Roesch NJJFF: The Floaters

Opening Film

Post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers!

Director: Rachel Israel
2025, USA, 101 minutes
English with English subtitles
Feature

Just fired from her rock band, Nomi (Jackie Tohn, Nobody Wants This) takes a last-resort job from her best friend Mara (Sarah Podemski, Reservation Dogs), who is now the director of their Jewish sleepaway camp. As Mara contends with all manner of chaos at camp – filmed at Camp Tel Yehuda – she tasks Nomi with supervising an eclectic group of teenage misfits. Nomi and the teens must confront their insecurities and band together to save their camp by winning a Maccabiah against their overprivileged rival camp.

Featuring a cast of veteran comic actors (Aya Cash, Seth Green, Steve Guttenberg) and hilarious up-and-coming teenage actors, The Floaters offers multigenerational perspectives on Jewish summer camp with affection for all the ways camp shapes identity – Jewish and otherwise.