Catalogue of Noses - Review

 "Catalog of Noses" is a short musical comedy, which was presented at the 12 Music in film festival, which took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this month. It tells the story of Emily, a Jewish teenage actress, who on the day of her scheduled nose job is confronted by her mother, a plastic surgeon and the weight of her cultural identity. Through original songs that parody "The Violinist on the Roof," we follow Emily’s emotional state as she deals with this decision and discovers disturbing truths about the consequences of assimilation.
The film lasts 11 and a half minutes and satirizes in some way certain stereotypes. Directed by Josie Andrews and written by Lauren Schaffel, who also acts, has a professional bill that won him to be official selection and enter the contest.
Lauren explains to us. I grew up as a child actress in Los Angeles and starred in many mainstream comedies like Will and Grace, Still Standing and several Peanuts movies and series (such as Lucy’s voice). My dream was to be a regular in a comedy, but most of the roles I auditioned for were things like "Freak Girl Number 2" and "Nerdy Little Rascal". Exactly what every girl dreams of being, right? I was constantly told that my BIG Jewish nose was holding me back... I wrote
"Catalogue of noses" to combat "Jewface", the harmful and false representation of Jews in entertainment, including stereotypes of a large nose prosthesis and an affected Yiddish accent. These stereotypes still exist in Hollywood today and are based on centuries of underlying antisemitism. Since the antidote to hatred is comedy, I set out to tell a film that mocks Jewish beauty standards and stereotypes with an educational touch.

Having been a child actor in Hollywood, I have faced the pressure of having to change my appearance (specifically my nose) to meet American beauty standards. These ideas have become more current with celebrities like Sarah Silverman, who has spoken openly about a newer definition of "Jewish face" in casting non-Jewish actors to play Jewish characters. In her podcast, Sarah Silverman talks openly about some recent examples of Jewish faces, such as Bradley Cooper and Helen Mirren, who used large prosthetic noses to play Leonard Bernstein and Golda Meir, respectively; Rachel Brosnahan in "The Wonderful Mrs. Maisel", who adopted a dialect with Jewish sound; and Kathryn Hahn (non-Jewish) who was chosen to play Joan Rivers.
I am proud to work with a team of predominantly Jewish women in front and behind the camera to tell this timely and close story. This film is for the Jewish women who have made sacrifices to assimilate into Western culture, whether they have undergone surgery to make their nose look gentler, or as in the story of The Violinist on the Roof, have renounced religious traditions and practices as a means of survival.
However, this story is not exclusive to beans! We live in a world where pressures to assimilate have increased for people of all backgrounds, especially with our reliance on social media that constantly demonstrate unattainable beauty standards. Turn on Instagram and you’ll see a variety of filters available to "retouch" one’s appearance, including the infamous "nose filter" to alter the size of your nose as well as enhance eyes, lips and body. My goal is to shed light on the universality of the need to seek acceptance and achieve unrealistic standards of beauty as a means of survival and acceptance.