Venue
THE GO-GO BOYS
Dir. Hilla Medalia
(86min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
The inside story of two Israeli-born cousins, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who in pursuit of the American Dream turned the Hollywood power structure upside down, producing over 300 films and forming Cannon – at its apex, the most powerful independent film company in the world.
NEXT TO HER
Dir. Asaf Korman
(90min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
Chelli is raising her mentally disabled sister Gabby all by herself. When the social worker discovers she leaves her sister alone in the house while at work, Chelli is forced to place her in a day-care center and the void left by her sister’s absence makes room for a man in her life.
FRAGILE
Dir. Vidi Bilu
(104min, Israel, 2013) Narrative
Jerusalem, 1966 – the year before the Six Day War, after which everything will change forever. A small family lives a quirky, but somewhat boring, regular life in the center of the city, living. One day, the apparent peace and serenity of their house is violated.
24 DAYS
Dir. Alexandre Arcady
(108min, France, 2013) Narrative
In 2006, Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Parisian Jew of Moroccan descent gives his phone number to a pretty young woman. Later, when his kidnappers demand ransom from his family it became clear that she actually lured Ilan to his capture.
ABOVE AND BEYOND
Dir. Roberta Grossman
(89min, USA, 2014) Documentary
In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish-American pilots answered a call for help – this film celebrates the pilots who formed the Israeli Air Force.
APPLES FROM THE DESERT
Dir. Arik Lubetzky, Matti Harari
(90min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
Rebecca Abravanel is the only daughter of an Orthodox family living in Jerusalem. Unhappy with her strict upbringing, Rebecca secretly opens herself to the secular world, with unexpected consequences – both for her family and herself.
THE DOVE FLYER
Dir. Nissim Dayan
(108min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
Based on the autobiographical blockbuster novel by Eli Amir, this sweeping epic recalls a lost and cherished time when over 125,000 Jews lived in Iraq. We follow the teenage Kabi as he navigates the final years of the community’s existence in Iraq, before their expulsion and resettlement to 1950s Israel.
THE FAREWELL PARTY
Dir. Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon
(93min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
A group at a Jerusalem retirement home builds a machine for self-euthanasia in order to help their terminally ill friend. When rumors of the machine begin to spread, more and more people ask for their help, the creators are faced with an emotional dilemma.
THE GO-GO BOYS
Dir. Hilla Medalia
(86min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
The inside story of two Israeli-born cousins, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who in pursuit of the American Dream turned the Hollywood power structure upside down, producing over 300 films and forming Cannon – at its apex, the most powerful independent film company in the world.
GOLEM
Dir. Carl Boese and Paul Wegener
(91min, USA, 1920) Narrative
Grammy-nominated Gary Lucas presents one of his most beloved original scores: the 1920 German silent horror-fantasy expressionist film Golem, the tale of a 16th century rabbi who made a man out of clay to save the Jewish community of Prague from annihilation.
HESTER STREET
Dir. Joan Micklin Silver
(90min, USA, 1975) Narrative
A traditional Jewish woman (Carol Kane) who arrives with her son to America in the 1890s, only to discover that her cheating husband has assimilated and resents his wife’s old-fashioned ways.
IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY
Dir. Robert Hamer
(92min, UK, 1947) Narrative
With an atmosphere redolent of pre-war French “poetic realism,” this recently rediscovered film is a Brueghelian slice of post-war British life: a feckless trio of thieves try to unload a truckload of hot roller skates; a music store owner chases one shiksa too many; and a pipe smoking inspector wiles away the day.
LITTLE WHITE LIE
Dir. Lacey Schwartz
(65min, USA, 2014) Documentary
Lacey Schwartz, who tells her remarkable story, grew up in a typical upper-middle-class Jewish household in Woodstock, NY, with loving parents and a strong sense of her Jewish identity – despite the open questions from those around her about how a white girl could have such dark skin.
