Sometimes tradition is best served with a side of fries.
A new documentary short about a group of California senior citizens who hold their weekly Shabbat dinner at a local Wendy's is a mother-daughter-granddaughter collaboration.
The first-time director Rachel Myers' "Wendy's Shabbat" is about her 88-year-old grandmother Roberta Mahler's search for community after her husband's death.
"I didn't know how she was going to be on camera and it turns out she was sassy and comedic," said Myers in an interview Friday with Cheddar.
Mahler's dinners typically drew about 20 people from her Palm Desert, Calif., neighborhood. Myers said the film is striking a chord with audiences around the country, and is even inspiring some to hold similar gatherings at local restaurants.
"I think that the reason the movie has resonated is because often seniors are not seen on camera in this way, " said Myers. "The seniors in our films are finding the possibility and opportunity in the everyday."
Mahler said the tradition is still "going strong," thanks in part to its convenience.
"You go there, have whatever you want, walk out, no mess, no kitchen to worry about or clean up, it's great," she said.
No, the fast-food offerings are not in line with Kosher guidelines, but Myers said her family is not religiously observant.
For her directorial debut, Myers teamed up with her mother, who served as producer on the film, making the project a three-generation family affair.
"It's been really delightful to discover this other side of my mother and grandmother and have this connection," Myers said about making the documentary.
"Wendy's Shabbat" was scheduled to have its New York debut at the TriBeCa Film Festival on Saturday, April 21.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-unorthodox-tradition-of-wendys-shabbat).
Understanding What Generational Trauma Is and How to Break It
To celebrate the start of spring, Matt Crafton, lead winemaker at Chateau Montelena in northern California, joins Cheddar News to showcase some warm-weather wines and the best meals to pair them with.
Entertainment and lifestyle expert Josh McBride joins Cheddar News' hosts Hena Doba and Baker Machado to talk about some highlights from last night's annual Meta Gala dinner.
Jared Leto showed up at the Met Gala as Choupette, Karl Lagerfeld's cat. And Kim Kardashian dressed in strands of pearls. Fashion's biggest night of the year included lots of vintage from Chanel and a reveal by Janelle Monae.
Oklahoma on Monday became the latest state to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors as Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill that makes it a felony for health care workers to provide children with treatments that can include puberty-blocking drugs and hormones.
Television and movie writers declared that they will launch a strike for the first time in 15 years, as Hollywood girded for a walkout with potentially widespread ramifications in a fight over fair pay in the streaming era.
The top entertainment headlines for May 1, 2023.
Fashion designer Nicole Miller joins Cheddar News correspondent Hena Doba for a Walk & Talk that touches on the importance of not living in a bubble, how to compete with new designers on social media, and why she regrets sometimes neglecting the life side of a healthy work-life balance.
It's the first Monday in May: Welcome to Met Gala mania. With a livestream available when the evening gets underway, the world's most fashionable fundraiser takes on one of the world's most prolific — and controversial — designers, the late Karl Lagerfeld, as the starry party's theme.
While doctors fear the dangers of untrained people managing their own hormone replacement therapy, a growing number of transgender people say they see no other option for life-saving care.
