15th Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival
Behind Enemy Lines
An Israeli policeman and a Palestinian journalist take a politically tense road trip into "Intifada Land." Benny Hernes and Adnan Joulani visit places each has selected to symbolize the heart of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. These two men, from different backgrounds, openly discuss — and sometimes argue — in a dialogue that does not attempt to minimize their differences or simplify the complexity of the situation.
Director: Dov Gil-Har
Israel, 2004, 64 min., Beta SP; Color, English/Hebrew/Arabic w/subtitles
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Sleeping With The Enemy
In an effort to aid the Middle East peace process, the Japanese government has hosted Israelis and Palestinians to help them explore and develop a mutual understanding of their shared future. Dov Gil-Har followed one such group and chronicled the events as they slept, ate, and debated together.
Director: Dov Gil-Har
Israel, 2000, 26 min., Beta SP; Color, English/Hebrew/Arabic w/subtitles
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Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi
Sixteen-year-old Shlomi is the caretaker and mediator of his dysfunctional family. He feeds his grandfather, bathes him, and listens to his fictitious stories about WWII. He tries to make peace between his estranged father and angry mother, and tolerates his oversexed older brother. Shlomi's life changes when he falls for the girl next door and his math teacher discovers his special gift. Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi is a heartwarming family comedy and a love story about a boy who discovers through the power of love . . . that the sky is the limit.
Director: Shemi Zarhin
Israel, 2003, 94 min., 35mm; Color, Hebrew w/subtitles
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Checkpoint
"Many of the people in Israel don't perceive the true meaning of being an occupying nation," says Director Yoav Shamir. "How does it affect us and how does it affect the Palestinians? What does it mean for a Palestinian to live under occupation? How does it feel that every time you want to go to work, school, to a doctor or just to visit friends you have to go through these checkpoints? How does it feel for a young soldier who has to stand in that impossible situation?" For two years, Shamir filmed the daily routine at various checkpoints with no soundman or any other crew. The result is an intense picture, in which people on both sides are forced into positions that leave little room for human dignity. Checkpoint won Best Documentary at the Newport International Film Fest, the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, Hot Docs Toronto, and the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Director: Yoav Shamir
Israel, 2003, 80 min., Beta SP; Color, Hebrew/Arabic/English w/subtitles
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Columbia—The Tragic Loss
Two months after the Columbia space shuttle disaster the tattered remains of a book were found at one of the crash sites. It was the personal diary of Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut. Based on reconstructed diary text and e-mails from the Columbia, the Israeli police and the Israel Museum recreated the last flight of this Israeli pilot. Columbia—The Tragic Loss tells the story of the doomed mission and reveals the thoughts and emotions of Ramon's journey into space. This moving film is a heartfelt tribute to the brave son of a concentration camp survivor who realized the hopes and dreams of his country.
Director: Naftaly Gliksberg
USA/Israel, 2004, 60 min., Beta SP; Color, Hebrew/English w/subtitle
Presented by the Agency for Jewish Education, Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute (JITLI), Teen Coalition/Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS
Community Partners: American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the San Diego Aerospace Museum**
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Discordia: When Netanyahu Came To Town
On September 9, 2002 at Montreal's Concordia University, a scheduled appearance by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked heated debate and exploded into violent student riots. Filmmakers Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal jumped into the fray with a handheld camera and street-smart bravado. This rousing documentary captures the rage and divergent opinions of the day as students and campus activists made their voices heard.
Directors: Ben Addelman, Samir Mallal
Canada, 2004, 71 min., Beta SP; Color, English
Strangers
Two strangers—one Jewish, the other Arab—find common ground when their shared metro trip to Paris turns into a nightmare journey.
Directors: Guy Nattiv, Erez Tadmor
Israel, 2004, 10 min., Beta SP; Color, Silent
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Enemies: A Love Story
The New York Film Critics Circle named Paul Mazursky Best Director for this adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer's book, Enemies: A Love Story. Herman Broder (Ron Silver) is a Holocaust survivor with three wives: Yadwiga, the Polish peasant who hid him from the Nazis; Masha (Lena Olin), his beautiful and neurotic true love; and Tamara (Angelica Huston), his first wife who miraculously returned from the ashes of Auschwitz. Astonished by each new complication, and resigned to a life of evasion, Herman navigates a crowded New York with a sense of perpetually impending doom.