MAGIC MEN
Dir. Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor
(100min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
In the latest feature from the directors of Mabul, A Matter of Size, and Strangers, a Greek-born atheist and his estranged Hasidic rapper son travel from Israel to Greece searching for the magician who saved his father’s life during World War II.
THE MUSES OF ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER
Dir. Asaf Galay
(72min, Israel, 2014) Documentary
This film uncovers a previously unknown and eccentric chapter in Isaac Bashevis Singer’s life: in the mid 1960’s he established an army of female translators – more than forty women – who helped spread his work. He was inspired by their presence, and often fell in love with them. For the first time, we hear their voices.
NEXT TO HER
Dir. Asaf Korman
(90min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
Chelli is raising her mentally disabled sister Gabby all by herself. When the social worker discovers she leaves her sister alone in the house while at work, Chelli is forced to place her in a day-care center and the void left by her sister’s absence makes room for a man in her life.
SECRETS OF WAR
Dir. Dennis Bots
(95min, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, 2014) Narrative
It’s 1943, but for thick-as-thieves friends Lambert and Tuur, the German occupation is merely inspiration for more exciting cave-war games. Even this bond is put at risk with the arrival of a lively young girl named Maartje, carrying with her a heavy secret about her past. Recommended for ages 10+
THEODORE BIKEL: IN THE SHOES OF SHOLOM ALEICHEM
Dir. John Lollos
(75min, USA, 2014) Documentary
Portraits of two beloved icons—Sholom Aleichem and Theodore Bikel—are woven together in this enchanting new documentary. The two men have much in common: wit, wisdom and talent, all shot through with deep humanity and Yiddishkeit.
THE TRILOGY OF LOVE
Dir. Laurence Attali
(75min, Senegal/France, 1999-2002) Documentary and Narrative
Laurence Attali’s three-part ode to Senegal, spirituality, and the nature of love. We offer an extremely rare screening of the full work: Even The Wind (1999), Baobob (2000) and The Unshod Man (2002).
GETT: THE TRIAL OF VIVIAN AMSALEM
Dir. Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz
(115min, Israel/Germany/France, 2014 ) Narrative
Viviane has been applying to the rabbinical court for a divorce for three years. Her husband continually refuses. In Israel, where neither civil marriage nor civil divorce exist, only an Orthodox rabbi can legalize a union or its dissolution with consent from the husband.
IN SILENCE
Dir. Zdeněk Jiráský
(84min, Slovak Republic/Czech Republic/Germany, 2014) Narrative
A vibrant, sound-rich and brilliantly inventive ode to the lives of Jewish musicians during the era of National Socialism in Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany. Based on true stories of artists who achieved great musical success – Alice Flachová, Karol Ebert, Edith Kraus, and Arthur Chitz.
THE ROSENWALD SCHOOLS
Dir. Aviva Kempner
(100min, USA, 2014) Documentary
Driven equally by the Jewish ideal of tzedakah (charity) and the writings of Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald dedicated his wealth and prestige to joining with African-American communities in the South to build over 5,000 schools and establishing a fund to the support African-American artists and intellectuals.
SERIAL (BAD) WEDDINGS
Dir. Philippede Chauveron
(94min, France, 2014) Narrative
This breakout hit in France comically plays off, and then upends, racial stereotypes of all stripes. The well-heeled Catholic Verneuils struggle with three daughters who have married Jewish, Arab and Asian men – when their fourth daughter falls in love with a Catholic, they’re delighted. But things don’t go quite as planned…
2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HIM
Dir. Malte Ludin
(85min, Germany, 20005) Documentary
The filmmaker breaks 60 years of silence and repression, investigating his father’s dark deeds as the Third Reich’s ambassador to Slovakia.
7 DAY GIG
Dir. Kate Marks
(9min, USA, 2014) Narrative Short
A punk, an old man, and a chicken gather round for a makeshift shiva after Jay (a Romanian/Guamanian/Catholic/Jew) puts an ad on Craigslist looking for mourners to join him.
