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Paradise Grove (15)

• Consumer Advice: Contains strong language
• Run time: 1 hour 33 mins

• Genre: Drama
• Release date: 20th May 2005

• Starring: Ron Moody, Rula Lenska, Lee Blakemore
• Directed by: Charles Harris

• Official Website: www.paradisegrove.co.uk
• Distributor: Storyline Distribution

Plot Synopsis

Starring Oscar-nominated Ron Moody and Rula Lenska, this award-winning Jewish tragic-comedy revolves around a dysfunctional family riven along racial and religious lines. Confused, half-black half-Jewish teenager Keith Perry who works in his mother’s Jewish old age home Paradise Grove. Searching for his Jewish roots, Keith wants to be close to his irascible Jewish grandfather Izzie Goldberg (Ron Moody). A retired lingerie salesman, Izzie refuses to accept the fact his grandson is half black and uncircumcised. Whilst his mother (Rula Lenska) is preoccupied with reliving the Sixties, helping herself to the medicine cabinet and sleeping with the local doctor, Keith encounters sexual opportunities from a mysterious fellow worker. As Izzie’s health worsens, the bond between grandfather and grandson is stretched to the limit.

One of few contemporary Jewish films to be made in the UK in the last decade, this bittersweet coming-of-age(s) story has been widely acclaimed, selling out as its London film festival screenings. A debut by acclaimed writer-director Charles Harris, it features a memorable "Jewish jazz" sound track by Roddy Skeaping and the Burning Bush, Britain's foremost Klezmer band.