| Awake Zion | |
| Director: | Monica Haim |
| Runtime: | 60 min. |
| Language: | English, Hebrew and Iyaric |
Awake Zion is a 2005 documentary by Monica Haim that explores the connection between Jews and Rastafarians.
In Awake Zion, Haim travels from Manhattan to Jamaica and Israel, interviewing Rastafarians and rabbis to highlight similarities between their worldviews. Haim, a young Jewish woman, says she first perceived a connection between Jews and Rastafarians at a reggae concert.
Haim interviews Super Dane, an African American DJ in the Brooklyn reggae scene, who is shocked by Matisyahu, a Hasidic reggae artist from White Plains, New York. The film also features Jamaican-born Israeli rapper Yehoshua Sofer.[1]
Most reviews of Awake Zion emphasize the documentary's social conscience in trying to bridge a gap between two seemingly different cultures. Rather than being scholarly, Haim's tone is described as "gently irreverent".