The Darkest Light

Director Simon Mendes, producer Heidi Reinberg, participants/subjects SJ Schwaidelson and Donna Zerner expected to attend

In this searing portrait, filmmaker Simon Mendes examines the towering and deeply complicated shadow cast by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, the “Singing Rabbi,” whose music transformed Jewish worship across denominations and became woven into the fabric of the Jewish people. Through the perspective of his daughter, singer Neshama Carlebach—who spent years carrying forward her father’s teachings and music—the film traces a painful reckoning that emerged after numerous women publicly accused Carlebach of sexual abuse following his death in 1994. Haunted by revelations about the man she idolized, Neshama and an entire community are forced to confront the difficult question: what do you do when someone revered as a holy teacher has also caused profound harm? With compassion and complexity, Mendes crafts a thoughtful exploration of faith and accountability, capturing a community and a family still grappling with how to reconcile the comfort and ubiquity of Carlebach’s music with the disturbing allegations surrounding his legacy. —Jesse Knight

World Premiere

JFI Supported: 2022 Filmmaker in Residence

Simon Mendes is a New York–based director and producer. He has served as Associate Producer on the Netflix Original documentaries Becoming (dir. Nadia Hallgren) and Dick Johnson Is Dead (dir. Kirsten Johnson), which premiered at Sundance and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. His credits also include Charm City (dir. Marilyn Ness), which premiered at Tribeca and was Oscar-shortlisted. Mendes’s original short Dating in Place, about virtual dating during the early COVID-19 pandemic, was featured in The New Yorker. Most recently, he co-produced Sabbath Queen (dir. Sandi DuBowski), which premiered at Tribeca 2024. He is currently producing Alliance (dir. Jeremy Borison) and Take Care (dir. Esther Hertog and Tomer Slutzky). He is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Documentary Producers Alliance.