Created by Beachwood alums Ben Ducoff and Amnon Carmi, Yaniv follows the adventure of a teacher trying to raise funds for a high school production of Little Shop of Horrors. 

When Bernstein [played by Ben Ducoff] discovers that his school does not have enough money to fund the fall show, he decides to infiltrate New York’s orthodox Jewish community in order to raise money by joining a brutal card game of yaniv, “the blackjack of the Jewish people.”  

Yaniv is a comedy inspired by Ducoff’s experiences teaching in the South Bronx trying to get theater, film and performing arts programming off the ground. The film is packed with jokes and references that appeal to all audiences, though the film also has many Jewish themes.

Bernstein goes to lengthy measures to raise funds for his school’s theater production. He utilizes yaniv skills he’s learned from his grandfather and recruits a friend, a math teacher who’s a recovering gambling addict. 

Ducoff and Carmi overcame many obstacles in making the film. When they began sending the script to their contacts, they were met with praise, but were also told that the film would be impossible to make as it required too high of a budget. 

This resulted in the two seeking to utilize as many resources as possible to make the project themselves. They reached out to the New York City Board of Education, wanting to make the film an educational experience for students. Furthermore, they reached out to friends and acquaintances to borrow items they needed, such as vans and sets to use for filming. 

In the process of filming during another wave of COVID-19, the production lost a lot of momentum, leading to the hiring of people the filmmakers weren’t familiar with. Though the film appears to have taken millions to make, its budget was only $600,000. 

“We had to learn to not freak out, to stay calm and figure out a solution even if it wasn’t the best solution, and miraculously, or maybe just because, you know, when you stay cool and put your heads together, you can get things done,” Ducoff said. “We were able to get it done.”

Though the cast features well-known Yiddish actor Adam B. Shapiro alongside actress Catherine Curtain, the vast majority of the cast consists of people the filmmakers knew personally. For instance, Bernstein’s students in the movie were Ducoff’s current students at the time of filming.

“Students coming together to make art is the best thing ever,” Ducoff said. “It’s so much more engaging than sitting in a classroom and listening to someone tell you what’s what. Getting in there, getting your feet and hands dirty, and making something: that is education to us. Filmmaking and theater production are really just the embodiment of that.” 

Ducoff expresses how the main purpose of the film is to be both an enjoyable and educational experience for the viewer.

“I hope that they walk out of the theater with a full understanding of the plot and enjoy themselves and don’t feel like they just wasted 90 minutes of their lives,” Ducoff said. “I want people to really feel the power of this intersection of education and filmmaking.”  

Ducoff and Carmi graduated from BHS in 2011. Ducoff wrote a number of articles for the Beachcomber and Carmi contributed illustrations.

Yaniv is scheduled for screenings at the Miami Jewish Film Festival on Jan. 12, in Chicago on Feb. 9 and Philadelphia on Feb. 22. For more information on  the film, including screenings, go to yanivfilm.com.