Likeable loser Menashe Lustig, an employee at a kosher supermarket, became a widower a year ago. We’re in the heart of Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the rabbi has the right to prevent the kindhearted man from raising his son until he remarries. Menashe’s road to happiness and to gaining respect from the dismissive bunch around him seems a bumpy one, but the unlikely hero does not give up. Joshua Z Weinstein, a debutant in features, embraces his extensive documentary experience as he pulls back the veil of mystery surrounding a world steeped in myriad rules – that of the firm adherents of the Jewish pietist movement. And in his film, where predominantly Hasidic nonpro actors appear in front of the camera, he works with respect, feeling, and a gentle but solid layering of authenticity encasing a universal story. “Yes, being a Hasid can be about a certain seriousness and quiet,” says Weinstein. “But there’s also a lot of fun and a lot of camaraderie, the kinds of things we all long for.”