he performs slave re-enactments, hoping to counteract the negative portrayal of black men in the media.

Previous to that, Stephen produced and wrote two notable documentaries. First, "The Glacier Project," which is about two big wave watermen who surf the worlds' most dangerous wave. The wave is formed by skyscraper-sized glaciers that melt and crash into a small river below.

Second, the "North Canyon," which documents Big Wave Surfer Garrett Macnamara as he attempts to surf a 100-foot wave in Portugal.