16th Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival

10 Days in Gaza

On the 15th of August 2005, Israel embarked on a journey that changed the face of the Middle East. Director Dov Gil-Har (Behind Enemy Lines, SDJFF 2005) captured the real drama inside the Jewish settlements when Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip. Soldiers forced families from their homes as the residents called on the evacuating forces to "look in my eyes when you rip my life apart." 10 Days in Gaza traces the latest division in an already volatile Israeli society and asks... when will Israel be one?

Guest Speakers: News Reporter Dana Weiss; Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute Founders and Graduates

Director: Dov Gil-Har

Israel, 2005, 65 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Documentary; Israeli Films

Playing with Meet Michael Oppenheim   

Apart in the World

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Joyce Forum!

Boris Babaev is an Orthodox Jew from Tajikistan and Mauricio Chernovetzky is a Mexican-American Jewish filmmaker from San Diego, who meet in Poland. When Boris encounters young Poles who are discovering their Jewish roots, he prepares a Kosher Tajikian dish, putting his skills as a "Shochet," or ritual slaughterer, to the test. This lyrical film highlights the tensions between age-old tradition and the modern world.

Viewer Discretion: One scene depicts the ritual slaughter of a sheep

Director: Mauricio Chernovetzky Appearing

Poland/USA, 2005, 57 min., Beta SP, Polish/English/Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Documentary; Faith/Spirituality/Identity

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The Aryan Couple

San Diego Premiere!

Oscar Award-winning actor Martin Landau stars in this film as Joseph Krauzenberg, a Jewish steel magnate in occupied WWII-era Hungary. Judith Parfitt, respected British film star, plays Krauzenberg's wife. Under the "Europa Plan," the Krauzenbergs relinquish their fortune to the Nazis in exchange for their family's safe passage to Palestine. The Krauzenbergs' servants, Vassman and Ingrid, are the seemingly perfect Aryan couple. When Joseph learns that they are actually undercover Jewish operatives in the anti- German resistance, will he risk the safety of his family to save them? Landau was awarded the prestigious 2005 Jewish Image Award for his role in this film.

Director: John Daly

USA, 2004, 119 min., 35mm, English

Categories: English Language; Fiction; History & Holocaust; "Date Night" Pick

Guest Artist: Director/Writer/Producer John Daly

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Arye

Israel Isakovich Arye is a successful cardiologist in Moscow, despite the fact that he sees angels with black wings whenever he operates and frequently has visions of the years he spent as a young boy hiding from the Germans in the attic of a Lithuanian farmhouse. When he learns that he is dying of cancer, he travels to Israel to find Sonja, the sweetheart of his youth. Their moving story and romantic reunion is a tale of undiminished passion, and is ultimately an optimistic metaphor for the fate of the Jewish people.

Director: Roman Kachanov

Israel/Russia, 2004, 92 min., Beta SP, Russian w/subtitles

Categories: Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Fiction; History & Holocaust; Israeli Films; "Date Night" Picks

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Campfire

From Joseph Cedar, award-winning director of Time of Favor, comes the story of one woman's personal journey and a portrait of the Israeli movement that has affected millions of lives in the Middle East. The year is 1981. Rachel Gerlik, a 42-year-old widowed mother of two teenage daughters, wants to join the founding group of a new religious settlement in the West Bank. The settlement won't let her in until she remarries and demonstrates that she and her daughters can meet the group's religious and ideological standards. When her youngest daughter is accused of seducing a group of teenage boys, Rachel is forced to weigh her allegiances. Only Yossi (Moshe Igvy), the new man in Rachel's life, can show her that life as an outcast might not be as bad as it seems.

Israel's Selection for Best Foreign Film, 2005 Academy Awards; Five Israeli Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.

