November 29

Sponsored by the Jacob & Charlotte Lehrman Foundation

 
Official Submission from Brazil for the 2008 Foreign Language Oscartm Eleven year-old Mauro finds himself suddenly being raised by strangers after his Jewish father and Catholic mother are forced to go into hiding during a brutal crackdown in 1970 by the Brazilian military government. Hastily deposited on his paternal grandfather’s São Paulo doorstep, Mauro is thrust into a vibrant ethnic neighborhood filled with   Full Description…

November 30

 
As part of the on-going celebration of Israel at 60 we present this free screening of one of the landmark films in Israeli Cinema. Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer was the first Israeli film created for international distribution and was an official selection at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. Its story of four disparate soldiers (including one woman) bravely defending a crucial position outside of Jerusalem during the 1948 War of Independence is a   Full Description…

December 1

Sponsored by the David Bruce Smith Family Foundation

 
The act of praying with Lior is indeed a special one. This tender documentary focuses on the profoundly special relationship Lior Liebling, a boy with Down syndrome, has with prayer and God. While some consider Lior, also known as “the little rebbe,” to be a “spiritual genius” because of his fervent desire and enthusiasm for prayer, the camera also captures the incomparable impact Lior has on his family, friends and   Full Description…






 
After his abrupt death at a mariachi banquet, Moishe Tartakovsky has two angels hovering over his Mexico City shiva where his friends and family have gathered to remember their patriarch. The angels are attempting to divine from the mourners the content of Moishe’s character, and whether the good or bad angel will escort him on. In short, Moishe’s in trouble. His middle-aged son is trying to arrange an abortion for his girlfriend, his   Full Description…






 
Chen is a young boy constantly in the middle of the cultural conflict between his Russian born mother and Israeli father. While strolling the halls of a community center, Chen stumbles upon a ballroom dance class for children and is instantly taken with a beautiful young Russian girl in the class. His infatuation with Natalie leads him to join the class.  Through his ballroom dancing, Chen ultimately helps to bridge the cultural divide in   Full Description…






 
Part of the current vanguard of award-winning Israeli filmmakers, Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort dramatically depicts the complex moral and tactical dilemmas facing the young commander of a crusader-era fortress in Southern Lebanon during the Israeli Army’s unilateral 2000 withdrawal.  Liraz Liberti is the 22-year-old commander of the highest ground in the 18-year-old Lebanon War.  This ground he has sworn to defend is also ground   Full Description…






 
Shorter Films, Bigger Lives: My Nose, Brandon, Unattached, Therapy, Got Next, My Love My Love and Rock Beach. My Nose USA, 2007, video 13 minutes English Director: Gayle Kirschenbaum A single Jewish woman, her mother and her nose. A dangerous love triangle.  Brandon USA, 2007, video 13 minutes English Director: Rachel Israel Hannah’s dreams of romance collide with reality on a hilariously awkward first date. Unattached USA,   Full Description…






 
A single Jewish woman, her mother and her nose. A dangerous love triangle. Showing as part of the "Shorter Films, Bigger Lives" program.






 
Hannah’s dreams of romance collide with reality on a hilariously awkward first date. Showing as part of the "Shorter Films, Bigger Lives" program.






 
If you’re going to drive the lane, make sure your yarmulke is securely fastened. Showing as part of the "Shorter Films, Bigger Lives" program.






 
A love story between a young girl and her doomed boyfriend. Showing as part of the "Shorter Films, Bigger Lives" program.






 
A young boy tries to reconnect with his excitable father in the wake of a divorce. Showing as part of the "Shorter Films, Bigger Lives" program.






 
Charlie Goldberg’s therapy session just became a group intervention. Showing as part of the "Shorter Films, Bigger Lives" program.






 
Young, unmarried and Modern Orthodox on the Upper West Side – the best of times or the worst of times? Showing as part of the "Shorter Films, Bigger Lives" program.

December 2

Sponsored by Ralph & Louie Dweck

 
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival, Unsettled presents the historic 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip through the eyes of six young people. Three are settlers determined to stay. Two are soldiers with different feelings about the order to evict Jews from their homes. One is an activist whose sister was killed by a terrorist bombing and sees the withdrawal as the first step towards peace.   Full Description…






 
After his abrupt death at a mariachi banquet, Moishe Tartakovsky has two angels hovering over his Mexico City shiva where his friends and family have gathered to remember their patriarch. The angels are attempting to divine from the mourners the content of Moishe’s character, and whether the good or bad angel will escort him on. In short, Moishe’s in trouble. His middle-aged son is trying to arrange an abortion for his girlfriend, his   Full Description…






