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Monthly Screenings

Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival 2019

Anton

Dir.: Zaza Urushadze
| 102 minutes

1919. A small village in Ukraine settled by German farming families. In the wake of World War I and the Russian Revolution, this is a period of great upheaval and religious division, yet young Anton, a German Catholic, and Jakob, a Russian Jew, are inseparable friends. 

 

As If It Were Yesterday

Dir.: Myriam Abramowicz, Esther Hoffenberg
| 85 minutes

The film retraces the spirit of solidarity of the Belgian Resistance who hid or helped Jewish children, often at the risk of their own lives. Former hidden children express their deep gratitude toward those who saved their lives…. A deeply moving work affirming the human spirit. 

Autumn in Pyongyang

Dir.: François Margolin
| 71 minutes

François Margolin, who served as producer of Claude Lanzmann’s last cinematic work, joined Lanzmann in North Korea and interviewed him between takes. Margolin employs intimate camera work to offer a glimpse into the thoughts of one of the greatest minds in cinema.

Beyond the Music - Barenboim Said Academy

Dir.: David Berney
| 52 minutes

Berlin’s Barenboim-Said Academy, home of the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, has marked a precedent within political and musical education. This innovative academy – derived from the friendship between maestro Daniel Barenboim and Professor Edward Said – whose mission it is to unite humanistic ideals, music, and philosophy.

Breaking Bread

Dir.: Beth Elise Hawk
| 85 minutes

Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel – the first Muslim Arab to win MasterChef – is on a quest to make social change through food. And so, she founded the A-sham Arabic Food Festival, where Arab and Jewish chefs collaborate on dishes. A film about hope and synergy.

Brussels Transit

Dir.: Samy Szlingerbaum
| 80 minutes

Samy Szlingerbaum retells the story of his childhood through his parents’ immigration to Belgium after WWII and their subsequent failure to adjust. Stunningly photographed, Brussels Transit offers an emotional journey into one family’s poignant longing for a sense of home.

The Burning Child

Dir.: Joseph Leo Koerner, Christian D. Bruun
| 113 minutes

A film journey into Vienna’s interior, built architecture from the city’s past, the city’s secret hidden beneath its foundations. It is the space of the psyche mapped in Vienna. The film presents the Viennese interior against the backdrop of Austria’s troubled past.

Cabaret – How are Decadence and Social Decay Expressed in Music?

Music in the 1930’s and 40’s in the interwar Weimar Republic. The music of Jewish composers John Kander and Kurt Weill, music which represented the decay of the cabaret period and remains decadent to present day.

Cabaret

Dir.: Bob Fosse
| 124 minutes

1931 pre-War Berlin, a haven of moral decadence and sexual ambiguity. American cabaret singer Sally Bowles meets British academic Brian Roberts. Despite Brian's confusion over his sexuality, the pair become lovers, but the arrival of wealthy playboy complicates matters for them both.

The Diary of Diana B.

Dir.: Dana Budisavljević
| 88 minutes

Eighty years after WWII, survivors return to the sites of former Ustasha camps only to find that they owe their lives to the selflessness and determination of one woman. This captivating and sophisticated docu-drama is the untold story of Austrian born Diana Budisavljević.

Divorce Denied

Dir.: David Ofek, Mia Webb
| 60 minutes

No Jewish divorce is complete without the man literally giving the woman her freedom back. Divorce Denied follows several ‘chained’ women together with Batya Kahana Dror, a religious lawyer, who embarks on a struggle against the rabbinical courts. 

Dolce Fine Giornata

Dir.: Jacek Borcuch
| 90 minutes

Maria Linde is a Jewish Nobel Prize winner of Polish origin residing in Italy. After a terrorist attack in Rome, Maria boldly decries Europe’s eroding democracy—but she is unprepared for the havoc her comments create. An elegant and heartbreaking film.

A Fading Language, a Fading Cuisine

Dir.: Deniz Alphan
| 60 minutes

The film chronicles the centuries-old Ladino language and Sephardic food culture of the Jewish community in Turkey. This is a story of more than five centuries, and this documentary provides us with a glimpse of this past and taste of a fading yet evolving culture.

A Fortunate Man

Dir.: Billy August
| 168 minutes

Per, a talented young engineering student, rejects his strict Lutheran upbringing in Denmark of the 1880s. He is welcomed by a wealthy Jewish family and secures their patronage as well as the love of their eldest daughter. Despite his luck and success, Per teeters between triumph and catastrophe. 

A Hidden Life

Dir.: Terrence Malick
| 173 minutes

The true story of unsung hero Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to take the oath of allegiance to Hitler. Jägerstätter continued to stand up for his beliefs and was executed for it. Visionary writer and director Terrence Malick returns with an exquisite epic work.

I Was Not Born a Mistake

Dir.: Racheli Rusinek, Eyal Ben-Moshe
| 52 minutes

By the time he turned 35, Yaakov Smith was an ultra-orthodox married man with six children and a pillar in his community. Five years later, he left his family, his community, and Israel. It took him 20 years to return only this time as an observant woman.

The Illegals

Dir.: Meyer Levin
| 77 minutes

Holocaust survivor Mika and his wife Sara decides they must get to Palestine. They meet on board a Haganah, but a British plane spots the ship off the coast of Haifa…. The Illegals tells the heroic story of Jewish illegal immigration to Israel. Restored digital version. 

An Irrepressible Woman

Dir.: Laurent Heynemann
| 105 minutes

Inspired by Jewish French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister, Léon Blum and his love affair with Janot Reichenbach. When they could finally be together, the Nazis arrived in France and Janot gave up her comfortable life to link her destiny to that of Léon Blum.

Isaiah Berlin, Philosopher of Freedom

Dir.: Judith Wechsler
| 72 minutes

The film traces the development of leading 20th century public intellectual, Isaiah Berlin, in the context of his life and times, through archival film and recordings. His major contributions to the philosophy of freedom are explored through in-depth interviews.

It Must Schwing! The Blue Note Story

Dir.: Eric Friedler
| 115 minutes

In 1939, Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two young Jewish refugees, founded legendary jazz label Blue Note Records in New York. At a time when African-American musicians faced legal discrimination, Blue Note Records respected them as artists and equals. 

Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People

Dir.: Oren Rudavsky
| 85 minutes

How did Joseph Pulitzer, once a penniless young Jewish immigrant, come to challenge a popular president and fight for freedom of the press as essential to our democracy? While he is remembered for the prize bearing his name, his personal heroic battles have been forgotten.