New Movie 'Guns & Moses' Takes a Stand Against Anti-Semitism
Guns & Moses, a new feature film opening in 500 theaters nationwide this weekend is unconventional to say the least. Beyond the clever reference to a well-known rock band, the movie is a response to the growing wave of violence and hostility aimed at Jewish communities.
Starring Mark Feuerstein (What Women Want), Neal McDonough (The Last Rodeo), Alona Tal (Burn Notice), and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Guns and Moses shares the story of a well-liked small town rabbi who becomes an unlikely gunslinger after anti-semitic violence rocks his community.
With a direct appeal to the Jewish community as well as Christian audiences that support Israel, Guns & Moses is a disruptive, defiant action thriller that shines a bright light on these increasingly troubling episodes of hate happening across the globe.
I recently sat down with Guns & Moses director Salvador Litvak, who also co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, to discuss why it is imperative to tell the story of a rabbi who becomes an unlikely defender against violence, the importance of standing up for your community when no one else will, and his hope that this would be the biggest independent movie of all-time.
If you were trying to convince a friend to take the time to get out to the theater to see Guns & Moses what would you say to encourage them? What would your sales pitch be?
Number one, this movie is highly entertaining. It is a proper action thriller in the vein of Hitchcocks’ North by Northwest, Chinatown, or The French Connection. When we were getting ready to write and shoot it, my wife and I, who wrote it together, watched a thriller a day for two years. It took me back to film school, and we really studied the genre. The movie has to deliver as a great movie, a great thriller, and we executed that. On top of that, it's unbelievable how timely it is. Sadly, we always knew that Jews under attack who fight back was going to be relevant, but no, we could never have imagined how the world has looked since October 7, 2024.
With that said, why is it important to tell a story about a rabbi becoming an unlikely defender against violence?
I'm an Orthodox Jew which is to say a visible Jew. And when the Jew haters come and feel that they're going to strike a blow for whatever lie they bought into, that's who they're going to go after – the visible Jews. And the pace of these attacks has been accelerating. Look at what just happened lately. Oh my goodness. In Boulder, Colorado, Molotov cocktails in Washington, D.C. A shooter in Baltimore, a rabbi with a gun defending himself when he was assaulted. This is ripped from the real world. The movie was inspired by the shooting in Poway, California, in 2019. I went down to the funeral the next day of Lori Gilbert. I met the rabbi she tried to protect. I interviewed him for my platform, AT Daily, then watched him become a national figure calling on people to do mitzvahs, to do something meaningful and good in the name of this poor woman who was murdered. So, at least something good could come out of that tragedy.
So we knew that attacks on Jews were going to be relevant, but no, we never imagined what happened last October 7th. And in some ways, October 8th, is even worse. To think that in America there are people just calling out loud publicly, proudly for the murder of Jews is horrible. It's unbelievable.
For me, this is a movie about standing up for your community when no one else will. Why is this such an important message to convey to audiences at this time?
Because our values are under attack and because our country is under attack. There's a lie that's been sold to young people for decades. These are smart kids, but they're just being lied to so thoroughly and consistently that they believe this stuff. And if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. That's what's happening. These kids grow up without values. It's funny. I have a friend who's a rabbi and is also a therapist who said, “You know, it used to be that when you looked around yourself for wisdom, for authority, or for experience, where would you look? You'd look to your elders.” That was vertical learning. But now young people look horizontally. They look online and they see, what is everybody else my age saying and doing. That must be the right way.
If you want to know what's going on in the world, you have to get multiple news sources and triangulate the truth. Do your own research.
What has been the most rewarding part of working on a project that trumpets the importance of good storytelling as well as blending action, heart, and a message of resilience?
I think the most rewarding part has been the allies, the community, the cast and the crew. It's been a massive collaboration. It was a really ambitious shoot to have this much action because we watched so many thrillers getting ready to make the movie. I love the genre, but one thing I noticed is how many thrillers have a shooting in the beginning, a big shootout at the end, and maybe a chase in the middle. And the rest is tension, but not much happening. I realized that I'm going to deliver for my audience. I want real action, good action, and proper action. It's not a John Wick movie. I like those movies, but they're a little bit cartoonish.
They seem to overdo it. But here, there's just a lot going on, to keep you on the edge of your seat. But in order to achieve that on a 20 day shoot, and because we are an independent movie, that's what we had. We had to do it all in 20 days. And we had action for half of the days.
Early in the production I realized that if we were to finish on time, we needed to somehow change the process. And so the change I made is I stopped saying cut , because when you say cut, makeup comes in, hair comes in, costume comes in, the lights need to be tweaked, and you're down 10 minutes until you shoot again. So I stopped saying cut. And that's how we made it. We made every scene and every day, but really, we could not have done it without an unbelievable effort from the cast and crew. And then in post-production and distribution, people kept showing up. They're like, “I get what you're trying to do. This movie matters. I want to help.”
After audiences have had a chance to watch Guns & Moses, what do you hope audiences will take away from the viewing experience? What is your greatest hope for the film?
I would like it to be the biggest independent film of all time, to be honest with you. I want it to be huge. I want there to be a different depiction of Jews in popular culture than dead Jews from the Holocaust, or sticky Jews. You know, Larry David or Adam Sandler comedy. I like those things. I appreciate both of those genres, but there's a lot more to us than that. I would love to have Rabbi Moe (main character) become a cultural icon that shows a man can be both. He can be sweet, loving, a great dad, a man of the cloth, a member of the community. But if, God forbid, he's called on to fight, to defend his community, and to uncover the truth when other people won't stand up, you know, then he will take that on in the tradition of other heroes. That's my hope.
WATCH A TRAILER FOR GUNS & MOSES:
