 | < back |
|
|
 |
|
Press Release: December 13, 2007 |
|
|
Press Contacts: The Jewish Museum: Anne Scher and Alex Wittenberg, (212) 423 3271/pressoffice@thejm.org Film Society of Lincoln Center: Ines Aslan (212) 875 5625/iaslan@filmlinc.com and Jeanne R. Berney, (212) 875 5416/jberney@filmlinc.com |
|
|
17TH ANNUAL NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL TO BE PRESENTED JANUARY 9 TO 24, 2008 BY FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER AND THE JEWISH MUSEUM PRESS SCREENINGS ON DECEMBER 19, 20 AND 21, 2008 NEW YORK – The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center will present the 17th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, Jan. 9–24, 2008. One of the longest running collaborations of two arts institutions in New York City, the festival will take place at the Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, with several screenings at The Jewish Museum, Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street. Presenting 32 dramas, documentaries, and shorts, this year’s festival highlights the range of challenging and insightful topics informing the Jewish experience. A young boy discovers a family secret; an Orthodox Jewish immigrant from Russia is drawn to the boxing ring; a young army commander makes a vain attempt to protect his troops from Hezbollah missiles and low morale; a father mysteriously vanishes in Jerusalem; a multi-generational family of bakers wins the hearts and stomachs of a community; an unusual friendship forms between a Muslim nurse and her elderly Jewish patient. “If one thing unites these films,” says Aviva Weintraub, associate curator and director of the festival, “it is the great variety embodied in the festival’s offerings. We have films about and from Jewish communities around the world––including Israel, Latin America, Europe, and the U.S.––representing work by well-established directors, as well as emerging filmmakers.” In addition to presenting one world premiere, ten U.S. premieres, and twelve New York premieres, this year’s festival honors the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel by showcasing ten Israeli films, eight of which are being screened in New York for the first time. Beaufort, by Joseph Cedar, is Israel’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film to the 2008 Academy Awards. The festival also pays homage to the late Austrian director Axel Corti. “We showed his Young Doctor Freud at the Museum a number of years ago and the response was tremendous,” Weintraub explains. “We wanted to share more of his extraordinary films with our audience.” Three of the four Corti films in the festival focus on the period surrounding World War II. “They reveal his acute appreciation for the presence––and later absence––of Jews in 20th-century European history,” Weintraub says. A Woman’s Pale Blue Handwriting is based on a novella by Franz Werfel. The film delves into a man’s ethical crisis when a high official in the Austrian Ministry of Education in 1936 receives a letter from an ex-lover asking for help in placing a half-Jewish German boy in an Austrian school. God Does Not Believe in Us Anymore is about a young Viennese Jew who flees to Prague following Kristallnacht and the murder of his father in 1938. There he meets an anti-Nazi German soldier (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and a sympathetic Czech relief worker also seeking a safe haven. In Santa Fe, Corti examines the hopes, doubts, and memories of exiles who arrive in New York in 1940 desperate to begin new lives. The brilliant drama Welcome in Vienna focuses on a Viennese Jew who immigrated to New York after Hitler’s invasion and a left-wing intellectual who both return to Austria in 1944 as American soldiers. Most films will be shown at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center; two documentaries will be screened at The Jewish Museum: Praying With Lior, a film by Ilana Trachtman about a young man with Down syndrome preparing for his bar mitzvah; and the New York premiere of Making Trouble, a film about funny Jewish women across three generations. “This year’s slate of films in The New York Jewish Film Festival––from Beaufort to Villa Jasmin––ask hard questions about life, culture, identity and politics, challenging our audiences to come up with their answers when the lights go up and they return to their daily lives,” says Richard Peña, program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and a member of The New York Jewish Film Festival’s selection committee. Férid Boughedir’s Villa Jasmin will receive its world premiere. Serge, a Tunisian-born Jew living in Paris, takes his wife to see the country he