Venues
Walter Reade Theater: 165 West 65th StreetElinor Bunin Munroe Film Center: 144 West 65th Street
All screenings are at the Walter Reade Theater unless otherwise noted.
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Walter Reade Theater Box Office
165 W 65th Street, hours
By Category
Animation, Classic, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, France, Germany, Holocaust, Israel, Poland, Romance, Short FilmAll Films
Admission
$13 General Public$9 Student, Senior & Child
$8 The Jewish Museum & Film Society Members
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
U.S. PremiereThierry Binisti | France | 2010 | 90m
Buy Tickets: Sun Jan 22: 6:00pm
Buy Tickets: Mon Jan 23: 1:00pm
Tal is a 17-year-old Frenchwoman who has settled in Jerusalem with her family. She writes a letter expressing her refusal to accept that only hatred can reign between Israelis and Palestinians. She slips the letter into a bottle, and her brother throws it into the sea near Gaza, where he is carrying out his military service. A few weeks later, Tal receives a response from a mysterious “Gazaman,” a young Palestinian named Naim. This engrossing and hopeful drama starring Hiam Abbas is based on the award-winning novel by Valerie Zenatti.
DIRECTOR THIERRY BINISTI AND AUTHOR VALERIE ZENATTI ON WHOSE BOOK THE FILM IS BASED WILL ATTEND.
Dressing America: Tales From The Garment CenterNew York PremiereSteven Fischler & Joel Sucher | USA | 2011 | 57m
Categories: Documentary
Buy Tickets: Mon Jan 16: 1:00pm
Buy Tickets: Tue Jan 24: 8:15pm
From the directors of From Swastika to Jim Crow (NYJFF 2000) comes this fascinating documentary exploring the post-World War II heyday of the garment district in Manhattan. Mavens of the “shmatte” business pay tribute to the Jewish immigrant roots of the garment industry, when Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long was a top musical hit and American designers challenged the hegemony of Paris fashion.
DIRECTORS STEVEN FISCHLER AND JOEL SUCHER WILL ATTEND.
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preceded by
In this short drama, a young girl ponders her place and develops a crush on a waiter at her father’s second wedding.
Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu StoryWorld PremiereJonathan Gruber & Ari Daniel Pinchot | USA | 2012 | 80m
Categories: Documentary, Israel
Buy Tickets: Thu Jan 12: 8:15pm
Buy Tickets: Mon Jan 23: 6:00pm
Jonathan “Yoni” Netanyahu, then a commander in the Israeli army, was killed at the age of 30 leading the 1976 hostage rescue mission at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda. In Follow Me, co-directors Jonathan Gruber (Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray, NYJFF 2011) and Ari Daniel Pinchot (Producer, Paper Clips) present a moving portrait of Yoni’s life through his own poetry, prose and letters. Ultimately a portrait of a young country through a young man, the documentary also features fascinating rarely seen footage of the 1967 war and the Entebbe raid itself, as covered by journalism legend Walter Cronkite. An Ari Daniel Pinchot Film.
CO-DIRECTORS JONATHAN GRUBER AND ARI DANIEL PINCHOT WILL ATTEND JAN 12 SCREENING. PINCHOT WILL ALSO ATTEND JAN 23 SCREENING WITH EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MARK MANSON.
Lea and DarijaU.S. PremiereBranko Ivanda | Croatia | 2011 | 101m
Buy Tickets: Sun Jan 22: 3:20pm
Buy Tickets: Mon Jan 23: 8:30pm
A captivating drama tells the story of Lea Deutsch, known as the Croatian Shirley Temple, and her friend and dancing partner Darija Gasteiger. The two talented and exuberant 13-year-old girls were great stars in Zagreb on the eve of World War II. They played to sold-out houses around Europe, were filmed by Pathé Paris and Berlin’s UFA and lived in the rarefied world of the 1930s Croatian National Theater’s “Children’s Realm.” The Nazi persecution of Jews and later, German nationals’ flight from communists, tests their friendship.
DIRECTOR BRANKO IVANDA WILL ATTEND.
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The Lost Love DiariesYasmine Novak | Israel | 2011 | 53m
Categories: Documentary, Holocaust, Israel, Romance
Buy Tickets: Mon Jan 16: 3:15pm
Buy Tickets: Wed Jan 18: 8:30pm
On the morning of her wedding day, Ellis receives a package in the mail. It contains a diary kept by the first love of her life, Bernie, during his time underground in World War II. When Bernie did not return, Ellis married another man and moved with him to Palestine. She kept the diary hidden for 65 years until her historian daughter prevailed upon her to read it and try to find out what happened to Bernie. This gripping documentary is a combination detective story and love saga.
