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The San Diego Jewish Film
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2 Minutes From Faradis [ Film Details ] Teen Screen Nights
Preceded by Shmeardown [ Film Details ] This quirky little comedy follows two young women to their local bagel shop and pits them against one another in a fight to build the ultimate bagel sandwich. Guest Artists: Directors Melissa Bloom and Emily Rifkin invited Sponsored by: Agency for Jewish Education and the Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute (JITLI) in association with the Teen Coalition of the Lawrence Family JCC, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS 6:00 PM Teen Dinner 7:00 PM Film presentation preceded by welcoming remarks 8:15 PM JITLI presentation and panel discussion
A Star Hidden in the Backlands [ Film Details ]
Guest Artist: Director Elaine Eiger with panel Preceded by A Shtetl That’s No Longer There [ Film Details ] This warm, family-focused tale is told by the director’s mother as she prepares vrennekes, a traditional dish from her childhood. While she cooks, she recounts her family’s life in a small town in Poland, their separation during the Holocaust, and her own escape to Peru. Friday, Feb 9 - Box Lunch option, see Ticket Order Form page 15 or call the JCC Box Office to reserve tickets and your meal today!
Beautiful Music [ Film Details ] Family Day/Inclusion Program
Guest Artist: Director Richard Trank invited Preceded by White Balance [ Film Details ] Twelve-year-old Itamar has a deep love for ice skating. However, he is slowly losing his hearing, which forces him away from his singular passion. Itamar refuses to accept his doctor’s orders and his parents’ wish that he stay away from the ice rink. Enter Natalie, his new partner, who is a wild and rebellious girl. Together they struggle and grow within a complicated world of adolescence. Co-presented by: JCC Inclusion Department, Lawrence Family JCC, JACOBS FAMILY (White Balance is a subtitled film and is recommended for children ages 11 and up.)
Brother’s Shadow [ Film Details ]
Guest Artists: Director Todd S. Yellin, Actor Scott Cohen invited
Code Name: Bayonet [ Film Details ]
Preceded by Dark Night [ Film Details ] Two Israeli soldiers take shelter in the home of a Palestinian family after their vehicle strikes a landmine on the way back from patrol. The soldiers take the couple prisoner in their own home, but, before long, one soldier learns that he shares his Russian heritage with one of his captives. Their bond, however, cannot overcome the hostility of the situation, which spirals toward a gritty, all too realistic ending. Guest Artist: Director Leonid Prudovsky Invited Community Partner: AIPAC, The American Israel Public Affairs Committee
First Lesson in Peace [ Film Details ]
Guest Speaker: Director Yoram Honig invited Preceded by The Children’s House [ Film Details ] Summer 2005. The Tel Aviv museum is holding an exhibition called “ Communal Sleeping” in which kibbutz-born artists portray, through their works, their childhood experiences of communal sleeping and living apart from their parents on their kibbutz. The film includes archival material from documentaries produced in the 1950’s by the kibbutz movement. These idealized scenes stand in stark contrast to the pain and memories depicted by the artists. Community Partner: Hadassah
The First Time I Turned Twenty [ Film Details ]
Viewer Discretion: One scene contains momentary male frontal nudity Preceded by Shmeardown [ Film Details ] This quirky little comedy follows two young women to their local bagel shop and pits them against one another in a fight to build the ultimate bagel sandwich. Guest Artists: Directors Melissa Bloom and Emily Rifkin invited
Forgiving Dr. Mengele [ Film Details ]
Preceded by Distant Memory [ Film Details ] Get a balloon for the price of a smile. In Nazi Germany, young Marie meets Jakob, a Jewish clown who gives away balloons for the price of a smile. Unable to satisfy Jakob’s wish because of a tragic misunderstanding, Marie will apparently be forever in debt to him.
The Forgotten Refugees [ Film Details ]
Guest Speaker: Film subject, Gina Waldman, JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa) Preceded by Faith [ Film Details ] Produced at UCSD, this documentary depicts an Iranian-Jewish man, now living in Los Angeles. As the one-time leader of the Communist Party in Tehran, imprisoned and tortured by the Nazis, and facing discrimination since birth, he reflects on how his faith has galvanized him. Guest Artist: Director Melanie Yashar Guest Artist: Director Melanie Yashar Community Partner: American Jewish Committee, San Diego Chapter
Guest Artists: The film’s Director, Executive Producer, and actors invited (Feb 8) Preceded by Matisyahu [ Film Details ] Matisyahu is a Hasidic Reggae/Beat Box/Rapper who projects joy and faith. Born Matthew Miller in 1979 in Westchester, PA, he has developed a following across the USA among both Jews and non-Jews. This short documentary follows him as he explains his Chasidic transformation and his mission to use music to inspire others to greater spirituality.