remembers fondly from his childhood. This engaging drama, set in the port of La Goulette, and based on a novel by Serge Moati, also explores Serge’s parents’ courtship and his father’s activities with the anti-fascist movement in the 1930s. Claude Miller’s A Secret receives its United States premiere. In postwar Paris, a young boy discovers the unfortunate consequences of his parents’ mutual attraction during the Nazi occupation. Miller portrays a family consumed with guilt, jealousy, fear, and loss. The cast features the celebrated French actors Cécile de France, Mathieu Amalric, Julie Depardieu, and Ludivine Sagnier. Also receiving its United States premiere is Philippe Faucon’s Two Ladies. In France, a young Algerian Muslim nurse cares for Esther, an elderly Algerian Jewish lady, who in turn becomes friends with the nurse’s mother. This drama offers a sensitive and hopeful portrayal of camaraderie in the face of religious extremism and prejudice. Among the Israeli films in the festival are three dramas receiving their New York premieres. In Raphael Nadjari’s Tehilim, a riveting drama selected for competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, a father inexplicably vanishes in Jerusalem. Unable to mourn, his secular wife retreats into silence while the Orthodox family members gather to recite Psalms (tehilim). Oded Davidoff’s Someone to Run With, based on the bestselling novel by David Grossman, captures the original’s unrelenting pace, suspense, and heartfelt drama flies through the streets of Jerusalem at the end of a Labrador’s leash. While trying to track down the owner of a lost dog, a shy 17 year old named Assaf pieces together the incredible story behind her disappearance. In Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort, a brash, young commander must defend Beaufort Castle, the last outpost in southern Lebanon that Israel held before the army’s withdrawal in 2000. Hiding in tunnels and bunkers, the lieutenant tries in vain to protect his troops from Hezbollah missiles and low morale. The festival also features seven documentaries from Israel. Itamar Alcalay’s Stefan Braun, receiving its United States premiere, uses interviews, diaries, and home movies to reveal the fascinating story of Stefan Braun, who owned Tel Aviv’s most glamorous fur salon during the 1960s and ‘70s and constructed a larger-than-life public persona while keeping his private life secret. Three of the Israeli documentaries – A Hebrew Lesson, The Champagne Spy, and Quest for the Missing Piece – receive their New York premieres. David Ofek, Elinor Kowarsky, and Ron Rotem’s A Hebrew Lesson follows newly arrived immigrants in a language immersion class in Israel. A multicultural group from Europe, Asia, and Latin America learns grammar, vocabulary, and life lessons from their compassionate and animated teacher. In Nadav Schirman’s The Champagne Spy, 12-year-old Oded finds out his German-Israeli father is a secret agent living in Egypt and leading a double life with a second family. Oded Lotan’s Quest for the Missing Piece utilizes the conventions of a fairy tale to investigate the religious, social, and political issues surrounding circumcision with charm and humor. Lotan uses the story of his own bris to make a documentary that reflects on his relationship to Jewish ritual, his Israeli identity, and his German lover. Nitzan Gilady’s Jerusalem is Proud to Present revisits the summer of 2006, when Jerusalem hosted World Pride, an international celebration of tolerance for all people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. However, the event’s organizers were forced to make significant compromises due to the war in Lebanon and fierce opposition from the Holy City’s religious communities. In Chana Zalis’ short documentary, The Unkosher Truth, the filmmaker musters the courage to tell her father, an Orthodox rabbi and U.S. Army general, that her boyfriend is German and gentile. Ultra-Orthodox Jew Yehuda Grovais rebels against his religious community and battles the secular cultural establishment in Israel to make Hollywood-style blockbusters on a budget in Shlomo Hazan’s Film Fanatic. Three classic films will also be screened. The U.S. premiere of a restored print of the great Danish director Carl Dreyer’s silent work from 1922, Love One Another, will be presented. Filmed by and featuring a cast from the Moscow Art Theater, Love One Another follows a young Jewish girl who moves to St. Petersburg, falls in love with a revolutionary, flees the police, and returns to her village just as a pogrom breaks out. Edward Sloman’s 1925 silent melodrama set on the Lower East Side, His People, depicts two sons who deeply disappoint their