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preceded by
Popular Israeli rock musician Dudu Tassa embarks on a mission to revive his grandfather’s traditional Iraqi songs by remixing the tunes for contemporary listeners. Salah and his brother Daud al-Kuwaiti were highly acclaimed Jewish musicians in 1930s Iraq. They arrived in Israel in the 1950s and found they were unknown and unappreciated. In this musical documentary, Tassa engages in a labor of love to research and perform his family’s musical past.
DIRECTOR GILI GAON WILL ATTEND.
The Queen Has No CrownTomer Heymann | Israel | 2011 | 82m
Categories: Documentary, Israel
Buy Tickets: Sun Jan 22: 8:30pm
Buy Tickets: Mon Jan 23: 3:30pm
Tomer Heymann (Paper Dolls) brings us this poignant meditation on family and loss using 8 and 16mm home movies and more recent footage he shot over the past decade to navigate the intimate lives of five brothers and their mother. Three of the Heymann sons take their families and leave Israel for "better" lives in America. They fulfill their own dreams, but shatter those of their mother. She is left in Israel with her two bachelor sons—one straight and the other, Tomer, gay. Exploring the politics of belonging, displacement and sexuality, the film examines the hard decisions one family has to make and the intractable bonds that unite them in the face of difficult life choices.
DIRECTOR TOMER HEYMANN WILL ATTEND.
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preceded by
Do all grandmothers give socks and underwear as birthday presents? 10-year-old Leo is much more intrigued by his grandpa’s gift—a Super-8 movie camera.
RemembranceNew York PremiereAnna Justice | Germany | 2011 | 105m
Categories: Drama, Germany, Holocaust, Romance
Buy Tickets: Mon Jan 16: 6:00pm
Buy Tickets: Tue Jan 17: 3:15pm
Inspired by actual events, Remembrance depicts a remarkable love story that blossomed in the terror and squalor of a Nazi concentration camp in 1944 Poland. In a daring escape, Tomasz, a young Polish prisoner, rescues his Jewish lover, Hannah. In the chaos of the end of the war, they are forcibly separated and each is convinced that the other has died. More than 30 years later in New York City, Hannah believes she has seen her Tomasz interviewed on television and she begins to search for him again. Anna Justice (Max Minsky and Me, NYJFF 2009) directs this powerful and artfully crafted drama.
SCREENWRITER PAM KATZ AND ACTOR DAVID RASCHE WILL ATTEND JAN 16 SCREENING.
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RestorationNew York PremiereJoseph Madmony | Israel | 2011 | 105m
Categories: Drama, Israel, Romance
Buy Tickets: Sun Jan 15: 6:00pm
Buy Tickets: Mon Jan 16: 8:45pm
Joseph Madmony (The Barbecue People, NYJFF 2004) returns with this sensitive drama in which a Tel Aviv man struggles to keep his antique restoration business afloat. Amidst conflicts with his son, a stranger comes to town and a complex love triangle complicates his plans. Featuring outstanding performances by Sasson Gabai (The Band’s Visit) and Sarah Adler (Ultimatum, NYJFF 2010). Nominated for 11 Ophir Awards (Israeli Academy Awards), and winner of the Dramatic Screenwriting Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
ACTRESS SARAH ADLER WILL ATTEND.
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This year’s New York Jewish Film Festival was selected by Rachel Chanoff, Independent Curator, Scott Foundas, Associate Director of Programming, Film Society of Lincoln Center; Richard Peña, Program Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center; and Aviva Weintraub, Associate Curator and Director of The New York Jewish Film Festival, The Jewish Museum; with assistance from Jaron Gandelman, Curatorial Assistant for Media and Film Festival Coordinator, The Jewish Museum.
Acknowledgements
Susan Barocas, Washington JFF; Natalia Babinski, Polish Cultural Institute, NY; Laurie Cearley, Olli Chanoff, Nadine Goellner, The Office; Nicola Galliner, Berlin JFF; Stuart Hands, Toronto JFF; J. Hoberman, The Village Voice; Andrew Ingall, Foundation for Jewish Culture; Annette Insdorf, Columbia University; Judy Ironside, UK Jewish Film; Aviva Kempner; Joshua Moore, Jay Rosenblatt, San Francisco JFF; Sharon Rivo, Lisa Rivo, National Center for Jewish Film; Sara L. Rubin, Boston JFF; Karen Small, Rutgers JFF; Alla Verlotsky, Seagull Films; Isaac Zablocki, The JCC in Manhattan; The Film Society of Lincoln Center staff; The Jewish Museum staff; Interns: Sophia Grais, Lyudmyla Bua; Volunteers: Marlene Josephs, Linda Lipson.