Just an Ordinary Jew [ Film Details ]
Guest Artist: Director Oliver Hirshbiegel invited Community Partner: Goethe Institute of Los Angeles
Katzhen [ Film Details ]
Preceded by Pesya’s Necklace [ Film Details ] An Israeli Holocaust survivor accompanies her 17-year-old granddaughter on a school trip to Auschwitz. While in Poland, she visits her former family home to search for a necklace buried there, but what she unearths instead is the shocking truth of her past. Community Partner: The New Life Club
Music Program Conductor Daniel Barenboim believes a peaceful future is possible for the Middle East. This belief was his motivation to create, with the late literary critic/scholar Edward Said, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999. The mix of English, German, Hebrew, and Arabic language compliment the film’s beautiful music and underscore the diversity of the young musicians in the orchestra. The film follows them through workshops and a European tour, accompanied by admiration and controversy. Guest Artist: Director Richard Trank invited Preceded by Beautiful Music [ Film Details ] Brooke Shields narrates this remarkable tale of pianist and composer Devorah Schramm, an American-born Orthodox Jew. Schramm moved to Israel at the height of the Intifada, where she taught piano to a 9-year-old, blind and severely autistic Palestinian girl, Rasha Hamid. This testament to the human spirit offers hope for the Middle East, the ability of individuals to reach across cultural barriers, and the healing power of music. Guest Speaker: Eric Bromberger, musicologist, invited Welcoming Remarks: Roselyn Pappelbaum, San Diego Jewish Music Festival Chair Co-presented by: San Diego Jewish Music Festival, San Diego Center for Jewish Culture (SDCJC)
KZ [ Film Details ]
Guest Artist: Director Rex Bloomstein invited Guest Artist: Co-presented by: Holocaust Education Program, The Samuel & Rebecca Astor Judaica Library
Like A Fish Out of Water [ Film Details ]
Guests Artists: Director Leonid Prudovsky invited Preceded by 2 Minutes From Faradis [ Film Details ] A rebellious Israeli teenage girl falls for the Arab son of her parents’ maid, and finds that the relationship is the perfect way to get under her parents’ skin. Sparks fly in both families, making for a scathingly funny look at prejudice on both sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Winner of Best Short Drama in the BANFF, Monte Carlo, and Cinema Tout Ecran Festivals.
Olga [ Film Details ]
Viewer Discretion: Adult content. Guest Speaker: Dr. Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, Professor of History, CSU San Marcos THE JOY F. KNAPP CHARITABLE FOUNDATION has generously provided tickets for special populations to attend the screening of this film
Guest Artists: Directors Lisa Leeman and L. Mark DeAngelis invited (with panel Feb16) Preceded by Naturalized [ Film Details ] A Russian immigrant to the United States wages a hilarious battle with his overbearing parents when he decides to undergo the ultimate rite of male Jewish identity. Community Partner: Women’s Division/United Jewish Federation of San Diego County Friday, Feb 16 - Box Lunch option, see Ticket Order Form page 19 or call the JCC Box Office to reserve tickets and your meal today!
A young, blind woman, who is studying in the United States, returns home to Israel for the funeral of her childhood best friend. In her grief, she boldly conducts her own personal investigation into the shocking death, which is determined to be by suicide. This riveting psychological story questions whether people ever truly see–either physically or metaphorically – all that is going on around them. The intense drama won Syrkin the Israeli Academy Viewer Discretion: Adult content. Guest Artist: Director Daniel Syrkin invited
The Rape of Europa [ Film Details ]
Guest Artists: Directors Nicole Newnham & Bonni Cohen
Various Positions [ Film Details ]
Viewer Discretion: Adult content. Guest Artist: Director Ori Kowarsky Community Partner: Jewish Family Service
What a Wonderful Place [ Film Details ]
Viewer Discretion: Adult content.