AMERICAN MATCHMAKER
Dir. Edgar G. Ulmer
(87min, USA, 1940) Narrative
Leo Fuchs, known on Second Avenue as “the Yiddish Fred Astaire,” plays an elegant and eligible bachelor who can never seem to close the marriage deal.
AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS
Dir. Louis Malle
(105min, France, 1987) Narrative
A heartbreaking story of friendship and loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie — until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Louis Malle’s own childhood.
BRUNDIBAR
Dir. Douglas Wolfsperger
(85min, Germany, 2014) Documentary
Holocaust? Again? That’s the reaction of the youth theater company at the Berliner Schaubühne to their newest project: Brundibar, the children’s opera, originally performed at Theresienstadt.
CHERRIES
Dir. Noa Osheroff
(14min, Israel, 2014) Narrative Short
Yuli, 17, is in love with her classmate Daniel, but is too shy to admit it. Tamara, her best friend, is anything but shy. Tonight at Daniel’s party, she will compel Yuli to make the move, whether she’s ready or not.
DEAR GOD
Dir. Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor
(13min, Israel, 2014) Narrative Short
Dear God depicts a romantic Jerusalem, told through the eyes of Aaron, a simple man who guards the historic Wailing Wall. One day a beautiful, mysterious woman puts a note in one of the holy drones, and Aaron decides to fulfill her deepest wish, while learning that love is all about communication.
THE DECENT ONE
Dir. Vanessa Lapa
(94min, Israel/Austria/Germany, 2014) Narrative
Through previously undiscovered private letters, photos and diariest hat were found in Heinrich Himmler’s home in 1945, The Decent One gives unique, and at times uncomfortable, access to the life and mind of the merciless “Architect of the Final Solution.”
DIVIDED WE FALL
Dir. Jan Hrebejk
(117min, Czech Republic, 2000) Narrative
Set in a small Czech town under German occupation, Jan Hrebejk’s Oscar nominated film explores “not only the banality of evil, but also the banality of goodness, and the ridiculousness, as well as the tragedy, of their collision.”
END OF SEASON SALE
Dir. Eli Glazer
(35min, Israel, 2014) Narrative Short
Late at night two aging strangers fail to obtain Viagra for a one-night stand. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise as the two men get a chance to exchange the pleasures of the flesh with the pleasures of the heart.
FIRSTBORN
Dir. Leah Tonic
(13min, Israel, 2014) Narrative Short
Sheri, a free-spirited 21-year old, has her own apartment, an older boyfriend, and works in a bar to make her living. One morning, a surprise phone call brings her face to face with her past, making it impossible to hide from it any longer.
GLOOMY SABBATH
Dir. Amit Epstein
(15min, Germany, 2013) Narrative Short
At his grandmother’s deathbed Christian travels back in time and reveals the dark secret behind a painting which seemingly has always been part of the family’s property.
HEARTS MELT AND KNEES TREMBLE
Dir. Ofeq Shemer and Ada Rimon
(12min, Israeli, 2014) Narrative Short
A satirical, lyrical and wild animatied short about the experience of life in modern-day Israel, as seen from a sinkhole near the Dead Sea.
HOLLOW LAND
A story about the eternal human search for home, Hollow Land begins, as all such searches must, with the dream of utopia. Solomon and Berta are two seekers who arrive—their treasured bathtub improbably in tow—in a land that promises respite from their many journeys.
JEWISH GIRLS ARE EASY
Dir. Charlotte Glynn
(14min, USA, 2013) Narrative Short
Tova scrambles to pull off her first Passover Seder without a hitch, but her brother Sol and his brisket are nowhere to be found.
THE LAST METRO
Dir. François Truffaut
(131min, France, 1980) Narrative
Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve star as members of a French theater company living under German occupation during World War II in François Truffaut’s gripping, humanist character study.
