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‘My love letter to the Jewish community in New Zealand’

Kid Sister brings ideas to the screen that a Jewish New Zealander, never thought she would hear handled in a Kiwi accent.

STSapeer Mayron,

imone Nathan isn’t trying to tell the story of Jews in 21st-century New Zealand. Just one Jew, in one family in Auckland, trying to make her way in the world like anyone else. Her new five-episode show Kid Sister, on TVNZ OnDemand, is Aotearoa’s first TV show created by, and about, a Jewish New Zealander.

Nathan, 30, calls the show her ‘‘love letter’’ to the New Zealand Jewish community she was raised in.

It’s the ‘‘loosely’’ autobiographical story of Lulu Emanuel, played by Nathan, hiding her long-term boyfriend Ollie (Paul Williams, her real-life boyfriend) from her parents, who desperately want her to marry within the Jewish community.

Kid Sister brings ideas to the local screen that I, also a Jewish New Zealander, never thought I’d hear handled in a Kiwi accent.

From the genetic complications brought on by ‘‘marrying in’’ to some of our less famous festivals, watching my culture on screen was a comfort I didn’t know I was missing.

Nathan does not expect Kid Sister to tell every New Zealand Jew’s story. It’s not meant to be a peek into a closeted community like Netflix’s Shtisel or Unorthodox, and Lulu is no local Fran Fine or Larry David.

The family’s modern orthodoxy in the show will be familiar to many Jews in New Zealand, even if it’s not their own family’s practice. In one scene, the parents bless their children before the Sabbath meal with the traditional prayers.

In the opening moments at Lulu’s grandmother’s funeral, the crowd is reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish, one of the holiest prayers in Judaism.

‘‘I just thought to myself, we have to start somewhere in terms of having a slightly more religious Jewish show,’’ Nathan said.

‘‘We have Curb Your Enthusiasm, and we have Broad City, and we have The Nanny, and we have all of those shows that are wonderful representations of Judaism, but it’s not my experience, and it’s not your experience, and neither of our shows would perfectly reflect each other’s experience either.

‘‘But you really hope that no matter what culture the person is from they can watch it and be like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s relatable’ and see little moments in it where they see themselves because if no-one can relate to it, then you’ve failed.’’

he central premise of the story – that Lulu’s parents want her to marry Jewish – may not seem the most obvious story to go with at first. But as Nathan reminds me, Jews didn’t invent the concept.

‘‘I know I am not the only person who has had these conversations. There are many groups worldwide who are like, ‘Please find a nice ‘____’ boy, or a nice ‘____’ girl to settle down with,’’ she laughed.

Even so, bringing a distinctly Jewish story to TV was important to Nathan. After writing a wealth of entirely fictional scripts and pilots, she had produced nothing personal.

In 2016, it was finally time to sit down and write something deeply ‘‘her’’.

That’s not to say she is only Jewish, however.

It’s a struggle many minority groups face – either being made to feel like the ‘‘token Jew’’ in the room, or otherwise accidently reminding everyone all the time of your Jewishness.

‘‘But I contain multitudes, for sure,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s a Jewish story, and it’s also a Kiwi story, and the cross-section of that is very juicy.’’

Kid Sister is also a female-centred, female-led production (written by Nathan, directed by Aidee Walker, and produced by Emily Anderton and executive producer Harriet Crampton) that sheds light on some uniquely female experiences.

‘‘I do think the show is also a great representation of people who get regular UTIs,’’ Nathan laughed.

‘‘There are a lot of us out there and people need to talk about it.

‘‘And also, very importantly, people who don’t want to have kids, and people who aren’t ready to have babies, and women who even if it’s not for the sake of their career, or not having enough money or time to raise a child, just somebody who has never seen themselves being a parent, that’s a really big part of this story.’’

Entertainment

en-nz

2022-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281973201275833

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