9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And action! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It's huge. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It's mind blowing. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I have to keep reminding myself[br]that they're not real. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It's like a historical movie, actually,[br]what we are doing here. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This is 90 percent of my filming[br]experience, here? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Is like this. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Come over here to do a show[br]set in Williamsburg, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to do it in Berlin, it kind of, [br]you know, plays with my head. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A series in Yiddish, for me also,[br]personally, I think it's a great thing. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Going to be dealing with a language[br]that no one understands. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I mean, we're dealing with costumes[br]and rituals no one understands. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But the essence of what's happening,[br]that's universally understood. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This very beautiful and unique story 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that shows kind of like, both worlds. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I don't think it's a story about[br]the existence of God, or something. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It's more about...the right to[br]have your voice. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And people like me never really[br]had that opportunity. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We never saw ourselves reflected back[br]in the stories being told 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in popular culture. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So we didn't really know[br]how to create our own stories. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think this is the first show, ever,[br]to accurately portray 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Hasidic community. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 These are real people, and their[br]experiences are very universal, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and very relatable. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When the community watches it,[br]and there is somebody like me, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 watches it, and sees, this girl[br]lived exactly like she lives. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And, she was able to muster[br]the courage to follow her dreams. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Maybe this girl can, too. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When I met Ann and Alexa,[br]and I became friends with them, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I realized, if anybody is ever going to[br]really be able to grasp 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what the story is about, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and to really execute it in a way 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that is going to have a [br]positive cultural impact, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it's these women. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 After I met Deborah, [br]i read her book, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I thought it was amazing. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I mean, I read it in one sitting.[br]I couldn't put it down. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And then, she said: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Well, why don't you make my book[br]into a TV show?" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Anna and I wanted to make a show[br]for a while, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in which we could work through[br]a lot of the topics 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we discuss a lot, especially[br]about being Jewish in Germany. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To me, the story is about[br]a young woman, who 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is searching for herself, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and she is searching for[br]her community in the world. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Esther is a 19 year old girl. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She was born and raised in[br]Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the community called Satmar. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 - Don't forget, Esty. [br]He speaks first. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She grows up in a very [br]religious neighborhood. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And, frees herself from an[br]unhappy arranged marriage, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and flees to Berlin. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Her story is unique, and romantic. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We just felt it was so different,[br]that somebody would leave 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this very insular community[br]in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and find their way here,[br]out of choice. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 From a very young age,[br]she always felt very different. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She's always been told[br]that she is very different, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because of the fact that[br]she always has questions within her, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and she has that 'chutzpah,'[br]you can say. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The Satmar Jews are a[br]Hasidic community, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 originally from the town of[br]Sate Mar, in Hungary. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 They are mostly descendants[br]of Holocaust survivors, and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 started by Holocaust survivors,[br]in New York, after the war. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This kind of makes them[br]a little bit different 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 than a lot of other[br]Hasidic communities, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because they really developed[br]what they were about, after the war. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It is founded by people who are[br]struggling with the most immense trauma. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For the first generation, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I would say even for the first[br]two generations, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this trauma was a very driving force 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 behind the ideological structures[br]of this community. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The Satmar community is also special,[br]in that Yiddish is their native language. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think they can be credited,[br]to some degree, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with keeping Yiddish alive. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 - But why Berlin?[br]- Think about it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 - What? [br]- Her crazy mama lives in Berlin! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It was very important to us,[br]to make changes in the present-day story, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from Deborah Feldman's real life. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Because she is a young woman,[br]she is a public figure, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 she is a public intellectual,[br]and we wanted Esther's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Berlin life to be very different[br]from real Deborah's Berlin life. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, in a sense, the flasbacks[br]are based on the book, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but the present-day story[br]is entirely made up. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You have to go beyond cliché, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 beyond our projection[br]into what the life might be. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in a community like this. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It was very important to us[br]to get not just the look and feel 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and costumes, and rituals,[br]and everything correct, but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to inhabit the ideas of[br]these characters' worlds, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in a way that felt authentic, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but also heightened,[br]because it's television. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I just, in general, feel like,[br]when you're showing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 different communities,[br]especially communities on the margins, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you want to get the details right. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We knew it was so important[br]to get people on board, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not just as actors, but behind[br]and in front of the camera, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who are from this community. