Each year, the Center for Small Town Jewish Life hosts a lecture that showcases the most innovative and compelling Jewish voices in the world today. Endowed by the Lipman Family, this distinguished lecture brings renowned Jewish thinkers to Waterville. It has attracted a variety of important speakers to Colby since 1979, including Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel (1986), Israeli author Etgar Keret (2013), and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jodi Kantor.
Queerness and Judaism in the Filmography of Joey Soloway
Lipman Lecture
Wednesday, April 10, 7 p.m.
Ostrove Auditorium
Joey Soloway will deliver the 2024 Lipman Lecture on Queerness and Judaism in the Filmography of Joey Soloway, Wednesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. in Ostrove auditorium. The lecture will be followed by a conversation with Jewish Studies instructor Lauren Cohen Fisher about depictions of queerness and Jewishness in Transparent. Sponsored by the Center for Small Town Jewish Life.
Screening of The Godyssey
Tuesday, April 9, 7 p.m.
Gordon Center G10
Join us for an advance screening of Joey Soloway’s newest film, The Godyssey, in the Gordon Center, room G10. The Godyssey is a pilot for a documentary travel series where Joey and fellow travelers wander the globe to unearth Amtlai, the overlooked mother of Abraham, reintroducing her as the Divine Feminine.
The film will be followed by a conversation with Religious Studies professor Kerry Sonia, moderated by Prof. David Freidenreich. Refreshments will be served. Sponsored by the Center for Small Town Jewish Life.
About Joey Soloway:
Joey Soloway is an artist, writer, filmmaker and activist. A visionary in contemporary storytelling, their groundbreaking Amazon series Transparent is a poignant comedy that delves into themes of identity, love, sex, Judaism, and boundaries within the context of a complex American Jewish family.
Transparent garnered 24 Emmy nominations and eight Emmy awards, including two for Soloway’s exceptional directing, alongside two Golden Globes. The series concluded with a transition into a movie musicale, co-penned by Soloway and their sibling, Faith.
Soloway developed the Transparent finale into a Broadway musical titled “A Transparent Musical,” which debuted at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in May 2023 and delves deeper into family lineage and the history of transness, particularly during the Weimar era in Berlin.
In 2016, Soloway created the critically acclaimed Amazon series I Love Dick, adapted from Chris Kraus novel of the same name. Soloway also was a writer/producer on Six Feet Under, United States of Tara, and their first feature film, Afternoon Delight, won the directing award at Sundance in 2013.
Currently, Soloway is pioneering projects like The Godyssey, a documentary travel series where they travel the globe to unearth Amtlai, the overlooked mother of Abraham, reintroducing her as the Divine Feminine.
Additionally, Soloway is developing a TV series based on the revolutionary guide “The Ethical Slut,” the seminal self-help book on non-monogamy. Soloway is also developing Julia Fox’s memoir “Down the Drain” into a television series.
Soloway is a beacon for inspiration and change; as a co-founder of 5050by2020, an artist empowerment network under Time’s Up, they established the Disruptors Fellowship, supporting marginalized artists, including those identifying as trans, non-binary, disabled, and undocumented.
As a high-profile nonbinary artist in the film industry, Soloway routinely gives speeches about the importance of dismantling patriarchal structures in contemporary storytelling and society at large. Joey Soloway’s commitment to change has led them to consistently foster creative environments where queer and bipoc voices are uplifted.