SDJFF is proud to honor Hollywood legend Paul Mazursky, whose award-winning work as actor,
director, writer, and producer includes over 70 films and television shows, including: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice ('69), Harry and Tonto ('74), Next Stop, Greenwich Village ('76), Unmarried Woman ('78), Moscow on the Hudson ('84), Down and Out in Beverly Hills ('86), Moon over Parador ('88), Enemies: A Love Story ('89), Scenes from a Mall ('91), Coast to Coast ('04) and notable guest
appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sopranos, and Frasier.
Director: Paul Mazursky
USA, 1989, 119 min., 35mm; Color, English
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Hitmakers: The Teens Who Stole Pop Music
During the 1960s, a revolution took place in American popular music. The subversives behind it were a bunch of teenagers, most of them Jews from Brooklyn. John Turturro narrates this film about kids such as Lieber and Stoller, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, and Burt Bacharach who wrote amazing hits like Walk On By, You've Lost That Loving Feeling and Hound Dog. Some of them became performers themselves, and many wrote for brilliant musical artists like Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and even Elvis Presley. The artists and the 40 songs performed in this film showcase a joyous era in American music.
Director: Morgan Neville
Producer: Peter Jones
USA, 2001, 90 min., Beta SP; Color, English
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Imaginary Witness: Hollywood And The Holocaust
Academy Award nominee Daniel Anker examines the crucial role the American film industry played in supporting U.S. military interests during WWII. This thoughtful and provocative film, narrated by Gene Hackman, examines the question, "Why did Hollywood ignore the Nazi persecution of Jews immediately after the Holocaust?" Through the use of compelling old footage and interviews with directors, including Steven Spielberg and Sidney Lumet, this film explains why such giants as Jack Warner chose to make films in support of the war effort without casting much light on the horrible toll of Hitler's "final solution."
Director: Daniel Anker
USA, 2004, 92 min., 35mm; Color and Black & White, English
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In Satmar Custody
This secretly filmed documentary raises many interesting questions. It tells the story of a Yemenite family's tragic experience in the ultra-Orthodox Satmar sect of New York. There is no doubt that the Satmar oppose Zionist Israel and attract Yemenite Jews to their American communities. Unusual events that contribute to the death of two-year-old Haide Juradi and the flight of her parents to Israel are less clear. This eye-opening documentary thriller called "stirring and disturbing" by the International Herald Tribune, exposes how miscommunication and a deep cultural divide can result in tragedy.
Director: Nitzan Gilady
USA, 2003, 70 min., Beta SP; Color, English/Hebrew/Yiddish w/subtitles
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The Journey
Are you ready for a wild ride? See what happens in this philosophical gem of a film made on a seven-year long journey across America. San Diego local Eric Saperston and his cohorts interviewed 176 "wise and successful" people in search of "advice and counsel for the next generation." Discover what Jimmy Carter, Billy Crystal, Jerry Garcia, Bill Gates, Ken Kesey, Henry Winkler, and CEOs of major corporations have to say to young Americans. This film, made from 370 hours of footage, is playing to sold out audiences across the country and is changing lives wherever it is shown.
Director: Eric Saperston
USA, 2003, 91 min., Beta SP; Color, English
Presented in Memory of Marla Bennett
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Joyce Forum: A Focus On Emerging Filmmakers
The Joyce Forum is the vision of SDJFF founder Joyce Axelrod and was established to provide
a creative outlet for emerging filmmakers working with Jewish themes. The newly expanded
Joyce Forum supports and advances exceptional student and earlycareer filmmakers by
showcasing their talent and providing them exposure to established filmmakers and
industry peers. This year's selections will include short-subject films by graduates of
the University of Southern California, New York University, and other prestigious film
schools throughout North America.
The evening will also celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Sam Spiegel Film & Television
School in Jerusalem, Israel's most prestigious film school, with the presentation
of Sliding Flora.
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Director: Tayla Lavie
Israel, 2003, 10 min., Beta SP; Color, Hebrew w/subtitles
Discussion with Joyce Forum filmmakers moderated by Jonathan Berman, Filmmaker & Associate Professor of Communications/Mass Media, California State University—San Marcos
Presented in association with the Jewish Filmmakers Forum of USC Hillel—Jewish Student Film Festival at USC
and BestFest San Diego Student Film Festival
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Le Grand Rôle
Laughter and tears vie for top billing in this highly entertaining feature. For years, Maurice and his thirty-something actor friends have been waiting for their big break. The future looks bright when famous American Director Rudolph Grichenberg (Peter Coyote) offers Maurice the lead role in his Yiddish screen adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. But life throws some curves at Maurice and his wife Perla, which forces him to play the ultimate role of his life. Variety magazine calls this film "A crowd-pleasing dramatic comedy about love, friendship, role-playing, and Jewish pride."
