Many awkward topics of conversation might spring up at your familyยs Labor Day get-together, but a murder cover-up probably isnยt one of them. Thatยs not the case for the family in The Barbeque People. The 2003 drama, screening today as part of the Jewish Community Centerยs Israeli Film Series, depicts a family of Jewish-Iraqi immigrants firing up the grill to celebrate the founding of their adopted homeland. Secret shames — career failure, doubt about the future, infidelity and, at the extreme end, murder — start to bubble up to the surface. You donยt have to be Jewish to thank Elohim theyยre not your family.
This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2007.