2023 SUMMER FESTIVAL – CLOSED
Matchmaking
In This Heartfelt Comedy, Moti Bernstein is the son every mother wants, a student every Rabbi loves to teach, and the perfect match for every bride. In search of a wife, he will meet the best girls in the Jewish Orthodox world but will fall for the one girl he can never have. Will there be “ A Match Made in Heaven“ for Moti?
7/17 4:30 & 7 pm
This dramatic love story offers an evocative convergence of romance, history, and politics in a rarely told story of anti- semitism in 1960s communist Poland. Students Hania and Janek begin a whirlwind romance after meeting at a theatre performance one evening. As their love blossoms from this ordinary encounter the simmering hatred for Jews in Poland reveals itself threatening their relationship.
7/18 4:30 & 7 pm
Israel's submission for the international feature Oscar, the intimate, prize-winning drama Cinema Sabaya revolves around a group of Palestinian and Israeli women attending a video workshop at a small town community center run by Rona (Dana Ivgy, Zero Motivation), a young
filmmaker from Tel Aviv who teaches them to document their lives The process deepens the understanding of these women embracing their commonality and bridging divides.
7/19 4:30 & 7 pm
Winner of the Audience Award at the Rome Film Festival and undoubtedly one of the most spellbinding films of the year, Shttl beautifully recreates and captures the life and loves of a Yiddish-speaking shtetl on the eve of the Nazi invasion of the then Soviet Ukraine. This film opens a window into the rich cultural world of our parents and grandparents and will inspire us to explore a language too many have forgotten.
7/23 4 pm & 7/31 7 pm
Visually iridescent and unexpectedly uplifting, America is the hotly anticipated award-winning film from director Ofir Raul Graizer, of The Cakemaker fame. The film follows a swimming coach who is unexpectedly forced to return to his native Israel after his father’s death which becomes a life-changing experience in ways he never anticipated.
7/24 4:30 & 7 pm
Set in the picturesque, provincial town of Ascoli Piceno in central Italy, The Shadow of the Day is a dramatic and gripping love story set in the late 1930s. Luciano, a wounded World War I veteran and a sympathizer with fascism, runs a classy restaurant overlooking the town’s ancient square. His life is turned upside down when a young Jewish girl walks into his restaurant looking for work.
Three men - Oded, an Israeli Ag-tech expert, Munqeth, a Jordanian environmentalist, and Yusuf, a Palestinian lifeguard – are brought together by their equal passions of swimming and saving the Dead Sea. Powerful and relevant their bond is an example of the impact that is possible despite disparate backgrounds in this hopeful example of working together for the common good.
7/30 4:30 & 7 pm
The Specials, starring Vincent Cassel, is an awe-inspiring, heartfelt French drama based on the true story of Bruno, an Orthodox Jew who runs a home and a day program for the most severely autistic children and young people in Paris, with his colleague Malik, a Muslim who trains young people from poor neighborhoods. Their common goal of helping children forges a strong and powerful relationship to help this underserved population.
Sponsored by Landy Family Foundation
Program with Special Strides TBA
8/1 4:30 & 7 pm
An Official Selection of both the Berlin and Vancouver International Film Festivals, The Forger is set in Berlin, 1942. Cioma Schönhaus (Louis Hofmann, star of the hit Neflix series Dark) is a young Jewish man who won't let anyone take away his zest for life, especially not the Nazis. Since the best hiding spots are in plain sight, Cioma audaciously adopts the identity of a marine officer to escape being deported like his family before him. Drawing on his art school background, he joins a network of underground rescuers and becomes infamous for his masterfully forged IDs – created with just a brush, some ink, and a steady hand – that save the lives of hundreds of Jews by allowing them to escape the country. Meanwhile, he throws himself into the city's nightlife and even finds a fragile hope for love during the darkest moments of the war. His talent and propensity for boldness puts him in more and more danger, however, until his only chance of survival is one last forged document – with his own name on it. Based on a true story.
2022 SPRING FESTIVAL – CLOSED
OPENING NIGHT: KARAOKE (FREE POPCORN AND DESSERT RECEPTION)
Sat. Sept 10 at 8:30 PM • Sun. Sept 11 at 4:00 PM
Nominated for 14 Ophir awards (Israeli Academy) including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress – Winner of the Audience Award & Best First Film - Jerusalem Int Film Festival (LEARN MORE)
KARAOKE" Is Not Your Typical Night at the Mic Experience! One of the most popular films out of Israel which had its World Premiere at TRIBECCA Film Fest “KARAOKE” is a complex Dramedy about love, friendship, and relationships! Starring Two of Israel’s acclaimed actors: Lior Ashkenazi, from “Foxtrot,” and Sasson Gabay, from “The Band’s Visit.”