father. The ambitious Morris hides his Jewish background from his friends in order to become a lawyer while Sammy becomes a prizefighter and courts an Irish lass. Screenings of Love One Another and His People will be accompanied by live piano. In Sidney M. Goldin’s His Wife’s Lover, a handsome actor bets his uncle that there is no such thing as a virtuous woman and then poses as a repulsive old millionaire to woo an innocent shop girl and then get her to refuse his marriage offer. Billed as the “first Jewish musical comedy talking picture,” this 1931 Yiddish film stars popular stage comedian Ludwig Satz in his only screen performance. A restored print with new English subtitles will receive its U.S. premiere. The New York Jewish Film Festival includes eight additional documentaries. Jason Hutt’s Orthodox Stance, receiving its New York premiere, travels with Dmitriy Salita, a twenty-something Russian immigrant equally devoted to the seemingly disparate worlds of professional boxing and Orthodox Judaism. Allan Miller’s House of Life: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, receiving its New York premiere, is a portrait of Prague’s sacred burial ground, described as the “Westminster Abbey of the Jewish people,” and the source of countless legends, notably that of Rabbi Loew’s golem. Ed Kucerak’s One of the Last, receiving its United States premiere, tells the story of the Kardish family, four generations of dedicated bakers who have made a lasting impact on the hearts and stomachs of their communities, from Ukraine in the early 1900s to present day Ottawa, Canada. Acclaimed filmmaker Peter Forgacs returns to The New York Jewish Film Festival with Miss Universe 1929, an elegant and moving visual poem featuring found footage by amateur filmmaker Marci Tenzer, telling the story of Marci’s cousin and secret love, the Viennese beauty queen Lisl Goldarbeiter. Evgeny Tsymbal’s Red Zion, featuring newly released archival newsreels, depicts the rise and fall of the Soviet Jewish Autonomous Region in Crimea, created by the Soviet Union to discourage Jews from immigrating to Palestine during the 1920s. Herman Szwarcbart’s Buenos Aires’ Pogrom uses rare archival film and dramatic performances to make sense of the “Tragic Week” of 1919, during which Argentinean soldiers and vigilante groups murdered more than 100 striking immigrant workers, including Jewish citizens in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Once. In Murder of a Hatmaker, receiving its United States premiere, Catherine Bernstein researches the life and death of her great aunt Fanny Berger, a successful fashion designer in Paris who was ultimately deported to Auschwitz. This highly personal documentary sheds light on Vichy France’s insidious collaboration with the Nazis. Guita Schyfter’s Labyrinths of Memory, receiving its New York premiere, draws parallels between two very different women united by a search for identity: Maite Guiteras, Mexican born, adopted at birth, and raised in Cuba; and the film’s director, born in Costa Rica to East European Jewish parents and raised in Mexico. Two short films round out the festival schedule: In Yoav Segal’s The Battle of Cable Street, receiving its New York premiere, a young boy draws his grandfather’s memories of the anti-fascist movement in the East End of London, with a nod to the book Harold and the Purple Crayon. In Joanna Jurewicz’s Goyta, receiving its United States premiere, a young Polish woman takes a job cleaning the home of a Hassidic family in New York, leading to a cross-cultural confrontation. The 17th annual New York Jewish Film Festival has been organized by a committee consisting of Rachel Chanoff, independent curator; Andrew Ingall, assistant curator, The Jewish Museum; 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. Tickets for each screening are $11 for the general public; $7 for students (with valid photo ID); $7 for Film Society and Jewish Museum members. Monday through Friday before 6 pm, senior citizens with valid ID will be admitted for $7. Complete schedule and program information and advanced tickets for all screenings at the Walter Reade Theater are available online at www.filmlinc.com. Schedule and ticket information is also available at www.thejewishmuseum.org. Brochures can be requested by calling 212 423 3337. Please Note: Tickets for the screenings of Praying with Lior and Making Trouble at The Jewish Museum are available only at the Museum (please call 212 423 3337 or visit www.thejewishmuseum.org). An additional screening of Goyta and Two Ladies will take place at The JCC in Manhattan on Tuesday, January 15 (334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street, 646.505.5708 or www.jccmanhattan.org). The New York Jewish Film Festival is sponsored, in part, by The Martin and Doris Payson Charitable Foundation. Additional support has been provided through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. Generous funding has also been provided by The Liman Foundation, The Jack and Pearl Resnick Foundation, Mimi and Barry Alperin, the Israel Office of Cultural Affairs in the USA, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, the French Embassy, the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York and Mexicana Airlines. 