Preceded by The Sweetest Sound [ Film Details ] Tired of being mistaken for anyone who shares his name, the filmmaker invites all the Alan Berliners in the world to his home for dinner. What starts as a search for identity transforms into a meditation on mortality. Ultimately, he shares the power and magic embedded in a name, and examines how our identities are shaped by what we call ourselves. Guest Artist: Director Alan Berliner Moderator: Beth Accomando, KPBS Film Critic Sponsored by: The Barbara Freeman Fund Community Partner: Brandeis University National Women’s Committee, Rancho Bernardo and San Dieguito Chapters Box Dinner option served during discussion. See Ticket Order Form page 15 or call the JCC Box Office to reserve tickets and your meal today!
The World Was Ours [ Film Details ]
Guest Artist: Mira Jedwabnik Van Doren invited Preceded by Torte Bluma [ Film Details ] This short film, based on a true story, is so compelling that you’ll wish it was full length. Treblinka Commandant Franz Stangl (Stelian Skarsgard) forgives Richard Blau, his personal slave and cook, for ruining the torte bluma. Blau’s search for clothing among the confiscated items belonging to newly-arriving prisoners, results in a divesting discovery that challenges the unusual relationship between the two men. Welcoming Remarks: Heather Maio, Holocaust Education Program Chair Community Partner: Anti-Defamation League, San Diego Co-presented by: Holocaust Education Program, The Samuel & Rebecca Astor Judaica Library, Lawrence Family JCC, JACOBS FAMILY
Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner [ Film Details ]
Guest Artist: Director Freida Lee Mock invited Co-presented by: J*Pride Community Partner: The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center
Yiddish Theater: A Love Story [ Film Details ]
Guest Artist: Director Dan Katzir Preceded by A Cantor on Trial [ Film Details ] Cantor Leibele Waldman plays multiple roles in this spoof of a synagogue’s search for a High Holidays Cantor. He auditions first as a Galitzianer, then as Daytsher (German), and finally as a slick modern chazan with pep and jazz, a two-step Kol Nidre, and a black bottom Unetanah Tokef. Will our Yiddish Sinatra carry the day? Community Partner: San Diego Yiddish Clubs
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San Diego Center for Jewish Culture Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS 4126 Executive Drive · La Jolla, CA 92037 858.457.3030 · www.lfjcc.org |
A rebellious Israeli teenage girl falls for the Arab son of
her parents’ maid, and finds that the relationship is
the perfect way to get under her parents’ skin. Sparks
fly in both families, making for a scathingly funny look
at prejudice on both sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Winner of Best Short Drama in the BANFF, Monte
Carlo, and Cinema Tout Ecran Festivals.
What’s the relation between Luciano Oliveira, a
young physician from Paraíba; João Medeiros, a
retired engineer from Natal; and Odmar Braga; a
black policeman from Pernambuco? They were all
born into Christian families in the northeastern
backlands of Brazil. All carry on traditions that can
only be explained by the fact that their ancestors
were Marranos, Jews who converted to Catholicism
more than 200 years ago and fled to rural Brazil to
escape the Portuguese inquisition. This scholarly
and fascinating film reveals what happens when
these individuals begin to question their origins and
seek to formally rejoin the religion of the forefathers.
Brooke Shields narrates this remarkable tale of
pianist and composer Devorah Schramm, an
American-born Orthodox Jew. Schramm moved to
Israel at the height of the Intifada, where she taught
piano to a 9-year-old, blind and severely autistic
Palestinian girl, Rasha Hamid. This testament to the
human spirit offers hope for the Middle East, the
ability of individuals to reach across cultural
barriers, and the healing power of music.
Questions of identity and redemption propel this
compelling drama about an ex-con who finds himself
with the opportunity to begin a new life. Jake Groden
(Scott Cohen, Kissing Jessica Stein) returns to
Brooklyn after fourteen years to find that his identical
twin brother has just died, leaving his family with a
failing furniture business. Jake takes on his brother’s
identity in his quest to save the business and keep
the family afloat. But the masquerade takes its toll
on everyone involved, including his bereaved,
embittered father (Judd Hirsch). Filmmaker Todd
Yellin spent time observing woodworker and
MacArthur Genius Grant winner, Sam Maloof, in
preparation for this finely crafted creation.