LOST EMBRACE
Dir. Daniel Burman
(100min, Argentina, 2004) Narrative
Ariel, a young man in his twenties, is our guide through a community mostly made up of Jewish business owners struggling to stay afloat in a Buenos Aires shopping mall. Fed up with the grind, he seeks Polish citizenship so he can become “European.”
THE RETURN
Dir. Adam Zucker
(83min, Poland/USA, 2014) Documentary
Before WWII, Poland’s 3.5 million Jews made the country the epicenter of the Jewish world; those that remained often hid their identity from their children. We follow four young women in modern day Poland who face the unique challenge of trying to create an identity in a vacuum, trying to embrace a Jewish legacy they hardly understand.
SALLAH SHABATI
Dir. Ephraim Kishon
(110min, Israel, 1964) Narrative
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sallah Shabati – one of the most outrageous, beloved, and enduring artifacts of Israeli Cinema – with a presentation of a newly restored print. This hilarious portrayal of immigrants in Israel was the first Israeli film to be nominated for an Oscar.
SALOMEA’S NOSE
Dir. Susan Kroda
(23min, Germany, 2014) Narrative Short
Salomea remembers the day her beloved brothers, Max and Karl, disfigured her and themselves for life. A tragicomedy about sibling rivalry.
SOME VACATION
Dir. Anne Lewis
(6min, USA, 2014) Narrative Short
A traveling salesman transforms his business trips into family vacations. SXSW Jury Award winner.
THE TEN PLAGUES
Dir. Serena Shulman
(10min, USA, 2014) Narrative Short
An unwitting young woman en route to a Passover Seder faces a wake-up call of biblical proportions; she encounters the modern-day Ten Plagues. And then she must face her family.
YIDLIFE CRISIS
Dir. Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman
(4 episodes X 5min, Canada, 2014) Narrative Short
Drinking in the very best that Montreal’s multicultural Mile End has to offer, Chaimie and Leizer, best friends and debating adversaries, tackle life, love, and lactose intolerance in this foodie centric shorts series done entirely in their grandparents’ Yiddish.
YOU MUST BE JOKING
Dir. Jake Wilson
(91min, USA, 2014) Narrative
Barb is an aimless, confrontational 27-year-old paralegal in this edgy comedy of reinvention. Sas Goldberg gives a frenetic, biting performance as a listless woman inspired by her childhood best friend to pick up her long-shelved passion for standup comedy.
ZAZALAND
Dir. Maayan Cohen
(12min, Israel, 2014) Narrative Short
It is the night of Gur and Dikla’s engagement ceremony. The two Georgian families are tense, waiting for Gur. Outside, Gur’s father is scheming to wed Madonna – his mistress’ daughter, to Gur. Will Gur keep his sexual identity hidden for the sake of tradition?
AMERICAN MATCHMAKER
Dir. Edgar G. Ulmer
(87min, USA, 1940) Narrative
Leo Fuchs, known on Second Avenue as “the Yiddish Fred Astaire,” plays an elegant and eligible bachelor who can never seem to close the marriage deal.
ANYWHERE ELSE
Dir. Ester Amrami
(85min, Germany, 2014) Narrative
When Jörg goes out of town for a few days, Noa takes the opportunity to spontaneously fly back to Israel, determined this trip will do her good! Her lovable but dysfunctional family can’t keep old conflicts from arising, however, and soon her homeland begins to feel just like the Berlin she sought to escape.
DELI MAN
Dir. Erik Greenberg Anjou
(90min, USA, 2014) Documentary
In Houston, Texas, third-generation deli man Ziggy Gruber has built arguably the finest delicatessen restaurant in U.S. history – building on the contributions of iconic delis such as Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, Carnegie, and the Stage.
THE DOVE FLYER
Dir. Nissim Dayan
(108min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
Based on the autobiographical blockbuster novel by Eli Amir, this sweeping epic recalls a lost and cherished time when over 125,000 Jews lived in Iraq. We follow the teenage Kabi as he navigates the final years of the community’s existence in Iraq, before their expulsion and resettlement to 1950s Israel.