17TH ANNUAL NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL JAN. 9 – 24 AT THE WALTER READE THEATER PRESS SCREENING SCHEDULE Please join us for advance press screenings at The Walter Reade Theater, 165 W 65th St. at Broadway on the plaza level of Lincoln Center. RSVP to Oleg Dubson, 212-875-5578 or odubson@filmlinc.com. Wednesday, December 19 10 a.m.: Orthodox Stance Jason Hutt, United States, 2007; 83min Dmitriy Salita is a twenty-something Russian immigrant equally devoted to the seemingly disparate worlds of professional boxing and Orthodox Judaism. This lively documentary travels with Dmitriy from a dilapidated Orthodox synagogue to an amateur gym and to boxing rings in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. 11:30 a.m.: Buenos Aires' Pogrom Herman Szwarcbart, Argentina, 2007; 68min During the “Tragic Week” of 1919, Argentinian soldiers and vigilante groups murdered more than 100 striking immigrant workers, including Jewish citizens in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Once. Using rare archival film and dramatic performances, Herman Szwarcbart tries to make sense of this dreadful episode. Thursday, December 20 10 a.m.: Quest for the Missing Piece Oded Lotan, Israel, 2007; 52min Using the conventions of a fairy tale, director Oded Lotan investigates the religious, social, and political issues surrounding circumcision with charm and humor. He uses the story of his own bris to make a documentary that reflects on his relationship to Jewish ritual, his Israeli identity, and his German lover. 11 a.m.: A Hebrew Lesson David Ofek, Elinor Kowarsky, and Ron Rotem, Israel, 2006; 123min This engrossing documentary follows newly arrived immigrants in a language immersion class in Israel. Chin, Dong Dong, Sasha, and Marisol—a multicultural group from Europe, Asia, and Latin America—learn grammar, vocabulary, and life lessons from their compassionate and animated teacher. Friday, December 21 10 a.m.: Red Zion (dvd) Evgeny Tsymbal, Russia, 2006; 52min To discourage Jews from immigrating to Palestine during the 1920s, the USSR established agricultural collectives in the fertile lands north of the Black Sea. Evgeny Tsymbal (Dziga and His Brothers, NYJFF 2004) returns with a compelling documentary about the rise and fall of the Soviet Jewish Autonomous Region in Crimea, featuring newly released archival newsreels. 11 a.m.: Murder of a Hatmaker (dvd) Catherine Bernstein, France, 2005; 83min With the precision of a forensic scientist, Catherine Bernstein researches the life and death of her great aunt Fanny Berger, a successful fashion designer in Paris who was ultimately deported to Auschwitz. This highly personal documentary sheds light on Vichy France’s insidious collaboration with the Nazis. 17th ANNUAL NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDULE Presented by The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center at the Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Plaza Level unless otherwise noted Wednesday, January 9 2:00 pm The Battle of Cable Street *NY PREMIERE* Director: Yoav Segal (United Kingdom, 2006, 8 min.) followed by Miss Universe 1929 Director: Peter Forgacs (Hungary, 2006, 70 min.) 3:45 pm Tehilim *NY PREMIERE* Director: Raphael Nadjari (Israel, 2007, 96 min., 35mm, Hebrew with English subtitles) 6:00 pm A Hebrew Lesson *NY PREMIERE* Directors: David Ofek, Elinor Kowarsky, and Ron Rotem (Israel, 2006, 123 min., Hebrew, English, Mandarin, Russian, German, and Spanish with English subtitles) 9:00 pm A Secret *US PREMIERE* Director: Claude Miller (France, 2007, 110 min. 35mm, French with English subtitles) Thursday, January 10 1:00 pm The Champagne Spy *NY PREMIERE* Director: Nadav Schirman (Israel, 2007, 91 min., Hebrew, French, and German with English subtitles) 3:15 pm A Hebrew Lesson 6:00 pm Orthodox Stance *NY PREMIERE* Director: Jason Hutt (United States, 2007, 83 min.) 8:30 pm Someone to Run With *NY PREMIERE* Director: Oded Davidoff (Israel, 2006, 118 min., 35mm, Hebrew with English subtitles) Saturday, January 12 6:00 pm Beaufort *NY PREMIERE* Director: Joseph Cedar (Israel, 2007, 