SPOTLIGHT FILM: THE MAN IN THE BASEMENT (FREE POPCORN)
Sat. Sept 17 at 8:30 PM • Sun. Sept. 18 at 4:00 PM
“THE MAN IN THE BASEMENT” Is A Sit-On-The-Edge-Of-Your-Seat THRILLER that is both topical and eye-opening! It will make you think twice about renting space in your home to a “NICE OLD MAN.” (LEARN MORE)
France, Belgium, 2022 | Drama | French | 115 Minutes
PARIS 1941. François Mercier is an ordinary man whose only goal is to start a family with Blanche, the woman he loves. François works for Mr. Haffmann, a talented Jewish jeweler. Under the German occupation, the employer and employee are forced to strike a deal which, over the following months, will upend the fate of all concerned.
Italy, 2022 | Drama | Italian, French | 100 Minutes
An ultra-orthodox Jewish family from Aix-les-Bains comes to a farm in Calabria for a brief stay every year to carry out a sacred mission: harvesting citrons. Here Elio, the farm owner, meets Esther, the rabbi’s daughter, who is tired of the constraints imposed by her religion. Through this relationship, Esther will understand the importance of freedom and find her path, and, in the same way, Elio will find the peace he had lost for a long time.
Austria, 2022 | Drama | German | 110 Minutes
The young Jewish Austrian businessman Victor is a witness to how the prosecution of a Nazi crime perpetrated against his family unjustly fails in the courtroom. The political and legal system in 1960s Austria is still run by former Nazis and there is no avenue for Victor to change matters.. When Victor also loses his grief-stricken father and his girlfriend's family opposes their relationship and his being Jewish, Victor completely loses faith in the system and pursues matters via a different path.
United States, 2022 | Documentary | English | 94 Minutes
Hosted by award-winning Israeli performer Dudu Fisher (Les Misérables), "Baltic Truth" exposes the tragic events of the first months of WW2 in the Baltic States and how almost the entire Jewish community of the occupied Baltic Nations was eliminated by face-to-face executions, one bullet at a time with assistance of local population, before the Final Solution, before Auschwitz, and before gas chambers. The film reflects the need for accuracy of Holocaust history and does not allow the shifting of blame.
"Latvia and Lithuania, which are among the newest members of NATO, have been hailed by some as Western bastions of democracy and bulwarks against Russian expansionism. But both Baltic republics were complicit in the mass murder of their Jewish citizens during the Holocaust..."
France, 2022 | Drama | French | 119 Minutes
A WWII tragedy in a Polish village happens alongside the story of a wedding taking place in the same location 100 years later.
Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, 2022 | Drama | Dutch, German | 100 Minutes
In the spring of 1945 a train deporting hundreds of Jewish prisoners gets stranded near a small German village occupied by the Red Army. Condemned to each other and in a context of deep mistrust, desperation and revenge, an unexpected friendship emerges between Russian sniper Vera, village girl Winnie and Jewish-Dutch woman Simone.
GREENER PASTURES
ISRAEL | 90 MINUTES | 2021 – March 20 - 23
A retired widower is forced to reexamine his past and embrace his future in this superbly acted comedy that was nominated for 12 Israeli Ophir Awards, including for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor. Boasting a dynamic visual sense, snappy dialogue, and a dream cast of talent, including icons of Israeli comedy like Shlomo Bar-Aba (Academy Award-nominee Footnote and MJFF 2016 film Hill Start) and Doval'e Glickman (International award-winning show Shtisel and MJFF 2020 film Shoelaces), Greener Pastures is a wryly comic story about life, moving on and finding redemption.
VALIANT HEARTS
FRANCE | 87 MINUTES | 2021 – March 23 - 26
Bristling with suspense and deeply stirring in equal measures, Valiant Hearts tells the true story of exceptional bravery and survival against all odds. Starring acclaimed French actress Camille Cottin (House of Gucci, Stillwater), the story recounts the odyssey of six Jewish children in August 1942 who are forced to take refuge where no one will ever think to look for them: amidst the Louvre Museum artworks hidden in the Château de Chambord. Between fear, outbursts of laughter, and unexpected encounters, the children learn about independence and discover solidarity and friendship in the midst of tumultuous circumstances.