IN SILENCE
Dir. Zdeněk Jiráský
(84min, Slovak Republic/Czech Republic/Germany, 2014) Narrative
A vibrant, sound-rich and brilliantly inventive ode to the lives of Jewish musicians during the era of National Socialism in Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany. Based on true stories of artists who achieved great musical success – Alice Flachová, Karol Ebert, Edith Kraus, and Arthur Chitz.
MAGIC MEN
Dir. Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor
(100min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
In the latest feature from the directors of Mabul, A Matter of Size, and Strangers, a Greek-born atheist and his estranged Hasidic rapper son travel from Israel to Greece searching for the magician who saved his father’s life during World War II.
MR. KAPLAN
Dir. Alvaro Brechner
(98min, Uruguay/Germany/Spain, 2014) Narrative
Becoming convinced that his German neighbor is a runaway Nazi, 76-year-old Jacob Kaplan secretly takes on the role of a spy - only he is no match for the forces of age.
NEXT TO HER
Dir. Asaf Korman
(90min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
Chelli is raising her mentally disabled sister Gabby all by herself. When the social worker discovers she leaves her sister alone in the house while at work, Chelli is forced to place her in a day-care center and the void left by her sister’s absence makes room for a man in her life.
APPLES FROM THE DESERT
Dir. Arik Lubetzky, Matti Harari
(90min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
Rebecca Abravanel is the only daughter of an Orthodox family living in Jerusalem. Unhappy with her strict upbringing, Rebecca secretly opens herself to the secular world, with unexpected consequences – both for her family and herself.
FRAGILE
Dir. Vidi Bilu
(104min, Israel, 2013) Narrative
Jerusalem, 1966 – the year before the Six Day War, after which everything will change forever. A small family lives a quirky, but somewhat boring, regular life in the center of the city, living. One day, the apparent peace and serenity of their house is violated.
EAST JERUSALEM, WEST JERUSALEM
Dir. Erez Miller and Henrique Cymerman
(80min, Israel, 2014) Documentary
Legendary singer-songwriter David Broza journeys to East Jerusalem to record his latest album with Israeli, Palestinian and American musicians.
24 DAYS
Dir. Alexandre Arcady
(108min, France, 2013) Narrative
In 2006, Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Parisian Jew of Moroccan descent gives his phone number to a pretty young woman. Later, when his kidnappers demand ransom from his family it became clear that she actually lured Ilan to his capture.
ABOVE AND BEYOND
Dir. Roberta Grossman
(89min, USA, 2014) Documentary
In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish-American pilots answered a call for help – this film celebrates the pilots who formed the Israeli Air Force.
ALEX’S LETTERS
Dir.Yeal Luttwak
(25min, USA, 2015) Documentary
A work-in-progress screening of Yael Luttwak’s Alex’s Letters, based on the book Alex: Building a Life, the story of Alex Singer, a 25-year-old American who died while serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
ALMOST FRIENDS
Dir. Nitzan Ofir and Barak Heymann
(60min, Israel, 2014) Documentary
Samar, an Arab girl from Lod and Linor, a Jewish settler who lived in Gush Katif, forge an instant connection online; when the two girls finally meet, their families enter into a profound and complex experience.
ANYWHERE ELSE
Dir. Ester Amrami
(85min, Germany/Israel, 2014) Narrative
When Jörg goes out of town for a few days, Noa takes the opportunity to spontaneously fly back to Israel, determined this trip will do her good! Her lovable but dysfunctional family can’t keep old conflicts from arising, however, and soon her homeland begins to feel just like the Berlin she sought to escape.
AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS
Dir. Louis Malle
(105min, France, 1987) Narrative
A heartbreaking story of friendship and loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie — until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Louis Malle’s own childhood.
