Review: ‘93Queen’ Offers an Insider's View of Women's Lives in a Self-Contained Hasidic Community

Review: ‘93Queen’ Offers an Insider's View of Women's Lives in a Self-Contained Hasidic Community

As shot, directed and co-produced by Paula Eiselt, this heartening, unexpected story shows what happens when a group of Hasidic women, led by tireless, charismatic attorney Rachel "Ruchie" Freier, decided to create the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in all of New York City.

Doc Star of the Month: Judge Ruchie Freier, Paula Eiselt's '93Queen'

 Doc Star of the Month: Judge Ruchie Freier, Paula Eiselt's '93Queen'

Enter Rachel "Ruchie" Freier to upend my preconceived notions. Freier is the pigeonhole-avoiding star of filmmaker Paula Eiselt's 93Queen, a fascinating look at America’s very first all-female EMT corps—started in the heart of Borough Park, Brooklyn, home to one of the world's largest communities of Hasidic Jews.

‘Nobody Wanted This Story’: Paula Eiselt And Heidi Reinberg On Making 93Queen At IFP Week 2018

‘Nobody Wanted This Story’: Paula Eiselt And Heidi Reinberg On Making 93Queen At IFP Week 2018

This is a rags-to-riches story, so naturally it begins with loneliness and existential despair. It begins around five years ago with Eiselt, an Orthodox filmmaker, having an idea about following certain women in Borough Park who are forming an all-female ambulance corps.