LEAVING PARADISE
ISRAEL-BRAZIL | 86 MINUTES | 2021 – March 26 - March 28th
A breathtaking visual odyssey of discovery, Cleo had always wanted to leave the big city in Brazil where he lives and move to a large farm with his family. After years of saving and planning, he is finally able to pursue his dream and relocate with his wife and 15 children to communal living in Brazil’s great outdoors. In establishing their family farm, the Barolo family grows closer than ever. They form a deep and powerful bond while working, cooking, studying, and playing music together. Everything appears to be working according to plan until Cleo’s daughter makes a startling discovery about their heritage — they are among the 30,000 Brazilians who are descendants of Sephardic Jews.
LET IT BE MORNING
ISRAEL-FRANCE | 101 MINUTES | 2021 – March 28th - March 31st
Let It Be Morning is Israel's most acclaimed and prestigious film of the year, recognized for being Israel's official entry to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, winner of 7 Israeli Academy Awards (Ophirs), including for Best Film and Best Director, and winner of Best Film at the Haifa Film Festival. The Band's Visit director Eran Kolirin returns with this gently satirical tale of a man and his family trapped by a military blockade inside a tiny village in Israel. Executive Sami has reluctantly traveled to his remote hometown for his brother’s wedding with his wife Mina and their young son in tow never imagining he would encounter unexpected consequences.
PERSIAN LESSONS
GERMANY | 127 MINUTES | 2021 – March 31st - April 3rd
From Vadim Perelman, director of the internationally acclaimed film The House of Sand and Fog that received three Academy Award nominations. Alternating between suspense and linguistic absurdity, the story about Gilles, a young Belgian man arrested by the SS alongside other Jews, is compelling. He is sent to a concentration camp in Germany and narrowly avoids execution by claiming he is Persian not Jewish. This lie temporarily saves him, but then Gilles is assigned a seemingly untenable mission: to teach Persian to Koch, the officer in charge of the camp's kitchen, who dreams of opening a restaurant in Persia (Iran) once the war is over. Gilles finds himself having to invent a language he doesn't know, word by word.
TEL AVIV
ISRAEL | 81 MINUTES | 2021 – April 3th - April 6th
Thought-provoking and utterly alluring, Tel Aviv is an intelligent, unabashedly honest look at modern love, led by marvelously natural performances from breakout stars Meital Ner and Yotam Gota. Michael and Dana are a married couple who live a decidedly imperfect love life. An unexpected crisis shakes their world apart and forces them to make a reckoning of their relationship and life choices. With tact and great care, director Marat Parkhomovsky digs into all the subjects that lay concealed below the surface of his characters, as their story becomes the story of contemporary Tel Aviv, its youth, its voices, its beauty, and its sadness.
THE REPLACEMENT
SPAIN | 115 MINUTES | 2021 – April 6th - April 10th
Intrigue and suspense dominate this gripping thriller. Hardened by his work in the worst neighborhoods of Madrid, a young police officer accepts a post in a small village by the sea hoping to heal his sick daughter and gain some inner peace. Once there, he becomes involved in the investigation of the strange murder of the inspector he replaced. The inquiry leads him to a group of Nazi elders who live a heavenly and happy retreat on the coast. Fast-paced, gripping, and featuring a high-caliber cast, The Replacement is terrifically chilling in the tradition of Hitchcock and deserves a spot alongside the best thrillers of the year.
THE CHEF (TV SERIES)
ISRAEL | 360 MINUTES | 2020
AVAILABLE FOR DURATION OF THE FESTIVAL!
Behind-the-scenes intrigue and drama in the male dominated world of the culinary arts–starring Guri Alfi, Gal Toren, Rotem Sela, Yael Elkana.
From the award-winning producers that brought us Fauda, Shtisel and the original version of Your Honor, The Chef is the second most-watched drama on TV in Israel this year and a second season has just been commissioned. When his lucrative IT career comes to an end, 44-year-old family man Nimrod takes an unexpected decision: starting over as a lowly prep cook at a trendy restaurant in Tel Aviv.
2020 films (CLOSED)
