The Filmcoop-produced Canadian short-form series Less Than Kosher will make its world premiere at next month’s Toronto Jewish Film Festival (TJFF).

The 7 x 10-minute musical comedy (pictured) was created and written by Shaina Silver-Baird and Michael Goldlist, who are also executive producers.

It’s directed by Daniel Rosenberg and produced by Toronto-based Filmcoop’s Emily Andrews and Laura Nordin, according to press materials for the festival, which announced its lineup on Monday (May 8).

Described as “a cross between Shiva Baby and The Jazz Singer,” Less Than Kosher follows a “self-proclaimed bad Jew” who goes on a wild journey of self-discovery as she becomes a Cantor at her family’s synagogue.

The Toronto Jewish Film Foundation will run the 31st TJFF from June 1 to 11, screening 77 films and series from 20 countries both in-person and online at tjff.com. Theatres include the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, and Innis Town Hall.

The lineup also includes a sneak preview of the upcoming broadcast special Skinnamarink: A Sharon, Lois and Bram Celebration (Wildling Pictures, Hawkeye Pictures), which celebrates the 45th anniversary of the Canadian children’s musical trio. Dan Slater directed the documentary special, which was filmed at Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre Centre last November.

Sharon, Lois and Bram group members Sharon Hampson and Bram Morrison will also be on hand for a live musical performance and a screening of their 1979 CBC special Sharon, Lois & Bram Downtown.

Other Canadian titles that are not world premieres in the lineup include the Eli Gorn-directed Burning Off The Page: The Life and Art of Celia Dropkin, an Erotic Yiddish Poet, which is produced by Gorn and Bracha (Bee) Feldman; and Canada/Greece copro Queen of the Deuce (Storyline Entertainment), directed by Valerie Kontakos, who also produced alongside Ed Barreveld and Despina Pavlaki.

The festival’s opening-night title is Philippe Le Guay’s French film The Man in the Basement.

Photo courtesy of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival