Reel Affirmations: The Nation's LGBT Film Festival 2008

Circumcision is the most common medical procedure in the world-performed on one-fifth of the global male population. But is it a legitimate cultural tradition or an unnecessary mutilation?

As a 30-year-old gay Jewish Israeli man happily partnered with a German Christian, director Oden Lotan feels that a piece of his own identity might be missing as a result of his being circumcised as a baby. In The Quest for the Missing Piece, he explores his sense of identity and community by looking at the custom of circumcision (brith) in the Jewish tradition as well as in other cultures. He also discusses the modern-day decisions to cut or not to cut by friends and family members, many of whom feel that it's important to help protect their children from standing apart as different from their peers-a viewpoint that parallels the director's own issues of acceptance and tolerance as a gay man.

Hebrew, German (English subtitles)

Sponsored by: Sixth and I Synagogue and DCJCC

View the Trailer