Ilana Trachtman is a television documentary producer by trade, but when presented with the story of Lior Liebling, she jumped into the choppier waters of independent filmmaking for the opportunity to make her debut feature. Lior is a young man with Down Syndrome, born to two Reconstructionist Jewish rabbis in Philadelphia. From an early age, he showed an unusually ardent interest in davening, the recitation of Jewish liturgical prayers, reciting the melodic prayers along with his mother. Sadly, his mother also discovered while Lior was young that she was suffering from cancer. One of her most fervent wishes was to be able to see his Bar Mitzvah, but she passed away long before the occasion.

Trachtman begins the film with home movies of Lior and his mother, playing, singing and davening together, and seeing her grow progressively sicker as the footage advances is a heartbreaking opening to the film. Trachtman's own footage begins in the months leading up to Lior's Bar Mitzvah. Lior is a bright and friendly kid, and seems to make instant friends with everyone he meets with his ready smile, and tendency to tell little untruths with a devious grin and follow them with an enthusiastic cry of "April Fools!". His likability comes immediately through the camera, giving viewers the same connection with the boy that he engenders in his community.

It was not only Lior's mother who looked forward to his Bar Mitzvah, but this entire community as well, who all seem in awe of the intense and uncomplicated connection with God that his praying seems to indicate. Trachtman deftly maneuvers between Lior's "public" life within this community, and the private life of home, and is particularly sensitive in giving an honest view into the life of a family raising a disabled child. That she seems to have been given nearly carte blanche access to the family's day to day life certainly contributes to her success, but there is an easy rapport in her interviews with family members that weaves through the entire film, which manages the difficult task of being genuinely touching while never taking shortcuts to score easy emotional points.

Trachtman, who grew up in the area and was honored with the Audience Award for Best Documentary at last year's Washington Jewish Film Festival for Praying with Lior, answered some questions for DCist in advance of the opening of the film's theatrical run today at The Avalon.

How did you first become aware of Lior and his family, and what made you want to do a film about him and them?

I was not looking for an independent film project. I always thought the independent filmmakers were tougher, braver, and crazier than I was. But I saw Lior – a child with Down syndrome – praying at Jewish New Year service, and I was mesmerized by him. His praying was so focused, and so pure, while mine felt meaningless and detached. I wanted to understand how come he could do what I couldn’t – and the pursuit of that question led to the film.

Why did you decide to make the Bar Mitzvah and the preparations for it the focus?

A Bar Mitzvah is the coming of age ceremony in a Jewish child's life. It is the moment when the Jewish community welcomes the child officially, as an adult with adult responsibilities. For Lior, this moment was central – he had been looking forward to it since he could talk, and the community had as well. When Lior was 5 1/2, his mother already wondered in print what this event would be like, and she knew she wouldn't live to see it. The community looked to Lior's Bar Mitzvah with a kind of mass spiritual expectation – someone told me he expected the room to go up in flames. And I wanted to know how a person who would have the perpetual affect of a child would come of age.

Obviously, any documentary of this style is going to be somewhat intrusive to the day to day life of the subjects. Was it much of an effort to convince them to allow you to film so much of their day to day lives to make the film?

When I first approached Lior's family with the request to make a film about them and Lior's Bar Mitzvah, their first reaction was, "Oh that's so funny, we always wanted someone to make a film about Lior and his Bar Mitzvah." That reflexive generosity was how they handled the whole process. They were open to every thing I wanted to shoot – I had keys, and came before they even woke up and left after they went to sleep.

Did you find that it took a great deal of time for them to be comfortable with the camera around, or to act as if it wasn't around?

They definitely got more comfortable as time went on – for example, I would never have been able to shoot the scene at Lior's mothe's grave in the first week. But they developed a relationship with the camera, and with the crew, and we were just part of the family.

You were able to get very candid (sometimes surprisingly so) comments in your one on one interactions with the family; how did you approach talking about sensitive subjects with the family members?

I think that we instantly liked each other, and they also knew they could trust me. I was very careful to have independent relationships with each family member, and let each one know that I wanted and respected their voice.