Director: Steve Suissa
France, 2003, 89 min., Beta SP; Color, French w/subtitles
The Kiss
A moving Yiddish-language short about a young girl who seeks a kiss from her father, but her father is too preoccupied with his religion to notice her.
Director: Paul Fischer
USA, 2004, 8 min., Beta SP; Color, Yiddish w/subtitles
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Lost Embrace
In his fourth feature, Argentinian writerdirector Daniel Burman introduces us to Ariel's world: a seedy shopping mall in downtown Buenos Aires. His family owns a lingerie shop amidst an intriguing neighborhood of Italian and Korean shopkeepers. Ariel yearns to start a new life in Europe and search for the truth about his father, who never returned from the Yom Kippur War. Burman conjures up a world of engaging characters that pursue their humble dreams with gentle humor and an infectious generosity of spirit. At the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival, this beautifully written and performed film won two prestigious Silver Bear Awards: one for the film and one for lead actor Daniel Hendler's performance.
Director: Daniel Burman
Argentina, 2003, 100 min., 35mm; Color, Spanish w/subtitle
Community Partner and Introduction by Ethan Von Thillo, Executive Director, the Media Arts Center San Diego Latino Film Festival
Closing Night Sponsored By: Maxine & Marti Gellens, Prudential California Realty
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Mame-Loshn Kinder-Loshn
After the Holocaust, "Yiddish police" patrolled the streets of Israel, pouncing on those they heard speaking the "language of the ghetto." This fascinating documentary takes a look at the history of Yiddish, a language that was once spoken by 12 million people. A rising worldwide interest in Yiddish inspired Directors Avi Lehrer and Tony Schwarcz to talk to writers and artists, including a female Yiddish rapper, about the revival of this almost forgotten language.
Filmmaker invited
Directors: Avi Lehrer, Tony Schwarcz
USA, 2002, 53 min., Beta SP; Color, Yiddish w/subtitles
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Advice And Dissent
Jeffrey Goldman (John Pankow of Mad About You) no longer wants to be married to his wife (Rebecca Pigeon), but fears the economic woes of divorce. When he asks a Rabbi (Eli Wallach) to put a curse on her, the Rabbi suggests he "do away with her." What ensues is a series of comical twists and turns that keep the audience yearning for more.
Director: Lieb Cohen
USA, 2002, 21 min., Beta SP; Color, English
Community Partner: The JCC Yiddish Circle
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Marjorie Morningstar
Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly star in this 1958 film about a society in transition. Fifty years have passed since Herman Wouk published his novel. In 1954, the Jewish community was entering a more multicultural American mainstream. And women, who had been encouraged after WWII to retreat into their roles as homemakers, began to look outward. Marjorie's youthful search for her future is complicated by a romance with the older Noel Airman, who pressures her to step outside her parents' values. This entertaining film still portrays an era that foreshadowed our own.
Director: Irving Rapper
USA, 1958, 128 min., DVD; Color, English
Panel discussion: "The Image of Jewish Women in Film."
Moderated by Dr. Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, Professor of History, California State University— San Marcos, with Beth Accomando/film critic; Jude Artenstein/filmmaker; Deborah Hertz/Chair, Herman Wouk Studies, UCSD; Olivia Cohen-Cutler/Marjorie Morningstar Commission member
This program was inspired by the Jewish Women's Archive Film Discussion Series Community Partner: United Jewish Federation Women's Division
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Moving Heaven And Earth
Near Wagagai, the fourth tallest mountain peak in East Africa, one expects to see many things. Perhaps an elephant or a buffalo, but not a steady stream of men, women, and children making their way to synagogue for a prayer service. In spite of Dictator Idi Amin, a group of Ugandan Jews called Abayudaya, live and observe their faith. Moving Heaven and Earth introduces us to members of this remarkable community and documents a truly momentous event: the conversion of over 300 Abayudaya by a Beit Din of visiting U.S. Rabbis. Their story and conversion give testimony to the indomitable spirit of the Abayudaya and Jewish communities worldwide.
Director: David Vinik
Producer: Debra Gonsher Vinik
USA/Uganda, 2003, 45 min., Beta SP; Color, English
Visiting Artists: Film Subjects, Abayudaya Spiritual Leader Gershom Sizomu and Tziporah Sizomu for discussion and musical performance
Introduced by Ed Samiljan, a Founding Leader, The Camp Mountain Chai
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Nina's Tragedies
Winner of 11 Israeli Film Academy Awards (including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay) and the top Israeli box office draw last year, Nina's Tragedies is a story of acceptance and the power of love to heal. Fourteen-year-old Nadav has a father who abandons him to pursue a religious life, and a self-absorbed, promiscuous mother who totally ignores him. When the husband of his beautiful Aunt Nina is killed, Nadav is sent to live with her. Even though he is secretly smitten with his sexy aunt, he shares in her grief and comes to terms with Nina's growing love for a man her own age. Nina's Tragedies also won the Jerusalem Film Festival's award for Best Feature. The SDJFF is proud to present the San Diego premiere of this film.
