Photo by Anika Molnar/Netflix The limited series “Unorthodox,” about a young woman who leaves her marriage and the Charedi community, became a critical and popular success after its March premiere on Netflix. Now, it has been honored with eight Emmy Award nominations.
Berlin-based creator-writer Anna Winger was on vacation with her family in the French countryside when she received the news that the series, lead actress Shira Haas, director Maria Schrader and her script were among the nominees. “I got out of the pool and my phone started blowing up. We were all on a group chat, the actors, our editors, designers, everybody. I was smiling for 24 hours,” she told the Journal.
Haas, at home in Tel Aviv, watched the nominations announcement live with co-star Amit Rahav, her on-screen husband and real-life good friend, and posted their ecstatic reaction on Twitter. “It’s so rare that you get to create something that’s so intimate and then it’s recognized like that,” Winger said. “It’s unexpected and thrilling. I’m so gobsmacked.”
As happy as she is about her own nomination, “I feel like we share all of them, you know? It was a really collective process so as far as I’m concerned, the nominations are for the whole group,” she said. “We’re so proud that so many people watched the show in the first place and loved it. But it’s really nice to have the work recognized by the [Television] Academy and our peers. I hope that we can keep working on great projects that are meaningful.”
Winger was surprised and gratified that the series was embraced globally. “It crossed borders of faith and culture, and people found the story relatable and identified with Esty and her journey,” she said, pointing out that Google searches for “Unorthodox eruv” and “Unorthodox Passover” increased. “A lot of people told me how much they learned from it. We never set out to make an anthropology of this community, but the thing that was surprisingly satisfying was that people all over the world connected to it.”
“We never set out to make an anthropology of this [Jewish] community, but the thing that was surprisingly satisfying was that people all over the world connected to it.” — Anna Winger
While the English dialogue was dubbed in international versions, the Yiddish was not. “It was satisfying and surprising for us that people didn’t see it as an obstacle to relating to the characters and understanding the show,” Winger said. They weren’t put off by the language. It was very important to us that it be in Yiddish. It’s part of our culture and we wanted to be part of bringing it back. It’s such an expressive language with so many words that are now incorporated into English. I was really excited that people got into it.”
There are no current plans for an “Unorthodox” sequel, but Winger has several other projects in the works about Jewish identity. She has optioned two books, one set in London after World War II “at this post-apocalyptic moment when a lot of young people had to reboot their Jewish lives from scratch. The other is about Jewish refugees in Marseilles in 1940.”
Winger, who has her own production company, is developing and writing additional movie and television projects. “There’s a series set in Paris and London with some Jewish characters and an Israeli element as well,” she said, noting that she’s been making considerable writing headway during her time at home since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s more than likely that “Unorthodox” cast members will play some of the parts. “I think that many of them will be a part of anything I do next,” Winger said. “There are a couple of roles that I’ve thought of specifically for Amit, Shira and Jeff [Wilbusch]. They’re so talented, as are some of the young German actors in [‘Unorthodox’].”
Winger also is an executive producer on “Suspicion,” the Apple TV+ remake of the Israeli drama “False Flag,” starring Uma Thurman, which suspended production because of the pandemic. “I ran the writers’ room in Berlin in the summer of 2018 as we were reimagining the plot, but was less involved after that because of ‘Unorthodox,’ ” she said.
A thriller, about the kidnapping of the son of an American businesswoman played by Thurman, “it couldn’t be more different than ‘Unorthodox’ but it’s been a lot of fun to work on,” Winger said. “With adaptations, I think you have to kill the original and reinvent it; make it your own. It has become its own animal. It wasn’t easy to remake a show that was already really good.” With shooting tentatively set to resume this fall under COVID-19 production rules, “the challenge is to figure out how to shoot it under the circumstances,” Winger said.
Although Winger has been grateful for the technology that has enabled her to stay connected with family, friends and colleagues during lockdown and virtually visit synagogues and JCC’s all over the country to promote “Unorthodox,” the fact that the Emmys ceremony will be a cyber affair instead of a Hollywood gala is a disappointment.
“It stinks. There’s no two ways about that. I can’t believe the year we’re nominated is the year with no ceremony,” she said. “Would I have liked to get dressed up and drink champagne with everyone I worked with? Definitely. But it is what it is. [The producers] have some cool ideas about how to bring the world together for this, virtually. I assume they’re still figuring it out but I’m sure they’ll come up with a great way to do it.”
Even though the Emmys won’t have the usual glitz and glamour, Winger still plans to dress for the occasion. Look for her in a dress “with plenty of sparkle.”
The 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards” will air Sept. 20 on ABC.
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