120 min., 35mm, Hebrew with English subtitles) 9:00 pm Someone to Run With Sunday, January 13 1:00 pm Love One Another *US PREMIERE OF RESTORED FILM PRINT* Director: Carl Th. Dreyer (Germany, 1922, 84 min., 35mm, silent with English and Danish intertitles and live piano) 3:15 pm Tehilim 6:00 pm Goyta *US PREMIERE* Director: Joanna Jurewicz (United States/Poland, 2006, 16 min., English and Yiddish with English subtitles) followed by Two Ladies *US PREMIERE* Director: Philippe Faucon (France, 2007, 73 min., 35mm, French and Arabic with English subtitles) 8:30 pm A Hebrew Lesson Monday, January 14 1:00 pm House of Life *NY PREMIERE* Director: Allan Miller (United States, 2007, 52 min.) followed by One of the Last *NY PREMIERE* Director: Ed Kucerak (Canada, 2007, 50 min.) 3:30 pm Someone to Run With 6:00 pm House of Life followed by One of the Last 8:30 pm Tehilim Tuesday, January 15 at The Walter Reade Theater 1:00 pm The Battle of Cable Street followed by Miss Universe 1929 3:15 pm Red Zion *US PREMIERE* Director: Evgeny Tsymbal (Russia, 2006, 52 min., Russian with English subtitles) followed by Buenos Aires’ Pogrom *US PREMIERE* Director: Herman Szwarcbart (Argentina, 2007, 68 min., Spanish and Yiddish with English subtitles) Tuesday, January 15 at The Jewish Museum 3:00 pm Praying with Lior Director: Ilana Trachtman (United States, 2007, 87 min.) 6:30 pm Praying with Lior – Screening followed by panel discussion. Wednesday, January 16 1:00 pm Stefan Braun *US PREMIERE* Director: Itamar Alcalay (Israel, 2007, 62 min., Hebrew with English subtitles) followed by Quest for the Missing Piece *NY PREMIERE* Director: Oded Lotan (Israel, 2007, 52 min., Hebrew with English subtitles) 3:45 pm Goyta followed by Two Ladies 6:00 pm followed by Miss Universe 1929 8:15 pm Red Zion followed by Buenos Aires’ Pogrom Thursday, January 17 1:30 pm Murder of a Hatmaker *US PREMIERE* Director: Catherine Bernstein (France, 2005, 82 min., French with English subtitles) 3:15 pm Stefan Braun followed by Quest for the Missing Piece 6:15 pm Murder of a Hatmaker 8:15 pm A Woman’s Pale Blue Handwriting Director: Axel Corti (Austria, 1984, 106 min., German with English subtitles) Saturday, January 19 6:00 pm Villa Jasmin *WORLD PREMIERE* Director: Férid Boughedir (France, 2007, 90 min., French and Arabic with English subtitles) 8:30 pm Jerusalem is Proud to Present *NY PREMIERE* Director: Nitzan Gilady (Israel, 2007, 82 min., Hebrew, English, Arabic, and Yiddish with English subtitles) Sunday, January 20 2:00 pm His People Director: Edward Sloman (United States, 1925, 91 min., silent with live piano) 4:15 pm Murder of a Hatmaker 6:15 pm God Does Not Believe in Us Anymore Director: Axel Corti (Austria, 1982, 110 min., German with English subtitles) 8:45 pm The Champagne Spy Monday, January 21 1:30 pm His Wife’s Lover *US PREMIERE OF RESTORED FILM PRINT* Director: Sidney M. Goldin (US, 1931, 80 min., 35mm, Yiddish with new English subtitles) 3:45 pm Santa Fe Director: Axel Corti (Austria, 1985, 110 min., German with English subtitles) 6:00 pm Welcome in Vienna Director: Axel Corti (Austria, 1986, 125 min., German with English subtitles) 8:30 pm Jerusalem is Proud to Present Tuesday, January 22 at The Walter Reade Theater 1:00 pm The Champagne Spy 3:30 pm Jerusalem is Proud to Present Tuesday, January 22 at The Jewish Museum 3:00 pm Making Trouble *NY PREMIERE* Director: Rachel Talbot (United States, 2006, 85 min.) 6:30 pm Making Trouble Wednesday, January 23 1:30 pm Labyrinths of Memory *NY PREMIERE* Director: Guita Schyfter (Mexico, 2007, 95 min., Spanish with English subtitles) 3:45 pm The Unkosher Truth Director: Chana Zalis (Israel, 2006, 35 min.) followed by Film Fanatic Director: Shlomo Hazan (Israel, 2006, 55 min., Hebrew and Yiddish with English subtitles) 6:00 pm Labyrinths of Memory 8:30 pm The Unkosher Truth followed by Film Fanatic Thursday, January 24 1:00 pm The Unkosher Truth followed by Film Fanatic 3:00 pm Villa Jasmin 8:00 pm Orthodox Stance Additional Screening at The JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street Tuesday, January 15 7:30 pm Goyta followed by Two Ladies For tickets to the screening at The JCC in Manhattan, those interested should call 646.505.5708 or www.jccmanhattan.org. Detailed Program and Schedule Information The Battle of Cable Street Yoav Segal; United Kingdom; 2006; 8 min. NY PREMIERE With a nod to the book Harold and the Purple Crayon, a young boy draws his grandfather’s memories of the anti-fascist movement in the East End of London. followed by Miss Universe 1929 Peter Forgacs; Hungary; 2006; 70 min. Peter Forgacs returns to the New York Jewish Film Festival with an elegant and moving visual poem featuring