2017 | USA | NR | 96 min.
What is the price of claiming your own identity? Imagine if standing up for yourself meant breaking with everything and everyone you knew, and meant being thwarted and intimidated every step of the way. And your reward? Entering a world you are unequipped for, and left feeling nostalgic for the community you’ve left behind. One of Us is the touching and dramatic story of Luzer, Etty, and Ari—three young people who are at various stages of leaving the most closed-off community in North America—the New York Hasidim. Oscar-nominated directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Detropia TCFF 2012, Jesus Camp 2006), manage to capture this sometimes life-threatening process over the course of three years. Regardless of the film’s almost thriller-like segments, or insights into the ultra-secretive community, One of Us is first and foremost a portrait of strength and courage.