Seventh Art Releasing has acquired rights to Aaron Wolf’s “Restoring Tomorrow,” which documents the Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s restoration, Variety has learned exclusively.
Seventh Art, which specializes in handling documentaries, plans to release “Restoring Tomorrow” on a city-by-city basis this summer. A companion series will also premiere this summer on Michael Jay Solomon’s Truli Network, featuring Wolf’s travels across the United States visiting communities.
The film is produced by Tim Nuttall and directed by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Wolf for his Howling Wolf Productions. The Wilshire Boulevard Temple was built in 1929 by Hollywood moguls with a 10-story dome and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was renovated between 2008 and 2013.
“Like many younger adults, I lost my connection with the place I grew up and with my religion,” Wolf said. “While making the film, I felt I was becoming something of a microcosm for my generation, as I came to reconnect with my roots and heritage. In these turbulent times, on a much larger scale, this film is really all about connection, between present and past and into the future. The Temple’s restoration has dramatically demonstrated what every community can achieve, if we dig down deep and reconnect with who we are and what we stand for.”
“Restoring Tomorrow” also profiles Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Senior Rabbi Steve Leder and his determination to raise $150 million for the restoration.
Seventh Art, founded by Udy Epstein and Jonathan Cordish, released “The Long Way Home,” which won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Other titles have included “Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown” and “Glory Daze,” starring Ben Affleck.
“Uniting communities with a common sense of moral purpose is one of the greatest challenges we are faced with these days,” said Epstein. “It ranges from congregations in small rural towns to large cities. As is the case in ‘Restoring Tomorrow,’ the restoration of this amazing, monumental and historic building catapulted a renewal of purpose and benefited the Los Angeles population at large.”
