Salvador Litvak
{{short description|American film director}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}{{Infobox person
| image = Salvador Litvak on LA street.jpg
| caption = Salvador Litvak in Los Angeles in 2017
| name = Salvador Litvak
| other_names = Accidental Talmudist
| birth_date = 1965
| birth_place = Santiago, Chile
| occupation = Director, screenwriter, producer
| yearsactive = 1994–present
| spouse = Nina Davidovich Litvak
}}
Salvador Alejandro Litvak is a Chilean-American filmmaker, author and social media influencer.{{Cite web|title=Salvador Litvak – Jewish Independent|date=July 21, 2017 |url=https://www.jewishindependent.ca/tag/salvador-litvak/|access-date=2020-07-21|language=en-CA}} He has written and directed two theatrically released feature films, When Do We Eat? (2006) and Saving Lincoln (2013). As the Accidental Talmudist, Litvak shares Jewish wisdom with over one million followers on his Facebook page and hosts AT Daily, a Talmud study show on Facebook Live and YouTube.{{Cite web|title=🛎️ AT Daily!|url=https://www.accidentaltalmudist.org/atdaily/|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Accidental Talmudist|language=en-US}} His first book, "Let My People Laugh: The Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time!" was released by Skyhorse Publishing in November, 2024. {{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Donald H. |date=2024-11-20 |title=Chuckling Over a New Anthology of Jewish Humor |url=https://www.sdjewishworld.com/2024/11/20/chuckling-over-a-new-anthology-of-jewish-humor/ |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=San Diego Jewish World |language=en-US}}
Early life and education
Litvak was born in Santiago, Chile in 1965 and came to the United States at the age of five. He grew up in Riverdale and New City, New York.{{Cite web |last=Litvak |first=Salvador |date=May 4, 2016 |title=Can You Spot The Latino? |url=https://hevria.com/salvador/can-you-spot-the-latino/ |access-date=November 15, 2023 |website=Hevria}} He majored in English at Harvard, where he rowed on the heavyweight crew team.{{Cite web|title=Harvard-Yale: The Last Race {{!}} Sports {{!}} The Harvard Crimson|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1987/6/10/harvard-yale-the-last-race-pit-began/|access-date=2020-07-21|website=www.thecrimson.com}} He then moved on to NYU Law School, earned his Juris Doctor degree, and passed the New York State Bar Exam.{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishindependent.ca/an-accidental-journey/|title=An Accidental Journey|last1=|first1=|date=July 21, 2017|website=Jewish Independent|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} Between moving to the US and graduating from law school, Litvak went by an anglicized version of his middle name, Alex.
Litvak stated in an Instagram reel that he was relatively secular in his youth, but reconnected with his Judaism after a period spiritual seeking and his grandmother’s passing.{{Cite web |last=Litvak |first=Salvador |date=February 15, 2024 |title=📜 My Origin Tale! 😊 |url=https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3YxAB5vbtd/?igsh=MXVybDN3YzVwdDNubA== |website=Instagram.com}}
While attending law school, Litvak mounted a series of multimedia performance art pieces in Greenwich Village.{{Cite web|title=Salvador Litvak and Adam Ferguson from Modern Day Philosophers with Daniel Lobell|url=https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=55115049|access-date=2020-07-21|website=www.stitcher.com|language=en}} After finishing law school, he took a job as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Skadden Arps while continuing his writing. After two years, he left the practice of law to enroll in the graduate Directors' Program at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Career
Litvak formed a production company, Pictures From the Fringe.{{Cite web|title=Katie Chats: Salvador Alex Litvak, Director (Pictures From the Fringe), Saving Lincoln, 03/12 - YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vw3zkWyFxo|access-date=2020-07-21|website=www.youtube.com}} With his wife Nina Davidovich, Litvak wrote When Do We Eat?, a comedic Passover film about a dysfunctional Jewish family celebrating "the world's fastest seder."{{Cite web|first= |last=|date=2006-04-12|title=A soup of many flavors|url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-xpm-2006-04-12-gnp-reel12-story.html|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Burbank Leader|language=en-US}} Litvak directed the film and partnered with executive producer Horatio Kemeny to make When Do We Eat? independently. The film's ensemble cast includes Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Lerner, Max Greenfield, Shiri Appleby, Ben Feldman and Jack Klugman in his final film role. When Do We Eat? was released theatrically by THINKFilm in 34 cities in 2006.