Viewer Discretion: Adult Content

Director: Joseph Cedar

Israel, 2004, 96 min., 35mm, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Israeli Films; Women's Issues; "Date Night" Picks

Guest Artist: Principal Actor Moshe Ivgy (Feb 12)

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A Cantor's Tale

Eastern European Jewish cantorial music is alive and well in modern America! This is due, in no small part, to the efforts and talent of Brooklyn-born Cantor Jacob Mendelson. Erik Anjou's feature length documentary follows "Jackie" on a nostalgic journey into the world of "hazzanut" (Jewish liturgical music) from Boro Park, Brooklyn to Jerusalem. It features appearances and musical performances by some of the world's most renowned cantors and aficionados including Joseph Malovany, Ben-Zion Miller, Alberto Mizrahi, Matthew Lazar, Jackie Mason, and Alan Dershowitz. A Cantor's Tale is very much like "Levy's Jewish Rye" — you don't have to be Jewish to love it!

Director: Erik Greenberg Anjou

USA, 2005, 95 min., Beta SP, English

Categories: Arts & Culture; Documentary; English Language; Faith/Spirituality/Identity

Guest Speaker: Film Subject Cantor Jacob Mendelson

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Christ in the City

Joyce Forum Short!

In this hilarious satire, Jesus returns to Earth... to New York City, to be exact. He drops into a movie theatre to catch a screening of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, but loses track of time. Can he make it back to heaven for Shabbos? Can he find a shul in the Big Apple to take him in? What will his father do if he doesn't make it home in time?

Director: Yitz Brilliant Appearing

USA, 2005, 24 min., Beta SP, English

Categories: Short-Subject

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A Different War

Nuni, a fourth-grade student living in Israel during the Intifada, has been chosen to play King David in the school play. But deep down, Nuni longs to play the role of the Princess instead.

Director: Nadav Gal

Israel, 2004, 15 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Israeli Films; Short-Subject

Playing with Keep Not Silent 

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Fateless

San Diego Premiere!

Based on the 2002 Nobel Prize-winning novel, a memoir by Imre Kertesz, Fateless is the directorial debut of acclaimed cinematographer Lajos Koltai. This sweeping drama chronicles the attempts of Gyuri Koves, a 14-year-old Hungarian Jewish boy, to reconcile the unimaginable horror of having lived in a German concentration camp. Troubled by his experiences, he maintains his tenuous hold on the world by giving human motives to the inhumanity of his captors. Vast in scale, and with a moving score by Ennio Morricone, this is a work of immense compassion, unlikely beauty, and shattering power—a true testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Director: Lajos Koltai

Hungary, 2005, 140 min., 35mm, Hungarian/German w/subtitles

Categories: Fiction; History & Holocaust

Guest Artist: Director Lajos Koltai Invited

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The First Time I Turned Twenty

Closing Night!

Marilou Berry (Look at Me) delivers a sparkling performance as Hannah, a 16-year-old misfit growing up in the suburbs of postwar France. Her homeliness and weight do not help matters as she struggles to blend in with her wacky parents, and two pretty sisters who are only interested in one thing—boys. Yet striving to remain true to herself, and with wit and musical talent on her side, she combats pranks and anti-Semitism as she fights for a spot in the famous all-male jazz band at her school. In the end, Hannah succeeds in this charming, humorous, and poignant film.

Viewer Discretion: One scene contains momentary male frontal nudity

Director: Lorraine Levy

France, 2004, 93 min., 35mm, French w/subtitles

Categories: Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression; Women's Issues; "Date Night" Picks

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Go for Zucker!

This German box office smash tells the hilarious tale of Jaeckie Zucker, a conniving pool shark, who must make up with his Orthodox Jewish brother, Samuel, in order to gain an inheritance. Healthy doses of slapstick humor, social satire, and political incorrectness made this entertaining farce one of the most talked about films in Europe this year and the winner of Germany's top film prize. In March, The New York Times asserted that Go for Zucker! depicted German-Jews with take-off-the-gloves candor and a comedy style absent from the culture since the Holocaust. The film, said the Times, is proving to be "an unconventional form of therapy for the strained relations between Jews and gentiles in Germany."