 
A mundane car accident has profound consequences when Eli, a father driving his sons to school, mysteriously disappears from the scene of the incident, leaving his religious Jerusalem family reeling. Using a combination of non-professional and trained actors, and employing a great deal of improvisation, Nadjari creates a mystery that is as much spiritual as it is physical. While Eli’s father stresses the importance of prayer and reciting   Full Description…






 
“Make your life where you are,” Elise Roumani told her children. They tentatively watched the Italian fascist regime arrive in Libya, survived the Nazi invasion, welcomed the British, and lived at uneasy peace with the Arabs until coming to the United States. After World War II, there were 36,000 Sephardic Jews living in Libya. Today there are none.  The Roumani family is among the dwindling remnants of this Jewish population   Full Description…






 
Chen is a young boy constantly in the middle of the cultural conflict between his Russian born mother and Israeli father. While strolling the halls of a community center, Chen stumbles upon a ballroom dance class for children and is instantly taken with a beautiful young Russian girl in the class. His infatuation with Natalie leads him to join the class.  Through his ballroom dancing, Chen ultimately helps to bridge the cultural divide in   Full Description…






 
Israel’s premiere actor, Assi Dayan, gives a captivating performance as Itzhak Grossman, whose Tel Aviv family is growing increasingly cut-off from itself. His father, whom he hasn’t spoken to in years, lies dying in the hospital, his son is too depressed and stoned to see beyond his job as a pizza delivery-boy, his eldest daughter is slowly realizing she’s a lesbian and his wife is about to reveal all family secrets in her   Full Description…






 
Part of the current vanguard of award-winning Israeli filmmakers, Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort dramatically depicts the complex moral and tactical dilemmas facing the young commander of a crusader-era fortress in Southern Lebanon during the Israeli Army’s unilateral 2000 withdrawal.  Liraz Liberti is the 22-year-old commander of the highest ground in the 18-year-old Lebanon War.  This ground he has sworn to defend is also ground   Full Description…






 
A sidewalk is universal. Every morning children make their way to school, leaving their home behind and entering a world of their peers, for better or worse. The act of traveling, whether it be walking, riding, or skipping, is the start of a new day. Duki Dror’s film, winner for best cinematography at DocAviv, is a meditation on that daily journey, one which is embedded deep in our collective memory. This journey is a brief window of time   Full Description…

December 3

Sponsored by Norman Pozez and Melinda Bieber

 
“Make your life where you are,” Elise Roumani told her children. They tentatively watched the Italian fascist regime arrive in Libya, survived the Nazi invasion, welcomed the British, and lived at uneasy peace with the Arabs until coming to the United States. After World War II, there were 36,000 Sephardic Jews living in Libya. Today there are none.  The Roumani family is among the dwindling remnants of this Jewish population   Full Description…






 
Free Screening Israeli singer Chava Alberstein joins the audience for discussion following the film Too Early to Be Quiet, Too Late to Sing. Released in 1995, the work is the result of interviews with elderly poets and writers who survived WWII and continued to write in Yiddish, and is interlaced with folk songs. Chava Alberstein's work on this film inspired The Well, her 1998 collaboration with The Klezmatics, for which she wrote music for 15   Full Description…






 
If you’ve ever strolled through the aisles of Whole Foods,Trader Joe's, or any health food store, chances are you’ve walked past the all-natural, peppermint-infused, multi-purpose organic soap that carries Bronner’s name. From afar the label may appear to be covered with warnings, but upon further inspection one finds a manifesto of thousands of words, referencing everyone from Hillel to Spinoza to Mark Spitz. A Jew who   Full Description…






 
Every Saturday, at approximately ten in the morning, you’ll find a group of elderly men and women shlepping plastic lawn chairs across the Mount Herzl National Cemetery in Jerusalem. They set up in the shade of a large pine tree, sit down, and have long, animated and thoughtful discussions about larger issues. This group of oldsters has held meetings of the “Mt. Herzl Academy” for over two decades, debating and discussing   Full Description…






 
Part of the current vanguard of award-winning Israeli filmmakers, Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort dramatically depicts the complex moral and tactical dilemmas facing the young commander of a crusader-era fortress in Southern Lebanon during the Israeli Army’s unilateral 2000 withdrawal.  Liraz Liberti is the 22-year-old commander of the highest ground in the 18-year-old Lebanon War.  This ground he has sworn to defend is also ground   Full Description…






 
Butch and Sundance. Oscar and Felix. Thelma and Louise. Multi-award winning Argentinean film On Probation adds a worthy pair to this classic list: Díaz and Silverstein. Rule-bending policeman Díaz lives alone in a hotel room, in despair, in the aftermath of leaving his cheating wife. He is allowed to return to work on the condition that he works with therapist Silverstein. Although the two are distrustful of one another at the   Full Description…