Director: Savi Gabizon
Israel, 2003, 110 min., 35mm; Color, Hebrew w/subtitles
Visiting Artist invited
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Paper Snow
Directors Lina and Slava Chaplin tell the story of a group of bohemian Zionist pioneers who are struggling to create a new Jewish culture in 1930s Palestine. It is a heady world of communism, socialism, art, music, newspapers, and poets. At the center of it all is Hanna Rovina and her young lover, Alexander Penn, a brilliant self-destructive poet. Rovina, the "Queen of the Jews," was a founding member of the Russian theatre troupe that evolved in to Habimah, Israel's national theater company. The Chaplin's film, A Trumpet in the Wadi, was featured in the SDJFF 2003.
Directors: Lina and Slava Chaplin
Israel, 2003, 98 min., Beta SP; Color, Hebrew w/subtitle
Introduced by Pat Launer, Theatre Critic, KPBS
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The Rashevski's Tango
When she was alive, Rosa Rashevski always said that the tango was as good for you as chicken soup—and much better than organized religion! Why then, asks her amazed family, did she request an Orthodox burial and reserve a plot in a Jewish cemetery? The Rashevskis are a family of assimilated French Jews made up of Holocaust survivors, intermarried couples, converts, religious and secular Jews, and a grandson in love with a Muslim Arab. The Rashevski's Tango is a heartwarming, witty comedy that celebrates the multiplicity of Jewish life in the modern world.
Director: Sam Garbarski
Belgium/France/Luxembourg, 2003, 97 min., 35mm; Color, French w/subtitle
Introduced by Rachel Zagursky, Community Outreach Coordinator and Nadine Finkel, Associate Director, Planning and Allocations, United Jewish Federation Community Outreach Department
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Shivah For My Mother: Seven Days of Mourning
In this real time documentary of her mother's shivah, Director Yael Katzir and her siblings discuss painful issues involving their mother. But Katzir has now reached an age where her grown children observe and judge her as she did her parents. This film is an honest recording of loss and mourning, of relationships between generations and peers, and of conflict infused with the love and connection that comes from being part of a family.
Director: Yael Katzir
Israel, 2003, 55 min., Beta SP; Color, Hebrew w/English subtitles
Visiting Artist: Producer/Film Subject Dan Katzir
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My Brother's Wedding
Daniel and Jonah Akiba weren't just brothers, they were best friends. Raised in a secular home without much Jewish education or observance, Jonah becomes ultra-Orthodox after a visit to Israel and marries in a Hassidic ceremony. While the family supports his decision, this beautiful film shows how observance can create distance.
Director: Daniel Akiba
USA, 2003, 36 min., Beta SP; Color, English
Introduced by Marjorie Kaplan, Executive Director, Jewish Community Foundation
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Sister Rose's Passion
Sister Rose took her final vows at a Dominican convent in Racine, Wisconsin in 1937. Sister Rose challenged the Catholic doctrine that blamed Jews for the death of Jesus and helped officially change the church's relationship with Jews. Today, at age 84, she is challenging Mel Gibson's interpretation of The Passion and working to improve Catholic-Jewish relations is still her passion. Sister Rose's Passion recently won Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Director: Oren Jacoby
USA, 2004, 39 min., Beta SP Color, English
Visiting Artist: Director Oren Jakoby
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The Cross Inscribed In The Star Of David
With the Nazis closing in, a Jewish mother brings her six-day-old infant to her Polish neighbor. "You are a Christian with faith in Jesus…a Jew. Save this infant…and you will live to see him become a priest." Witness the amazing story of Father Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel—his life, family, and his Jewish roots.