Director: Dani Levy

Germany, 2004, 91 min., 35mm, German w/subtitles

Categories: Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; "Date Night" Picks

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A Good Uplift

A comedic short documentary about the wise and wonderful Magda Bernstein, a Hasidic Jewish brassiere merchant from Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Directors: Faye Lederman, Cheryl Furjanic & Eve Lederman

USA, 2003, 13 min., Beta SP, English

Categories: Short-Subject

Playing with Sentenced to Marriage   

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A Green Chariot

Twenty-two year old Sasha's greatest wish is to become an Israeli. He changed his name to Yair and speaks only Hebrew. He has completely cut himself off from his Russian roots, including his father and Russian friends. Yair's world is shaken to the core when he receives a box filled with his late mother's belongings and discovers something inside that challenges everything Yair believes about himself and his past.

Director: Gilad Goldschmidt

Israel, 2004, 47 min., Beta SP, Hebrew/Russian/English w/subtitles

Categories: Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Israeli Films

Guest Speaker: Rabbi Scott Meltzer, Ohr Shalom Synagogue

Playing with Wasserman—The Rain Man   

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Heir to an Execution

Ivy Meeropol, filmmaker and granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, captures the personal story of her grandparents who were executed for espionage in 1953. She deftly portrays the anti-communist mood in America during the McCarthy era and shows how the 50-year-old event still reverberates with the relatives they left behind, including their sons, Robert and Michael Meeropol, and their descendants. This remarkable journey into her family's past searches for the truth about the "Atom Spies," and sheds new light on this chapter of American history.

Director: Ivy Meeropol

USA, 2003, 99 min., Beta SP, English

Categories: Documentary; English Language; History & Holocaust

Guest Speaker: Film Subject Michael Meeropol

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Isn't This a Time!

Three-time Emmy Award-winning producer/director Jim Brown created Isn't This a Time, a follow-up to the 1981 documentary, The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time. Now, over two decades later, members of the legendary folk group, including Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman, Ronnie Gilbert, and Erik Darling, join together in concert at Carnegie Hall with Arlo Guthrie; Peter, Paul and Mary; Theodore Bikel; Leon Bibb; and others, to honor music impresario Harold Leventhal. In the era of McCarthyism and the flowering of the American civil rights movement, folk music became the voice of the country's conscience, and Harold Leventhal, who died in October 2005 at age 86, was the man responsible for making that voice heard. Brown captures the night's unexpected performances by this deeply united, multigenerational family of artists who are still just as outspoken and inspirational as ever.

Director: Jim Brown

USA, 2004, 90 min., 35mm, English

Categories: Arts & Culture; Documentary; English Language; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression; "Date Night" Picks

Guest Speaker: Film Subject Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary)

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Jai

When little Ilana asks her grandmother about the meaning of the numbers on her arm, her grandmother explains that the numbers add up to 18 or Jai, meaning "life" in Hebrew.

Director: Ariel Zylbersztejn

Mexico, 2004, 10 min., Beta SP, Spanish w/subtitles

Categories: Short-Subject

Playing with Metallic Blues   

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Keep Not Silent

Ilil Alexander's stunning debut film boldly documents the clandestine struggle of three women fighting for their right to love within their beloved Orthodox communities in Jerusalem. All three women are lesbians and members of a secret support group called the "Ortho-Dykes." Their courageous fight for self-realization, honesty, and acceptance is an extraordinary model for those who struggle with issues of religious and sexual identity within the Orthodox tradition.

2004 Israeli Academy Award for Best Documentary; 2005 Torino Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Audience Award.

Director: Ilil Alexander

Israel, 2005, 52 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Documentary; Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression; Israeli Films; Women's Issues

Guest Speaker: Film Subject Invited

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Live and Become

Opening Night!

Award-winning Director Radu Mihaileanu (Betrayal and Train of Life) draws on personal childhood experiences to create this epic story of identity, sacrifice, love, and survival. In this emotionally searing film, a Christian mother forces her nine-year-old son, Shlomo, to declare himself Jewish in order to be included in Operation Moses, the rescue mission staged by Israel to enable the Ethiopian Jewish community to escape the famine of the mid-eighties. Shlomo arrives in Israel where, after a difficult start, he is adopted by a French Sephardic family. He must learn to live with the complexities of race and religion in a rapidly changing world, all the time yearning to be reunited with his biological mother.