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So one of the first people we hired[br]was Eli Rosen, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who is an actor, translator,[br]and kind of specialist, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when it comes to Yiddish. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Eli Rosen was like our guide. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He was our spirit guide. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He not only translated the scripts, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he coached the actors in Yiddish, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he helped us with all the[br]cultural details, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and he played the rabbi. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When I was given the opportunity[br]to help ensure 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that it was representative,[br]and that it is authentic, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 um...I, uh... 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 jumped at it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Directing the scenes[br]which are set within or 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the ultra-Orthodox world, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I would have been lost,[br]without this advice. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We had two research trips[br]to New York, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with our entire team,[br]to not just watch and look, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and touch everything we saw,[br]but we got access 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to meeting people who are [br]still in this community. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We really tried to offer[br]our heads of department, as much access. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 These trips, of course,[br]are like a hunt, for impressions, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for feeling atmosphere, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for just watching,[br]for just taking things in. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It was a kind of[br]image-based research. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We looked around.[br]We took so many pictures. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And we tried to inhale this world 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by the visual impressions we got. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 While we were taken around New York, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we went on a tour of Williamsburg,[br]by an ex-Satmar woman, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who had grown up there,[br]she had her first child there, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and had been married, and everything. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She walked us through[br]a lot of Williamsburg, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and a lot of traditions within[br]the exterior buildings. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Silke was taking lots of notes[br]for her world, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I was taking lots of notes 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for the characters[br]that I was going to be building. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We started shooting the past,[br]like the Williamsburg parts, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and then, we moved to Berlin. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, suddenly, something felt different. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Also, it's moving from Yiddish to English,[br]and different outfits and makeup. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Suddenly, the hair -- and there was[br]so many different hairs, right? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There is bald, and there is this,[br]and there is the wig, and -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Esty has so many faces. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I had spoken to Deborah Feldman,[br]before we started the project, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about her personal experience[br]of transitioning 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from Satmar modesty clothing,[br]to Western clothing. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She said it took her a long time,[br]and it was a slow process, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and she pushed herself [br]to experience 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wearing T shirts, [br]and showing her arm, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and showing more flesh. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She said it did take a long time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, I wanted to show that. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I wanted to reflect Deborah's experience,[br]with Esther. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It was so hard to create, in a way, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a production that is much like[br]a period film, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that plays in the world of today. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To create the costumes for that[br]was a very big challenge. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Much like the sets that played[br]in two worlds, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we had costumes that played[br]in two worlds. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Plus, a character who has an arc, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not just in her character,[br]but in her looks, and her clothes. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Our production designer[br]knew which exterior locations 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we were going to be using there, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and built, made to measure, here, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to sync with those exteriors. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We have complicated locations,[br]because we shot 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 most of the New York part,[br]here in Berlin. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 - Why Germany? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The other movies that we did before, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we can [film] through the windows, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and now, we do everything inside. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, maybe, this is a very first [br]experience, for me. Yeah. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Wolfgang is an incredible[br]cinematographer. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He has shot some of the most[br]incredible documentaries. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He is able to work with natural light. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He is able to work spontaneously. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We joke that he is like[br]the hand held steadicam. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He is good at combining[br]different kinds of light, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which, because we were matching[br]set interiors with real exteriors, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the lighting was very delicate, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and Wolfgang was [br]incredible at that. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When I watch material[br]in post production, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think it is very difficult 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to see what was inside,[br]and what was outside, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what was in New York,[br]and what was shot in Berlin. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 - She's not here? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Shira Haas is a talent.[br]What a face. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I mean, she only needs[br]to move a part of her face, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and can make you cry,[br]or laugh. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Shira is just an[br]enormous, enormous actress. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So talented. So gifted.[br]Such a hard worker. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It was pure joy. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Every day, it was pure joy,[br]to work with Shira. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think that what is really [br]beautiful in Esty, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think that she [br]really really really, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 even though she has been told[br]all her life that she is different, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 even though she feels like[br]she is different, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 she always tries very, very hard[br]to fit in. Really. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And, she really wants to find[br]that feeling of belonging and happiness. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We have, sort of, four main characters. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I mean, Esther is the main character, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but the other main characters[br]are all Satmar characters, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who are dealing with being[br]inside and outside at the same time.