ABEL RAISES CAIN

Not every father makes his daughter eat a hair sandwich on national television. But then again, Alan Abel is not just any father. Growing up, Jenny Abel had a difficult time discerning what her father did for a living. While schoolmates talked of doctors, lawyers and businessmen, Jenny found herself flummoxed. How could she tell people that her dad made a living making mischief? Jenny Abel's father, dedicated to the art of pulling off elaborate pranks, spent his days poking fun at social and political injustice. He continually plotted new ways to infiltrate the media with one absurdist cause after another. In the late 1950s, the pranks began with a campaign to clothe all "nude" animals for the sake of decency. He had his wife run for president as Jewish housewife Yetta Bronstein. The stunts continued throughout his life--including his promotion of Euthanasia Cruises and the KKK Symphony Orchestra. Today, Jenny has a better grasp on her father's career and the importance of his position in the media. Through interviews, family footage and television clips, she explores why some hail Alan as the "world's greatest hoaxer" while others just don't get the joke. An intimate portrait of family and fatherhood, the film echoes Abel's ultimate message--that even when life gets strange, you can't always believe everything you see or hear.

Amy Dotson

Jenny Abel initially started a career in music, studying the viola from age eight and receiving a full scholarship to music school. Instead, she took a completely different path, attending Emerson College in Boston to study video and television production. She then moved to Los Angeles where she began to coordinate overseas production for Nu Images and Millenium films, where she helped produce 26 pictures. In 2003, she left her job so she could focus on finishing ABEL RAISES CAIN, her first feature documentary.

Jeff Hockett began his career as a news photographer and editor at WBBH in Ft. Myers Florida. He moved to Miami and WAMI where he earned a Suncoast Regional Emmy in the Series Reporting Human Interest category for MARIEL: 20 YEARS LATER. He eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a freelance photographer for various news magazines and reality shows. In 2000, while working on the nationally syndicated show UNCOVERED, Hockett met Alan Abel, who introduced him to his daughter Jenny.

Print Source:
Jenny Abel, CRASHCOURSE DOCUMENTARIES
P.O. BOX 691184
LOS ANGELES, CA 90069
Tel: 323.737.1852
Email: jennifer_abel@yahoo.com

Thursday 6/16 at 9:45 p.m.

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