found footage by amateur filmmaker Marci Tenzer. Miss Universe 1929 is the story of Marci’s cousin and secret love, the Viennese beauty queen Lisl Goldarbeiter. Wed Jan 9, 2:00 pm; Tues Jan 15, 1:00 pm; Wed Jan 16, 6:00 pm Tehilim Raphael Nadjari; Israel; 2007; 96 min.; 35mm; Hebrew with English subtitles NY PREMIERE In this riveting and enigmatic drama selected for competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, a father inexplicably vanishes in Jerusalem. Unable to mourn, his secular wife retreats into silence while the Orthodox family members gather to recite Psalms (tehilim). With the best of intentions, the sons try to bring their father back through an improvised ritual. Wed Jan 9, 3:45 pm; Sun Jan 13, 3:15 pm; Mon Jan 14, 8:30 pm A Hebrew Lesson David Ofek, Elinor Kowarsky, and Ron Rotem; Israel; 2006; 123 min.; Hebrew, English, Mandarin, Russian, German, and Spanish with English subtitles NY PREMIERE This engrossing documentary follows newly arrived immigrants in a language immersion class in Israel. Chin, Dong Dong, Sasha, and Marisol—a multicultural group from Europe, Asia, and Latin America—learn grammar, vocabulary, and life lessons from their compassionate and animated teacher. Wed Jan 9, 6:00 pm; Thurs Jan 10, 3:15 pm; Sun Jan 13, 8:30 pm A Secret Claude Miller; France; 2007; 110 min.; 35mm; French with English subtitles US PREMIERE In postwar Paris, a young boy discovers the unfortunate consequences of his parents’ mutual attraction during the Nazi occupation. Claude Miller portrays a family consumed with guilt, jealousy, fear, and loss. The cast features the celebrated French actors Cécile de France, Mathieu Amalric, Julie Depardieu, and Ludivine Sagnier. Wed Jan 9, 9:00 pm The Champagne Spy Nadav Schirman; Israel; 2007; 91 min.; Hebrew, French, and German with English subtitles NY PREMIERE At the age of 12, Oded finds out his German-Israeli father is a secret agent living in Egypt and leading a double life with a second family. In addition to Oded’s reflections, this dramatic documentary includes rare interviews with Mossad veterans. Thurs Jan 10, 1:00 pm; Sun Jan 20, 8:45 pm; Tues Jan 22, 1:00 pm Orthodox Stance Jason Hutt; United States; 2007; 83 min. NY PREMIERE Dmitriy Salita is a twenty-something Russian immigrant equally devoted to the seemingly disparate worlds of professional boxing and Orthodox Judaism. This lively documentary travels with Dmitriy from a dilapidated Orthodox synagogue to an amateur gym and to boxing rings in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Thurs Jan 10, 6:00 pm, Thurs Jan 24, 8:00 pm Someone to Run With Oded Davidoff; Israel; 2006; 118 min.; 35mm; Hebrew with English subtitles NY PREMIERE Based on the bestselling novel by David Grossman, Someone to Run With captures the original’s unrelenting pace, suspense, and heartfelt drama as it sends viewers on a riveting ride through the streets of Jerusalem at the end of a Labrador’s leash. While trying to track down the owner of a lost dog, a shy 17-year old named Assaf pieces together the incredible story behind her disappearance. Thurs Jan 10, 8:30 pm; Sat Jan 12, 9:00 pm; Mon Jan 14, 3:30 pm Beaufort Joseph Cedar; Israel; 2007; 120 min.; 35mm; Hebrew with English subtitles NY PREMIERE In this powerful drama, a brash, young commander must defend Beaufort Castle, the last outpost in southern Lebanon that Israel held before the army’s withdrawal in 2000. Hiding in tunnels and bunkers, the lieutenant tries in vain to protect his troops from Hezbollah missiles and low morale. Sat Jan 12, 6:00 pm Love One Another Carl Th. Dreyer; Germany; 1922; 84 min;, 35mm; silent with English and Danish intertitles and live piano US PREMIERE OF RESTORED PRINT A young Jewish girl moves to St. Petersburg, falls in love with a revolutionary, flees the police, and returns to her village just as a pogrom breaks out. Filmed by the great Danish director Carl Dreyer—and featuring a cast from the Moscow Art Theater—Love One Another is a grand protest against anti-Semitism in Czarist Russia. Sun Jan 13, 1:00 pm Goyta Joanna Jurewicz; United States/Poland; 2006; 16 min.; English and Yiddish with English subtitles US PREMIERE A young Polish woman takes a job cleaning the home of a Hassidic family in New York. A whiff of chlorine fumes leads to a cross-cultural confrontation. followed by Two Ladies Philippe Faucon; France; 2007; 73 min.; 35mm; French and Arabic with English subtitles US PREMIERE In France, while the recent Israel-Lebanon war rages, Sélima, a young Arab Algerian nurse, cares for Esther, an elderly Jewish lady. An open and respectful friendship develops between Esther and Sélima’s mother, who share Algerian roots. This drama