Audience & European Cinema awards; Berlin Film Festival 2005 Golden Swan; Copenhagen Int'l Film Festival 2005 Best Film and Best Screenplay.

Director: Radu Mihaileanu

France/Israel, 2004, 155 min., 35mm, Hebrew/French/Amharic w/subtitles

Categories: Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression; Israeli Films; "Date Night" Picks

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Local Call

Could it be a supernatural Jewish cell phone comedy? Director Arthur Joffé has created a modern father/son fable starring Sergio Castellitto as Félix, a sweet Parisian astronomer who, to placate his wife, gets rid of his father's old overcoat. No sooner does Félix give the coat to a homeless person than his cell phone rings. It's his father—who's been dead for two years! Haunted and guided by his father's voice, insisting he retrieve the coat, Félix embarks on a tragicomic quest full of strange meetings, loss, and eventual self-discovery. Local Call begins as a quirky comedy and becomes an exploration into a son's unresolved relationship with his father, his father's unforgettable trauma, and the love that binds them.

Director: Arthur Joffé

France, 2004, 102 min., 35mm, French w/subtitles

Categories: Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Fiction; History & Holocaust; "Date Night" Picks

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Meet Michael Oppenheim

Michael Shlomo Oppenheim is one year old. Through a series of family portraits, we begin to understand the people, the exploits, and the genes that brought Michael to the world and the world to Michael. Together, the faces tell the story of the Jews in the 20th and 21st century and the story of the State of Israel.

Director: Roni Aboulafia

Israel, 2005, 6 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Israeli Films; Short-Subject

Playing with 10 Days in Gaza   

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Metallic Blues

From the director of Yellow Asphalt (SDJFF 2003), Danny Verete brings us this touching and amazing tragicomic road-movie about two Israeli car dealers who risk it all in search of a better life. Their plan to sell a 1985 Lincoln Continental at a huge profit in Germany is bungled and foiled at every turn. As their get-rich-quick scheme implodes, Shmuel (Avi Kushnir) and Siso (Moshe Ivgy) are forced to confront their emotions surrounding darker days in the history of Germany and Israel. What emerges is a story of friendship, reconciliation, and liberation from the demons of a tragic past.

Director: Danny Verete

Israel/Canada/Germany, 2004, 89 min., 35mm, Hebrew/English/German w/subtitles

Categories: Fiction; History & Holocaust; Israeli Films; "Date Night" Picks

Guest Artist: Principal Actor Moshe Ivgy

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Moshe Safdie: The Power of Architecture

Moshe Safdie, the dynamic Canadian-Israeli architect, burst onto the world stage at the age of 23 with his groundbreaking building, Habitat 67 in Montreal. As one of the most important architects of our time, he designed the National Gallery of Canada, Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, and the 2005 Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. His legacy also includes rebuilding the center of Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, and the Mamilla District. The film takes us on a worldwide exploration of projects that demanded challenging political, historical, and cultural considerations. Safdie's work reflects a vision for the future and seeks to invoke real ideological and social change.

Director: Donald Winkler

Canada, 2005, 91 min., Beta SP, French/English w/subtitles

Categories: Arts & Culture; Documentary; English Language

Guests Artists: Director Donald Winkler (Feb 16 & 19); Architect Taal Safdie (Feb 16)

Community Partners: The San Diego Chapter of The American Institute of Architects

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One Flight for Us

Haim Hecht, renowned Israeli Channel 2 TV personality, reveals evidence that proves beyond a doubt that the allies knew of the systematic mass destruction of Europe's Jews and remained silent. Yet, there was not one flight for us, not one flight designated to bomb the gas chambers and rail lines. In 2004, Israeli Brigadier General Amir Eshel organized "One Flight for Us," a formation of three Israeli Air Force F-15 fighters over Auschwitz in 2005. The flyover, performed in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, sent a message to the world: "Never Again."

Director: Haim Hecht

Israel, 2005, 60 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Documentary; Faith/Spirituality/Identity; History & Holocaust; Israeli Films

Guest Artist: Director Haim Hecht

Photo Text Translation: "We the pilots of the Israeli Air Force, over the skies of the camps of horror, rose from the ashes of millions of victims, carry their silent shout, salute their courage and promise to serve as a shield for the Jewish people and the state of Israel."