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN
Dir. Nicolas Vanier
(104min, France, 2014) Narrative
Sebastian, lonely and dreaming of the day his mother will return from America, befriends “the beast” the local farmers are convinced is killing their sheep – an enormous yet gentle sheepdog who quickly becomes the boy’s best friend. Recommended for ages 10+
BREAKING HOME TIES
Dir. Frank N. Seltzer and George K. Rowlands
(78min, USA, 1922) Narrative
Thinking he has killed his friend Paul in a jealous rage, David Bergmann flees pre-revolutionary Russia for New York. While there, he becomes a successful lawyer and woos smart, independent Rose, the boss’ daughter. With live original score!
BRUNDIBAR
Dir. Douglas Wolfsperger
(85min, Germany, 2014) Documentary
Holocaust? Again? That’s the reaction of the youth theater company at the Berliner Schaubühne to their newest project: Brundibar, the children’s opera, originally performed at Theresienstadt.
DANCING ARABS
Dir. Eran Riklis
(104min, Israel/Germany/France, 2014) Narrative
First love, school bullies, British New Wave … and SCUD missiles. This bittersweet 80s coming-of-age drama from the director of The Syrian Bride and Lemon Tree adapts two autobiographical novels by popular Israeli-Arab writer Sayed Kashua.
THE DECENT ONE
Dir. Vanessa Lapa
(94min, Israel/Austria/Germany, 2014) Documentary
Through previously undiscovered private letters, photos and diariest hat were found in Heinrich Himmler’s home in 1945, The Decent One gives unique, and at times uncomfortable, access to the life and mind of the merciless “Architect of the Final Solution.”
DELI MAN
Dir. Erik Greenberg Anjou
(90min, USA, 2014) Documentary
In Houston, Texas, third-generation deli man Ziggy Gruber has built arguably the finest delicatessen restaurant in U.S. history – building on the contributions of iconic delis such as Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, Carnegie, and the Stage.
THE FAREWELL PARTY
Dir. Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon
(93min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
A group at a Jerusalem retirement home builds a machine for self-euthanasia in order to help their terminally ill friend. When rumors of the machine begin to spread, more and more people ask for their help, the creators are faced with an emotional dilemma.
FELIX AND MEIRA
Dir. Maxime Giroux (105min, Canada, 2014)
Narrative
French, English and Yiddish with English Subtitles
Félix, an eccentric and penniless francophone whose wealthy father is dying, meets Meira, a Hasidic Jewish woman who is married with a child, and in search of something new.
IN SILENCE
Dir. Zdeněk Jiráský
(84min, Slovak Republic/Czech Republic/Germany, 2014) Narrative
A vibrant, sound-rich and brilliantly inventive ode to the lives of Jewish musicians during the era of National Socialism in Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany. Based on true stories of artists who achieved great musical success – Alice Flachová, Karol Ebert, Edith Kraus, and Arthur Chitz.
INVISIBLES
Dir. Mushon Salmona
(80min, Israel, 2014) Narrative
From the director of Vasermil comes the story of Raid, a young Bedouin recently discharged from the army. Despite all his problems, he tries to fulfill his dream of taking over the family’s herd of sheep. While minding the herd, he meets Nofar, his cousin’s Jewish girlfriend.
THE LAST METRO
Dir. François Truffaut
(131min, France, 1980) Narrative
Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve star as members of a French theater company living under German occupation during World War II in François Truffaut’s gripping, humanist character study.
LIONEL BART: REVIEWING THE SITUATION
Dir. Mick Conefrey
(60min, UK, 2014) Documentary
The rise and fall of Lionel Bart–the songwriter behind Oliver!, the most successful English musical of all time–told with wit and panache. The trajectory of Bart’s life is the “stuff of Greek tragedy, but with tighter trousers and catchier tunes.”
MR. KAPLAN
Dir. Alvaro Brechner
(98min, Uruguay/Germany/Spain, 2014) Narrative
Becoming convinced that his German neighbor is a runaway Nazi, 76-year-old Jacob Kaplan secretly takes on the role of a spy - only he is no match for the forces of age.