Litvak followed it up with Saving Lincoln in 2013, based on the true story of Abraham Lincoln and his self-appointed bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon.{{Cite web|last= |first= |date=2013-02-20|title=Filmmaker blends vintage photos with green screen to make drama|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2013-feb-20-la-fi-ct-on-location-saving-lincoln20130220-story.html|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} Saving Lincoln features a visual style invented by Litvak named CineCollage, in which live action elements are inserted into 3D environments composited from vintage photographs.{{Cite web|date=2013-02-12|title=In His Own Words: Writer-Director Salvador Litvak Shares a Scene From His Micro-budget CineCollage Film, 'Saving Lincoln'|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2013/02/in-his-own-words-writer-director-salvador-litvak-shares-a-scene-from-his-micro-budget-cinecollage-film-saving-lincoln-41180/|access-date=2020-07-21|website=IndieWire|language=en}} Litvak raised post-production funds on Kickstarter.{{Cite web|title=Saving Lincoln – film release!|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/salvadorlitvak/saving-lincoln-the-movie|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Kickstarter|language=en}} He contributed an essay to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library's book Gettysburg Replies.{{Cite book|last=Foundation|first=Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjjHBwAAQBAJ&q=salvador+litvak&pg=PA105|title=Gettysburg Replies: The World Responds to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address|date=2015-04-01|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4930-1766-9|language=en}}
In 2012, Litvak finished reading the entire Talmud after participating in the 7.5 year Daf Yomi cycle.{{Cite web|last=Gold|first=Rabbi Yoel|date=2017-11-01|title=The Accidental Talmudist|url=https://www.amimagazine.org/2017/11/01/the-accidental-talmudist/|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Ami Magazine|language=en-US}} Wanting to share the wisdom he learned, Litvak started a blog{{Cite web|title=Accidental Talmudist|url=https://www.accidentaltalmudist.org/|access-date=2020-09-09|website=Accidental Talmudist|language=en-US}} and a Facebook page called Accidental Talmudist. Together with his wife Nina, Litvak shares Jewish wisdom, faith, culture, history and music with over a million followers.{{cite web|last1=Gocs|first1=Danny|title=Roller Coaster Ride for Jewish Filmmaker|url=https://www.jewishnews.net.au/rollercoaster-ride-for-filmmaker/35561|website=The Australian Jewish News|date=6 June 2014|accessdate=21 July 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Fishman|first1=Yehudis|title=A Remarkable Man Comes to Boulder|url=http://boulderjewishnews.org/2017/a-remarkable-man-comes-to-boulder/|website=Boulder Jewish News|date=5 June 2017|accessdate=21 July 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2017/09/19/accidental-talmudist-comes-to-downtown-disney-to-blow-his-shofar-rams-horn-ahead-of-rosh-hashanah/|title=Accidental Talmudist comes to Downtown Disney to blow his shofar (ram's horn) ahead of Rosh Hashana|date=2017-09-19|website=Orange County Register|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/4437735/jewish/Positivity-Bias-Strikes-a-Deep-Chord-With-International-Audiences.htm|title='Positivity Bias' Strikes a Deep Chord With International Audiences - First printing quickly sold out; requests coming in for translations|website=www.chabad.org|language=en|access-date=2019-08-21}} Litvak also edits the Table For Five column for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles in which in five writers comment on a verse from the weekly Torah portion.{{Cite web|title=table for five Archives|url=https://jewishjournal.com/tag/table-for-five/|access-date=2020-07-21|website=Jewish Journal|language=en-US}} In 2019, Litvak partnered with the Jewish Journal to launch The Accidental Talmudist Podcast.{{Cite web|url=https://jewishjournal.com/podcasts/accidental-talmudist-podcast/302891/stephen-tobolowsky-my-adventures-with-god/|title=Stephen Tobolowsky: My Adventures with God|last=Litvak|first=Salvador|date=2019-08-13|website=Jewish Journal|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-08-21}}
Litvak teaches AT Daily, a livestreaming Talmud class on Facebook and YouTube.{{Cite web |title=🛎️ AT Daily! |url=https://www.accidentaltalmudist.org/atdaily/ |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=Accidental Talmudist |language=en-US}}
In December 2022 principal photography wrapped on action-thriller Guns & Moses, directed by Litvak and featuring Mark Feuerstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney, Christopher Lloyd and Alona Tal.{{Cite web |last=Reul |first=Katie |date=2022-12-14 |title=Mark Feuerstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney, Christopher Lloyd Starring in 'Guns & Moses' (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2022/film/actors/mark-feuerstein-neal-mcdonough-among-leads-announced-for-man-in-the-long-black-coat-upcoming-western-exclusive-1235461546/ |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} Guns & Moses is the story of a beloved small-town rabbi who becomes an unlikely gunslinger after his community is violently attacked. The film was due for release in 2024.{{Cite web |last=Lobell |first=Kylie Ora |date=2024-06-20 |title='Guns and Moses': The Heroic Hasid |url=https://jewishjournal.com/cover_story/372432/guns-and-moses-the-heroic-hasid/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}
Salvador Litvak is an active member of Magen Am USA, a security organization that trains Jews to become fully licensed armed guards for their synagogues.{{Cite web |last=Lobell |first=Kylie Ora |date=2023-10-29 |title=Magen Am Offering Protection, Safety Tips to LA's Jewish Community |url=https://jewishjournal.com/community/364527/magen-am-offering-protection-safety-tips-to-las-jewish-community/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}} His extensive firearm training and knowledge of gun safety lent authenticity to the range scenes in Guns & Moses. Litvak said. “The cliché in movies is that when a civilian learns to wield a gun, there’s a 30-second montage of him shooting cans off a fence, and suddenly he’s an expert gunman. We made sure that the firearm use was accurate.”{{Cite web |last=Lobell |first=Kylie Ora |date=2024-06-20 |title='Guns and Moses': The Heroic Hasid |url=https://jewishjournal.com/cover_story/372432/guns-and-moses-the-heroic-hasid/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}
Litvak tells classic Jewish jokes on Instagram and TikTok. After his videos started going viral, Litvak signed a book deal with Skyhorse Publishing. His first book "Let My People Laugh, The Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time!" was released on November 27, 2024.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1030914|Salvador Litvak}}
- [http://www.jewishjournal.com/cover_story/article/talmud_the_seven-year_cycle_20120808 The seven-year cycle by Salvador Litvak]
- [http://www.thelmagazine.com/newyork/talking-pictures-salvador-litvak-from-when-do-we-eat/Content?oid=1136149 Talking Pictures: Salvador Litvak from When Do We Eat ]
- [http://www.jewishjournal.com/accidentaltalmudist/item/about About Salvador Litvak, from Jewish Journal]
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Category:People from Santiago, Chile
Category:Chilean people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Category:Chilean people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
Category:Film directors from New York City
Category:UCLA Film School alumni
Category:Harvard University alumni