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Only Human

In this twisted romantic comedy set in Spain, Leni arrives home to introduce her fiancé Rafi to her dysfunctional Jewish family. Everything goes well until the lovers reveal that Rafi is Palestinian. Leni's mom, played by the renowned Argentine actress Norma Aleandro, becomes unhinged when Leni's promiscuous older sister, Tania, Orthodox brother, David, and blind grandfather, Dudu, all add to the ensuing mayhem. With excellent performances and hilarious dialogue, this fast-paced film arrives at an unlikely conclusion that acknowledges the distance between cultures and the power of love to bridge the gap.

Directors: Dominic Harari & Teresa Pelegri

Argentina/Spain, 2004, 89 min., 35mm, Spanish w/subtitles

Categories: Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression; "Date Night" Picks

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Petite Jerusalem

A low-income suburb outside of Paris with a large Jewish population is the setting for this beautifully acted and provocative film about two sisters with very different views of the world. Mathilde, played by Elsa Zylbersztien (Louba's Ghosts, SDJFF 2002), follows the letter of the religious law, while 18-year-old Laura is torn between her religious upbringing and her study of philosophy. A crisis erupts when Laura falls in love with a Muslim man and must choose between following the tenets of her faith and her own desires.

Viewer Discretion: Adult content

Director: Karin Albou

France, 2005, 94 min., 35mm, French/Arabic/Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Women's Issues; "Date Night" Picks

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Pigeon

Joyce Forum Short!

Set during World War II and based on a true story, Pigeon recounts a rare and startling act of charity. Sumptuously shot and emotionally affecting, Anthony Green's short drama features Academy Award nominee Michael Lerner.

Director: Anthony Green

Canada, 2004, 11 min., Beta SP, English

Categories: Short-Subject

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Protocols of Zion

This explosive film confronts a new wave of anti-Semitism that has emerged in the wake of 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Filmmaker Marc Levin conducts spirited, candid, and sometimes nerve-wracking conversations with Americans on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious forgery created 100 years ago, purporting to be the Jews' master plan to rule the world. Long ago discredited as a fake, The Protocols critically influenced Hitler, and has fueled hatred, violence, and ultimately genocide. Levin journeys deep into the landscape of America and gets some startling perspectives from people from all walks of life.

Director: Marc Levin

USA, 2005, 92 min., 35mm, English

Categories: Documentary; English Language; History & Holocaust; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression

Director Marc Levin Invited

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Reinforcement Player

Joyce Forum Short!

When coach invites Gabriel, a new immigrant from Argentina, to join the high school basketball team, a lot of conflicts arise. By the time his teammates are ready to accept him, it's too late.

Director: Michal Hagi, Moshe Sharrett Jr. High School

Israel, 2003, 17½ min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Israeli Films; Short-Subject

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Sentenced to Marriage

This shocking documentary exposes the Kafkaesque process of divorce for women in Israel, where there is no separation of church and state, and divorce is dealt with according to Orthodox Jewish law. Filmmaker Anat Zuria gained unprecedented access to the rabbinical courts to follow two women caught in this demoralizing legal labyrinth. This film reveals a little-known reality that seems unimaginable in contemporary Jewish society.

Wolgin Award for Best Documentary, 2005 Jerusalem Film Festival.

Director: Anat Zuria

Israel, 2004, 65 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Documentary; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression; Israeli Films; Women's Issues

Panel: Einat Grushkevich/Licensed Attorney, Israel & CA; Dr. Deborah Hertz/Herman Wouk Chair, in Modern Jewish Studies at UCSD, Department of History and Program in Judaic Studies; Rebbetzin Sura Leider, Chabad of University City; and moderated by Audrey Jacobs, Development & Admissions Director, Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School

Playing with A Good Uplift   

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Sid Bernstein Presents...

Joyce Forum!

