PITTSBURGH, Pa (AP) 鈥� Filmmaker Trish Adlesic was in Pittsburgh celebrating her father鈥檚 91st birthday on October 25, 2018. Two days later, a gunman walked into the nearby and killed 11 people in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
鈥淚t shook me to my core,鈥� said Adlesic, who grew up 10 minutes away from the synagogue. 鈥淚 was heartbroken.鈥�
The 鈥淕asland鈥� filmmaker had been living in New York with her family, but after the shooting decided to come back to Pittsburgh to 鈥済et to work.鈥� She鈥檇 stay there for the next three years, cultivating relationships with the survivors and families of the victims to make a film, 鈥淎 Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting,鈥� which is currently streaming on HBO Max.
Adlesic was wary of giving the story the 鈥渢rue crime鈥� treatment, though. She鈥檇 been through trauma training and wanted to be sensitive with the subjects, who opened their homes to her and told her their stories.
鈥淚 wanted to really give agency to the family members and to the survivors to tell it the way they wanted,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was most interested in what they had to say and what we could learn from it. I really believed in weaving their voices together by asking them all the same questions. And I knew there would be a variety of responses because not everybody feels the same way about every subject that we鈥檙e addressing in the film.鈥�
The film has taken on an even greater significance in recent months, amid in the United States and beyond. The Anti-Defamation League recorded 2,717 incidents of harassment, vandalism or violence targeting Jews in 2021 鈥� the highest annual total since it began tracking these incidents in 1979.
The Daily Beast鈥檚 critic Nick Schager called it 鈥渢he documentary Kanye West needs to see.鈥� Ye, the rap superstar formerly known as Kanye West, drew after he voiced antisemitic stereotypes in interviews and social media, including a tweet that he would soon go 鈥渄eath con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.鈥�
鈥淭o be approaching 2023 and to see the alarming rate of antisemitic tropes and statements being made, it鈥檚 just hard to believe,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have to look at what鈥檚 going on and why this is happening. As Rabbi Jeffrey Myers says in the film: It starts with antisemitism. It鈥檚 the moral decay of humanity and it branches out to every group who is affected by discrimination and identity based violence. And we need to intervene. We need to be attentive and vigilant. The only way that I felt we could approach it is by really hearing from those that have lived through this.鈥�
To help get the film over the finish line, Adlesic reached out to several prominent Pittsburgh natives, like Michael Keaton, to see if they might be able to help. Keaton, Mark Cuban and Billy Porter all came aboard as executive producers.
She emailed Cuban on a whim and less than 10 minutes later he responded with a grant to cover the editing costs.
鈥淪everal of my friends are Tree of Life members, others lost family members in the massacre,鈥� Cuban said. 鈥淚 hoped this would be a small way to honor them.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping it sheds some light on this country鈥檚 struggle against white supremacy and maybe sparks a dialogue about all of us standing strong together in this fight against hate,鈥� Keaton said in an email. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a swelling tide in this world of divisiveness and hatred. And so if this is a battle about racism, antisemitism, inequality, general hatred, well, it鈥檚 not enough just to fight it, we鈥檝e got to win it.鈥�
And Porter she knew grew up near the synagogue, but she had no idea just how close he was. Not only had he sung at Bar Mitzvahs at Tree of Life multiple times, but the Jewish Community Center was also a big help to his mother, when she was suffering from a degenerative condition and needed places to walk to keep herself active. The organization gave her a pass to use their facilities for free.
鈥淭rish asked me because I鈥檓 famous and I鈥檓 from Pittsburgh,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淭he fact that I鈥檓 associated for real with it, for real with the people. Just happened to be a part of it.鈥�
But Porter, too, is feeling the urgency of this story.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like we鈥檙e all under attack,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 no longer acceptable to not be political. We need to engage. I think that鈥檚 what this documentary does. And it鈥檚 painful to watch, but you have to feel the pain, let it wash over you. We have work to do.鈥�
Porter added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a reminder that love and forgiveness are the only path forward.鈥�
Adlesic was thrilled that these three 鈥渟ons of Pittsburgh鈥� supported the movie and that it鈥檚 connecting with audiences thanks to the global platform of HBO.
鈥淭he response to the film is everything we could have hoped for,鈥� Adlesic said. 鈥淚 really think that people are understanding the urgency and denouncing antisemitism and identity based violence by hearing their voices and then understanding the horrendous impact this type of vile violence has on people鈥檚 lives.鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