Director: Grzegorze Linkowski
Poland, 1997, 28 min., Beta SP; Color, Polish w/subtitle
Introduced by Monsignor Dennis Mikulanis, San Diego Diocese
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Tijuana Jews
The San Diego Jewish Film Festival is proud to present the World Premiere of Tijuana Jews, a documentary by Isaac Artenstein. Throughout the early twentieth century thousands of European Jews sailed to Mexico to escape persecution at home and look for new opportunities. A small group made their way north to the border town of Tijuana. Tijuana Jews is a personal exploration of this community that blended Jewish and Mexican cultures and customs in an unlikely place and time. Growing up Jewish in Mexico, Director Isaac Artenstein found reactions of surprise, even disbelief, from many people north of the border. They had no idea there were Jews in Mexico, and especially in Tijuana. Tijuana's dark legend continues to fire up the imagination with stories of free-flowing liquor, cheap narcotics, beautiful señoritas, and black velvet paintings. Tijuana Jews is an authentic and living testimony set against conceptions and misconceptions of this near-mythic border city.
Director: Isaac Artenstein, Producer: Jude Artenstein, Assoc. Producer: Strul Goldstein, Editor: Steve Nevius
USA/Mexico, 2004, 52 min., DVD; Color, English/Spanish w/subtitle
Visiting Artist: Director Isaac Artenstein
Co-presented by the Ken Jewish Community and Media Arts Center San Diego Latino Film Festival
Private premiere celebration: a Mexican Jewish Fiesta, honoring supporters of the film, sponsored by Bank of America, The Private Bank
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Turn Left At The End Of The World
In an isolated Israeli village, two immigrant communities share the dream of making a new life in this harsh place. However, these groups of Anglicized Indians and the Frenchspeaking Moroccans view each other as barbarians. Two 16-year-old teenagers find a way to bridge the cultural gap when they support one another and find friendship. The Hollywood Reporter's review of Turn Left At The End Of The World says, "It is filled with moments that resonate with insight and truth, and the complex characterizations (are) beautifully performed by the multi-ethnic cast." Director Avi Nesher has created one of the most successful Israeli films of the last decade.
Director: Avi Nesher
Israel/France, 2004, 108 min., 35mm; Color, English/Hebrew/French/Moroccan w/subtitle
Introduced by Erez Strasburg, Community Shaliach, UJF San Diego Israel Center LLC
Community Partner: United Jewish Federation, Young Leadership Division
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Walk On Water
The San Diego Jewish Film Festival is proud to present the San Diego premiere of the Israeli Academy Award winning Walk On Water by Director Eytan Fox (Florentene and Yossi and Jagger). Eyal, a highly trained assassin for Mossad (the Israeli Intelligence Agency) is assigned to shadow Axel, a young German whose grandfather is a notorious Nazi war criminal. At first Eyal is bored with the assignment, but he soon warms to Axel's bright enthusiasm and intellect, even overcoming his own homophobia when he realizes that Axel is gay. The film becomes an emotional thriller when the action moves to Berlin in pursuit of Axel's grandfather.
Director: Eytan Fox
Israel/Berlin, 2004, 104 min., 35mm; Color, English/Spanish/Hebrew w/subtitle
Visiting Artist invited
Co-presented and Introduced by Andy Friedenberg, Founder & Director, The Cinema Society of San Diego
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Watermarks
Meet the women of Hakoah! These incredible swimmers still represent Hakoah (Hebrew for strength), the formidable Jewish athletic association founded in 1909 when Jews were excluded from Austrian athletic clubs. With "Stars of David" proudly displayed on their trunks, this team dominated national competitions in the 30s and had the courage to refuse to compete for Austria in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. "This sometimes funny, sometimes wrenching and persistently bittersweet tale is a fascinating account of strength and solidarity," says Variety magazine. Watermarks recently won Best Cinematography at the Jerusalem International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Boston Jewish Film Festival.
Director: Yaron Ziberman
Israel, 2004, 77 min., 35mm; Color, English/Hebrew/German w/subtitle
Visiting Artist: Director Yaron Zilberman with film subject Anni Lampl
Introduced by Phyllis Hoffman, Director, San Diego Chapter, American Technion Society
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Wondrous Oblivion
A thin, gangly, and wondrously oblivious 11-year-old boy is the main character in this insightful
and engrossing film by Academy Award nominated director Paul Morrison (Solomon and Gaenor).
Young David Wiseman loves to play cricket, but he is a disastrous klutz on the field. He
befriends a newly immigrated Jamaican neighbor, played by Delroy Lindo (Get Shorty, The Heist), who teaches him to play the game. But in this working class area of London
in the 1960s, black and Jewish families are not welcome. Wondrous Oblivion is a subtle,
sometimes humorous coming-of-age story that becomes a case for tolerance and standing up
for what is right. It won Best Feature Fiction at the 2004 Boston Jewish Film Festival.
Director: Paul Morrison
United Kingdom, 2003, 106 min., 35mm; Color, English
Opening Night Sponsored By: Foley & Lardner
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