is a sensitive and hopeful portrayal of camaraderie in the face of religious extremism and prejudice. Sun Jan 13, 6:00 pm; Tues Jan 15, 7:30 pm (Jan 15 screening at The JCC in Manhattan) Wed Jan 16, 3:45 pm House of Life: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague Allan Miller; United States; 2007; 52 min. NY PREMIERE House of Life is a portrait of Prague’s sacred burial ground described as the “Westminster Abbey of the Jewish people.” Crowded with 12 layers of graves, the picturesque cemetery is source of countless legends, notably that of Rabbi Loew’s golem. followed by One of the Last Ed Kucerak; Canada; 2007; 50 min. US PREMIERE From Ukraine in the early 1900s to present day Canada, this documentary tells the story of the Kardish family, four generations of dedicated bakers who have made a lasting impact on the hearts and stomachs of their communities. In this intimate and heartwarming portrayal, the workers of the Rideau Bakery in Ottawa grapple with an uncertain future. Mon Jan 14, 1:00 pm & 6:00 pm Red Zion Evgeny Tsymbal; Russia; 2006; 52 min.; Russian with English subtitles US PREMIERE To discourage Jews from immigrating to Palestine during the 1920s, the USSR established agricultural collectives in the fertile lands north of the Black Sea. Evgeny Tsymbal (Dziga and His Brothers, NYJFF 2004) returns with a compelling documentary about the rise and fall of the Soviet Jewish Autonomous Region in Crimea, featuring newly released archival newsreels. followed by Buenos Aires’ Pogrom Herman Szwarcbart; Argentina; 2007; 70 min.; Spanish and Yiddish with English subtitles During the “Tragic Week” of 1919, Argentinian soldiers and vigilante groups murdered more than 100 striking immigrant workers, including Jewish citizens in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Once. Using rare archival film and dramatic performances, Herman Szwarcbart tries to make sense of this dreadful episode. Tues Jan 15, 3:15 pm; Wed Jan 16, 8:15 pm Praying with Lior Director: Ilana Trachtman; United States; 2007; 87 min. As Lior Liebling, a young man with Down syndrome, prepares for his bar mitzvah, he inspires his congregation with his passionate embrace of God. He is, by turns, a burden, a best friend, an inspiration, and an embarrassment, depending on which family member you ask. Ilana Trachtman’s intimate documentary challenges viewers to rethink the relationship between disability and divinity. Tues Jan 15, 3:00 pm & 6:30 pm at The Jewish Museum (6:30 pm screening followed by panel discussion) Tickets available only at The Jewish Museum. Stefan Braun Itamar Alcalay; Israel, 2007; 62 min.; Hebrew with English subtitles US PREMIERE In his heyday during the 1960s and ’70s, Stefan Braun owned Tel Aviv’s most glamorous fur salon, and hosted swinging parties for cosmopolitan friends and wealthy clientele, constructing a larger-than-life persona while keeping his private life in the closet. Using interviews, diaries, and home movies, director Itamar Alcalay reveals a fascinating and complex love story. followed by Quest for the Missing Piece Oded Lotan; Israel, 2007; 52 min.; Hebrew with English subtitles NY PREMIERE Using the conventions of a fairy tale, director Oded Lotan investigates the religious, social, and political issues surrounding circumcision with charm and humor. He uses the story of his own bris to make a documentary that reflects on his relationship to Jewish ritual, his Israeli identity, and his German lover. Wed Jan 16, 1:00 pm; Thurs Jan 17, 3:15 pm Murder of a Hatmaker Catherine Bernstein; France; 2005; 82 min.; French with English subtitles US PREMIERE With the precision of a forensic scientist, Catherine Bernstein researches the life and death of her great aunt Fanny Berger, a successful fashion designer in Paris who was ultimately deported to Auschwitz. This highly personal documentary sheds light on Vichy France’s insidious collaboration with the Nazis. Thurs Jan 17, 1:30 pm & 6:15 pm; Sun Jan 20, 4:15 pm A Woman’s Pale Blue Handwriting Axel Corti; Austria; 1984; 106 min.; German with English subtitles In 1936, a high official in the Austrian Ministry of Education receives a letter from an ex-lover asking for help in placing a half-Jewish German boy in an Austrian school. This dramatic and complex film, based on a novella by Franz Werfel, delves into a man’s ethical crisis. Thurs Jan 17, 8:15 pm Villa Jasmin Férid Boughedir; France; 2007; 90 min.; French and Arabic with English subtitles WORLD PREMIERE Serge, a Tunisian-born Jew living in Paris, takes his wife to see the country he remembers fondly from his childhood. This engaging drama, set in the port of La Goulette and based on a novel by Serge Moati, also