The film has played at a number of Jewish Film Festivals across the country, and many reviews classify it specifically as a religious film. Obviously, Lior's faith and connection to God are primary to the film, but it's also about a great deal more. What are your feelings on the film being labeled in that way?

Thank you – I think it works both for and against me. In one sense, there are many people who won't go to see a "religious" film. On the other, there are many religious people – of different faiths – who will only see a movie that they can justify as being a "religious" film. I can't get away from the fact that Lior prays a lot, and that prayer and the praying community nourishes him. But I hope that non-religious people can find a way in as well.

On a related note, there is a great deal of prayer, tradition, and ritual specific to Judaism that doesn't often get shown in film or media. How do you find the film plays to audiences who aren't immediately familiar with those traditions?

When I was finishing the film I showed it to a focus group of people who weren't Jewish. Interestingly, they "co-opted" Lior – seeing past the Hebrew and the synagogue, and talking about him as if he was part of their tradition "when Lior was testifying," they said, "or when he was singing that hymn," etc. I really liked that. The biggest endorsement came from Tim Shriver, CEO of the Special Olympics (and brother of Maria Shriver,) in the Washington Post. He wrote an editorial on Christmas Day, "A Prayer for Christmas," where he compared Lior to Jesus.

What kind of impact do you think the film can make (or has made) on how religious communities view those with disabilities?

I hope that everyone who sees the movie goes home and wonders where the Lior's of their communities are. I hope people wonder why they aren't praying with anyone like Lior – because most people aren't. That's the first step. The next step is forming Inclusion Committees, surveying needs, reaching out.

You spent a great deal of time with Lior in the making of the film; what impression did he make on you personally?

I learned that a lot about cognitive disability. I learned that there are other ways to pray. I learned that a person who is mentally retarded can be socially brilliant, have great comic timing, and be very wise about things. I consider Lior a very close friend.

It was great to be able to see Lior two years after the bulk of the film's footage in the epilogue. Was this planned from the outset?

No. We were still editing two years later, and I realized that a lot had changed in Lior's life and in his siblings' lives. So many of the questions that the film had raised about the future were starting to form answers, and I wanted to offer some. For example, I wanted to show that the Bar Mitzvah wasn't the highlight of Lior's life. (But if I had edited on a TV schedule, I could never have done that!)

More than one review has proposed the idea of returning regularly to document Lior's life, Michael Apted-style. What do you think of the idea?

I have no doubt that Lior will always make great cinema. I'm open – but right now I'm just enjoying sharing the film with audiences.

Lior expresses his belief that the messiah and his mother would both be at his Bar Mitzvah; how did you interpret that belief - was he speaking in a spiritual sense? If not, did he ever express disappointment at the lack of their physical presence there?

I think in some ways Lior is very literal, and he had a vague concept from his Orthodox school that when the messiah comes the dead will rise again. This idea was filtered through his Reconstructionist parents' ideas about spiritual presence. It's hard to know what Lior is really thinking, but I do think he understood that his mother's spirit was present - even just by all the people in the room conjuring her up. I can't say I ever heard him express disappointment.

Since you grew up in the area, can you tell us about the experience of having the movie play locally at the Washington Jewish Film Festival at the end of last year, and any feelings about the upcoming run at the Avalon?

I was so honored by winning the Audience Award at the Washington Jewish Film Festival – it felt like the ultimate affirmation – like it was my Bar Mitzvah! And I love the Avalon theater and I'm humbled by the fact that they're showing the film.

Do you have plans to continue making feature documentaries, particularly considering the success of your first? Anything planned at the moment?

I think independent film is an incredibly hard way to make a living. That said, I love being able to tell a story exactly as I want it to be told. I am in development on a documentary called Mariachi High, about growing up as a Mexican American teenager today through the lens of a competitive high school mariachi band.

Praying with Lior opens today at the Avalon. Lior Liebling and his family will meet the audience following the 3:30 show on Saturday and will introduce that evening's 8:15 screening.