Concert footage and a "rockin'" soundtrack are the backdrop for this remarkable story about Sid Bernstein, the adopted kid from Harlem who came to be one of the most influential men in the music business. His instincts for talent brought the Beatles to Carnegie Hall, James Brown to Madison Square Garden, and countless other important musical groups to the American stage.

Directors: Jason Ressler & Evan Strome Appearing; Sid Bernstein Invited

USA, 2005, 102 min., Beta SP, English

Categories: Arts & Culture; Documentary; English Language

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Stalin's Last Purge

In January 1948, the body of an unidentified man was discovered on a side road in Minsk. Seemingly, this was just another hit and run case, but it was soon revealed that the dead man was Solomon Mikhoels, director of the Moscow Jewish National Theatre, which he founded in 1929. Did Mikhoels become a victim in Stalin's scheme to annihilate the Jewish cultural elite? In this film, acclaimed director Alan Rosenthal blends recently discovered archival footage, firsthand testimonials, and fascinating accounts by Stalin-era experts to give us a perspective that is both personal and historic.

Director: Alan Rosenthal

USA/Russia, 2005, 55 min., Beta SP, English/Russian/Yiddish w/subtitles

Categories: Documentary; History & Holocaust; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression

Guest Artist: Writer/Director Alan Rosenthal

Playing with Waiting for Woody Allen   

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The Tollbooth

Joyce Forum!

A debut film by Debra Kirschner, The Tollbooth features a stellar cast that includes Marla Sokoloff (Desperate Housewives and The Practice), Tovah Feldshuh (Golda's Balcony), and Idina Menzel (Wicked and Rent). This comical journey chronicles a year-in-the-life of the Cohen family in Brooklyn. Sarabeth, a struggling painter, begins to question the values of her traditional Jewish family. Her strong-willed mother, Holocaust obsessed father, and madcap sisters are all at pivotal points in their lives, finding unpredictable paths towards embracing their differences.

Director/Writer: Debra Kirschner Appearing

USA, 2004, 85 min., 35mm, English

Categories: English Language; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Human Rights & Freedom of Expression

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Waiting for Woody Allen

Waiting for Woody Allen, a parody of Samuel Beckett's classic, Waiting for Godot, is a tragic comedy about Mendel and Yossel, two quarrelsome Hasidic men. Disillusioned with religion, therapy, and their own friendship, they wait on a bench in Central Park for Woody Allen to come and give meaning to their lives.

Director: Michael Rainin

USA, 2004, 16 min., Beta SP, English/Yiddish

Categories: Short-Subject

Playing with Stalin's Last Purge   

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Wasserman—The Rain Man

Seventy-three year old Abraham Wasserman swore he would never pray again. He blames G-d for his family's annihilation during the Holocaust, and vows never to forgive. But he is forced to reconsider when he needs help from his religious Jewish neighbors. Wasserman must confront his Jewish identity in a final desperate attempt to hold on to his family and his land.

Director: Idit Shechori

Israel, 2005, 58 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Faith/Spirituality/Identity; Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Israeli Films

Guest Speaker: Rabbi Scott Meltzer, Ohr Shalom Synagogue

Playing with A Green Chariot   

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West Bank Story

Joyce Forum Short!

A musical comedy send-up of West Side Story, David, an Israeli soldier, and Fatima, a Palestinian fast food cashier, fall in love. Tensions mount between their families, triggering a chain of events that destroy the families' dueling falafel stands in the West Bank. In an effort to rebuild their lives (and feed long lines of hungry customers), they must find common ground.

Director: Ari Sandel Invited

USA, 2005, 21 min., Beta SP, English

Categories: Short-Subject

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Winning with Miki

Teen Screen Nights!

Miki Berkowitz is a pretty 17-year-old, self-confident, and promising basketball player. When she moves to a new city with her mom, she wants to join the all-male basketball team at her new school. The coach doesn't want a girl on the team and the captain is threatened by her abilities. Oren Shtiner, playing himself as the legendary and now disabled 40-year-old ex-captain of the Maccabi Tel-Aviv

Director: Ori Inbar

Israel, 2004, 76 min., Beta SP, Hebrew w/subtitles

Categories: Family Relations & Coming of Age; Fiction; Israeli Films

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