explores Serge’s parents’courtship and his father’s activities with the anti-fascist movement in the 1930s. Sat Jan 19, 6:00 pm; Thurs Jan 24, 3:00 pm Jerusalem is Proud to Present Nitzan Gilady; Israel; 2007; 82 min.; Hebrew, English, Arabic, and Yiddish with English subtitles NY PREMIERE In the summer of 2006, Jerusalem hosted World Pride, an international celebration of tolerance for all people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. However, the event’s organizers were forced to make significant compromises due to the war in Lebanon and fierce opposition from the Holy City’s religious communities. This documentary explores that struggle. Sat Jan 19, 8:30 pm; Mon Jan 21, 8:30 pm; Tues Jan 22, 3:30 pm His People Edward Sloman; United States; 1925; 91 min.; silent with live piano Two sons deeply disappoint their father in this melodrama set on the Lower East Side. The ambitious Morris hides his Jewish background from his friends in order to become a lawyer. Sammy becomes a prizefighter and courts an Irish lass. Sun Jan 20, 2:00 pm God Does Not Believe in Us Anymore Axel Corti; Austria; 1982; 110 min.; German with English subtitles After Kristallnacht and the murder of his father in 1938, a young Viennese Jew flees for Prague, where he meets a German soldier (Armin Mueller Stahl) who opposes the Nazis and a sympathetic Czech relief worker. Together they escape to Marseille, from whence they hope to sail to a safe port. Sun Jan 20, 6:15 pm His Wife’s Lover Sidney M. Goldin; United States; 1931, 80 min., 35mm, Yiddish with new English subtitles US PREMIERE OF RESTORED PRINT Eddie Wien is a handsome actor who bets his uncle that there is no such thing as a virtuous woman. Posing as a repulsive old millionaire, Eddie attempts to woo an innocent shop girl and then get her to refuse his marriage offer. Billed as the “first Jewish musical comedy talking picture,” this film stars popular stage comedian Ludwig Satz in his only screen performance. Mon Jan 21, 1:30 pm Santa Fe Axel Corti; Austria; 1985; 110 min.; German with English subtitles In 1940, a ship arrives in New York harbor filled with exhausted Jewish immigrants desperate to begin a new life. Freddy struggles to find work, learn English, and overcome alienation. His refugee acquaintances include the depressed daughter of a delicatessen owner, an aging, unemployed surgeon, and a lovable charlatan photographer. This absorbing film examines the hopes, doubts, and memories of exiles. Mon Jan 21, 3:45 pm Welcome in Vienna Axel Corti; Austria; 1986; 125 min.; German with English subtitles Freddy, a Viennese Jew who immigrated to New York after Hitler’s invasion, and Adler, a left-wing intellectual, return to Austria in 1944 as American soldiers. The advent of the Cold War and anti-Semitism shatter the idealism of both characters in this brilliant drama. Mon Jan 21, 6:00 pm Making Trouble Rachel Talbot; United States; 2006; 85 min. NY PREMIERE This documentary looks at funny Jewish women across three generations— including Yiddish-theater doyenne Molly Picon, vaudeville star Fanny Brice, the red-hot Sophie Tucker, stand-up celebrity Joan Rivers, Saturday Night Live’s Gilda Radner, and playwright Wendy Wasserstein. In addition, comediennes Judy Gold, Jackie Hoffman, and others gather at Katz’s Delicatessen to gab about these six pioneers. Tues Jan 22, 3:00 pm & 6:30 pm at The Jewish Museum Tickets available only at The Jewish Museum. Labyrinths of Memory Guita Schyfter; Mexico; 2007; 95 min.; Spanish with English subtitles NY PREMIERE This documentary draws parallels between two very different women united by a search for identity: Maite Guiteras, Mexican born, adopted at birth, and raised in Cuba; and the film’s director, born in Costa Rica to East European Jewish parents and raised in Mexico. Each defies ethnic and geographic boundaries to travel to her ancestral home to claim a place in the world. Wed Jan 23, 1:30 pm & 6:00 pm The Unkosher Truth Chana Zalis; Israel; 2006; 35 min. In this short documentary, the filmmaker must muster the courage to tell her father, an Orthodox rabbi and U.S. Army general, that her boyfriend is German and gentile. followed by Film Fanatic Shlomo Hazan; Israel; 2006; 55 min.; Hebrew and Yiddish with English subtitles Ultra-Orthodox Jew Yehuda Grovais rebels against his religious community, and battles the secular cultural establishment in Israel to make Hollywood-style blockbusters on a budget. Wed Jan 23, 3:45 pm & 8:30 pm; Thurs Jan 24, 1:00 pm |
| FAQS|Contact Us|E-news Sign-up|Press Room|Provenance Research Project|Site Map|About This Site |
|
Site Map|Terms of Use|Confidentiality Policy|Credits|Copyright @ 2003 The Jewish Museum |