December 4

 
The act of praying with Lior is indeed a special one. This tender documentary focuses on the profoundly special relationship Lior Liebling, a boy with Down syndrome, has with prayer and God. While some consider Lior, also known as “the little rebbe,” to be a “spiritual genius” because of his fervent desire and enthusiasm for prayer, the camera also captures the incomparable impact Lior has on his family, friends and   Full Description…






 
Filmmaker Jamie Kastner sets out to make a documentary about what it means to be perceived as a Jew today. Plagued by strangers’ constant inquiries into his religious affiliation -- just as Gregory Peck attempts to unveil the anti-semitism in Gentleman’s Agreement -- Kastner strives to learn why it is that people are so interested in the answer to the question, “Are you Jewish?” His general response is a hypothetical   Full Description…






 
Stealing Klimt tells the story of 90-year-old Maria Altmann’s struggle to recover five Klimt paintings stolen from her family by the Nazis in 1938 Vienna. The paintings have been hanging in the Austrian National Gallery since the war and Ms. Altmann was alerted to the expropriation of her family’s paintings 50 years later, in 1998. This stunning documentary highlights Maria’s early life in Vienna before fleeing from the Nazis,   Full Description…






 
Butch and Sundance. Oscar and Felix. Thelma and Louise. Multi-award winning Argentinean film On Probation adds a worthy pair to this classic list: Díaz and Silverstein. Rule-bending policeman Díaz lives alone in a hotel room, in despair, in the aftermath of leaving his cheating wife. He is allowed to return to work on the condition that he works with therapist Silverstein. Although the two are distrustful of one another at the   Full Description…






 
Winner of the Grand Chameleon, the Chameleon Awards for Best Film and Best Feature Film at the Brooklyn International Film Festival, and the Berkshire International Film Festival Audience Award, Arranged centers on the friendship of an orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who are both starting their careers as first-year teachers in a Brooklyn public school. Over the course of the year they learn they share much in common, not least of which   Full Description…

December 5

Sponsored by the Arthur Tracy 'The Street Singer' Endowment

 
Stealing Klimt tells the story of 90-year-old Maria Altmann’s struggle to recover five Klimt paintings stolen from her family by the Nazis in 1938 Vienna. The paintings have been hanging in the Austrian National Gallery since the war and Ms. Altmann was alerted to the expropriation of her family’s paintings 50 years later, in 1998. This stunning documentary highlights Maria’s early life in Vienna before fleeing from the Nazis,   Full Description…






 
It has been at least 60 years since Jews had any hand in boxing, but Dmitriy Salita is making history as a top professional boxer and a rigorously observant Jew. Orthodox Stance follows the 24-year-old Russian immigrant for three years, chronicling the trials and celebrations of this up-and-coming professional athlete. While his two greatest passions may initially seem completely incompatible, Dmitriy proves that love and dedication for two   Full Description…






 
For young Bernie Ruebens, July 30, 1966 was supposed to be the time when he would become a man with the most fabulous Bar Mitzvah of all time. That is until he realizes his big day corresponds with the final match of the soccer World Cup, which if England were to reach, would mean no one would come to his Bar Mitzvah. Previously indifferent to “football,” Bernie begins to root passionately for all sides opposing the English in the   Full Description…






 
With a World Premiere live score performed byOne Ring Zero One of the first Soviet Yiddish films to be distributed in the U.S., Jewish Luck tells a classic Sholom Aleichem story of perpetual loser, Menakhem Mendel, who never tires of his doomed get-rich schemes. Some of the finest Soviet talent of the day worked on the film; director Alexander Granovsky was among the founders of the Moscow State Yiddish Theater, Solomon Mikhoels, the   Full Description…






 
A music video from Israeli roots/reggae band B’sorot Tovot takes us to a pastoral landscape that exists outside of time in a place where the living is easy.  Screens prior to Souvenirs.  






 
Ismaël (Roschdy Zem) and Clara (Cecile De France, winner of the Étoile d'Or for Best Actress, and nominated for a César for Best Actress for her highly acclaimed role in Avenue Montaigne) are two French thirty-somethings happily enjoying their four-year romance.  They think nothing of the fact that Ismaël is an Arab Muslim and Clara a Jew because both are non-practicing.  The issue of their interfaith   Full Description…






 
This 2006 DocAviv and Israeli Academy Award winner for best documentary is an unconventional father-son roadtrip that is nonetheless touching for its unlikely beginnings. Filmmaker Shahar Cohen’s father asks him to make a film about the Jewish Brigade, in which he had served during WWII. Shahar becomes enthusiastic when he realizes his