We asked you to send us your best ideas for Hanukkah movies. We chose our top 8. You voted. And now, we are so excited to announce the winner of Hey Alma’s seventh annual Hanukkah Movie Pitch challenge!
Not coming soon to any theaters near you — because, again, we are not a movie studio but merely a Jewish website — is Milo Cristol’s original Hanukkah film, “A Hanukkah to Remember.”
The real Hanukkah miracle is that Hey Alma’s graphic designer Avital Dayanim continues to outdo herself every year with these posters.
Here’s Milo Cristol’s winning plot:
“Noa Hayes had the perfect night at her family’s annual Hanukkah party. A night filled with latkes, everybody she loves and brand new faces. The issue? She doesn’t remember a single minute. All she remembers is waking up in her childhood bedroom after slipping on her parent’s icy Manhattan stoop. The past 48 hours have disappeared from her, and though the doctor says her memory will most likely come back, he can’t say when.
Determined not to let the partial memory loss ruin her first day at a new job, and with a somewhat clean bill of health, Noa heads off to her new job as an associate editor for a Jewish publishing imprint. Everything is fantastic, almost as if the accident hadn’t happened, until she’s introduced to one particular coworker: Dan Pasternak. He’s hardworking and interesting and the kindest person in the city. Well, kind to everyone except Noa. At first, she figures he’s just shy to strangers, but her coworkers are quick to let her know that it is, in fact, personal. By the end of the day, Noa is itching to figure out what Dan’s vendetta is against her. The answer? They met at the Hanukkah party, Noa stood him up on a date, and he’s pissed.
Noa never goes out on dates, so she knows the night with Dan had to be something special. In an attempt to convince Dan she is not the type of girl to fake a bout of amnesia to get out of a date, Noa pulls out all the stops. Her Bubbe’s sufganiyot? Check. A special, handpainted dreidel and homemade gelt? You got it. A doctor’s note confirming her amnesia that absolutely was not forged by her sister? Why, she would never!
But Dan has been burned before, and is turning out to be as tough to convince as their coworker Marsha’s fruitcake is tough to cut. Will Noa be able to convince Dan to give her another chance without the memories they made or will this Hanukkah romance spin out of control? Starring Alison Brie as Noa Hayes and Logan Lerman as Dan Pasternak.”
If the name “A Hanukkah to Remember” isn’t ringing any bells, don’t worry. Unlike the movie’s main character Noa, you’re not suffering from amnesia. Milo’s winning pitch was initially titled “Head Trauma Hanukkah” — we loved the light alliteration, and clearly many of you did, too. However, after the horrific antisemitic attack on Bondi Beach on Sunday, this title no longer felt fun or appropriate. To be sensitive to the current moment, we here at Hey Alma, with Milo’s blessing, decided to rename the movie pitch. And thus, “A Hanukkah to Remember” was born.
On a much lighter and more joyful note, Milo tells us that his main inspiration for his movie pitch was 1984’s “The Muppets Take Manhattan.” “In that film, Kermit is hit by a cab and develops amnesia just before his Broadway debut,” Milo explains. “I initially thought about keeping my pitch more faithful to my inspiration, either by using Muppet characters or including a car accident, but after talking with my mom (and writing partner), I decided the former was too zany and the latter was too intense. So I stuck with a more traditional Hallmark-y romance.”
Great choice!
Milo is a student at Repertory Company High School for the Performing Arts in New York City. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where he was born and raised. Milo is an avid reader, language-learner and Hallmark movie watcher.
But what is a teen to do with all this fame and glory?”I plan on basking in it until next year’s Hanukkah rolls around, and never shutting up about this until the day I shuffle off this mortal coil. It may even appear on my tombstone,” he tells us. “But seriously, I’m going to thank my whole community, Congregation Rodeph Sholom, and Rodeph Sholom School, for encouraging me with this project. I’m the luckiest guy to have this kind of support.”
Mazel tov, Milo!!