THE MUSES OF ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER
Dir. Asaf Galay and Shaul Betser
(72min, Israel, 2014) Documentary
This film uncovers a previously unknown and eccentric chapter in Isaac Bashevis Singer’s life: in the mid 1960’s he established an army of female translators – more than forty women – who helped spread his work. He was inspired by their presence, and often fell in love with them. For the first time, we hear their voices.
MY FAVORITE NEOCONSERVATIVE
Dir. Yael Luttwak
(39min, USA, 2014) Documentary
A personal entré into the surreal power circles of Washington, DC. The filmmaker’s eccentric father, Edward Luttwak, is a prominent conservative military strategist. Raised in a Chevy Chase house overrun by her father’s associates, Yael Luttwak grew up with Paul Wolfowitz, Michael Ledeen and Richard Perle.
THE POLGAR VARIANT
Dir. Yossi Aviram
(68min, Israel/Hungary, 2014) Documentary
The extraordinary story of three Hungarian-Jewish sisters who were raised in 1970s Communist Budapest to be chess masters. The Polgar sisters did not choose to become the heroines of this story. It was their father, who, driven by his educational vision, determined their destiny before they were even born.
RED FATHER
Dir. Tova Beck-Fiedman
(56min, USA, 2014) Documentary
Set against the backdrop of the pre-civil rights era, the film follows Bernard Ades, a Communist, Jewish lawyer that seeks to end systemic legal racism in Maryland, fights Fascism with the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, and eventually becomes a target of America’s McCarthyism.
THE RETURN
Dir. Adam Zucker
(83min, Poland/USA, 2014) Documentary
Before WWII, Poland’s 3.5 million Jews made the country the epicenter of the Jewish world; those that remained often hid their identity from their children. We follow four young women in modern day Poland who face the unique challenge of trying to create an identity in a vacuum, trying to embrace a Jewish legacy they hardly understand.
SECRETS OF WAR
Dir. Dennis Bots
(95min, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, 2014) Narrative
It’s 1943, but for thick-as-thieves friends Lambert and Tuur, the German occupation is merely inspiration for more exciting cave-war games. Even this bond is put at risk with the arrival of a lively young girl named Maartje, carrying with her a heavy secret about her past. Recommended for ages 10+
SERIAL (BAD) WEDDINGS
Dir. Philippede Chauveron
(94min, France, 2014) Narrative
This breakout hit in France comically plays off, and then upends, racial stereotypes of all stripes. The well-heeled Catholic Verneuils struggle with three daughters who have married Jewish, Arab and Asian men – when their fourth daughter falls in love with a Catholic, they’re delighted. But things don’t go quite as planned…
STATELESS
Dir. Michael Drob
(87min, USA, 2014) Documentary
On the brink of the collapse of the Soviet Union, tens of thousands of Soviet Jews were finally allowed to leave the USSR. What they did not expect was that their final destination, America, no longer welcomed them with open arms. In 1988, American policy changed and the Soviet Jews were stranded in Italy. Stateless.
THEODORE BIKEL: IN THE SHOES OF SHOLOM ALEICHEM
Dir. John Lollos
(75min, USA, 2014) Documentary
Portraits of two beloved icons—Sholom Aleichem and Theodore Bikel—are woven together in this enchanting new documentary. The two men have much in common: wit, wisdom and talent, all shot through with deep humanity and Yiddishkeit.
YOU MUST BE JOKING
Dir. Jake Wilson
(91min, USA, 2014) Narrative
Barb is an aimless, confrontational 27-year-old paralegal in this edgy comedy of reinvention. Sas Goldberg gives a frenetic, biting performance as a listless woman inspired by her childhood best friend to pick up her long-shelved passion for standup comedy.
ZEMENE
Dir. Melissa Donovan
(68min, USA/Ethiopia, 2014) Documentary
An inspirational story of hope, love and unimaginable possibilities.
We follow a spirited 10-year old Ethiopian girl, Zemene, as she fights to keep hope alive and survive her life threatening and severe curvature of the spine.