Code Name: Bayonet exposes the real story of the
Mossad’s Bayonet unit responsible for Israel’s
retaliation against the Palestinian Black September
terrorists following the 1972 massacre of eleven
Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. There are
many portrayals of the Israeli payback, but this
documentary revisits the operations with the
Mossad agents responsible, and presents the
personal accounts of CIA operatives and surviving
Black September members. This is an unrivalled and
compelling account of Israel’s unprecedented action,
told by the people involved.
As a parent, it is hard to reconcile your politics with
your choices for your children’s education.
Filmmaker Yoram Honig and his wife live by their
ideals and send their children to a bilingual
Arabic/Hebrew school for Jewish and Palestinian
students. We follow precocious daughter Michal
from her first day at school through the entire year
of holiday celebrations. The film’s climax on Israel
Memorial and Independence Days (the Palestinian’s
Days of Disaster) brings all the characters into
sharply differing views and situations.
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.
Forgiving Dr. Mengele tells the story of a shocking act
of forgiveness by Auschwitz survivor Eva Mozes Kor
and the firestorm of criticism it has provoked. Eva
and her twin sister, Miriam, were victims of Nazi
doctor Josef Mengele’s cruel genetic experiment, an
experience that would haunt them their entire lives.
We follow Eva’s metamorphosis from embittered
survivor to tireless advocate for reconciliation. This
unexpected transformation was sparked when Eva
met with another former Auschwitz doctor. Eva’s
ideas about justice, revenge, and the possibility of
healing through forgiveness, as well as the
passionate opposition from other survivors, become a
window to a larger discussion of the ways people
define forgiveness.
In 1945 there were one million Jews living in e Middle
East and North Africa outside the Palestine Mandate,
many in communities dating back more than three
millennia. Today, only several thousand remain. The
Forgotten Refugees explores the history and
destruction of these communities and recounts the
compelling personal stories these people have carried
for so long. Extensive testimony of survivors from
Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Iraq testify to the enormously
rich cultures fleeing Jews left behind. The film weaves
individuals’ stories with dramatic archival footage of
rescue missions, exodus, and resettlement.
This witty romance takes an honest look at marriage, with plenty of laughter in the
mix. Writer/actress Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein), Chris Messina (Six
Feet Under), and comedic stars Jason Alexander, Robert Klein, and Fred Willard
highlight a charming cast in the story of a wishy-washy man and a free-spirited
woman swept too quickly into marriage. The relationship soon devolves into a
bittersweet maze of affairs, therapy, and meddling parents. As Ira’s and Abby’s
mothers, Frances Conroy and Judith Light contribute to the dysfunctional delights.
Audience Choice, Best Feature at 2006 Boston Jewish Film Festival.
Brilliant and cultured German-Jewish journalist
Emanuel Goldfarb (Ben Becker, Gloomy Sunday)
receives a terribly polite letter asking him to speak
about “ his daily life as a Jewish citizen” to a group of
German schoolchildren. Insulted and angered by the
invitation, Goldfarb sits down in his apartment to
write a short, but equally polite refusal. After much
soul-searching, he delivers a fascinating, provocative
tour-de-force soliloquy–a monumental settling of
accounts–that starkly confronts Germany’s dark
past and his own German-Jewish identity. Oliver
Hirshbiegel’s stunning film asks us: Can life ever
again be ordinary for a Jew in Germany?
Life on a kibbutz is the only remaining option for
Katzhen, a young boy whose mother has died,
whose father is in a mental institution, and whose
remaining relatives have failed at caring for him. His
sad and touching tale includes ridicule by other
children and a loneliness tempered only, for a short
time, by the caring Arab shepherd. The bitter-sweet
ending finds the boy and his father reunited in a
shared moment in grief, recognition, and love.
Committed British documentarian Rex Bloomstein
continues his career-long engagement with anti-
Semitism. KZ is a low key, but disturbing portrait
of visitors and guides at the Nazi concentration
camp Mauthausen and villagers in the adjacent
Austrian town. Bloomstein queries old timers
about the secrets of the past and newcomers
about choosing to live there now. He monitors
tourists’ reactions to the death camp, while KZ
tour guides unflinchingly recount the horrors in
minute detail. Bloomstein delivers a powerful
message: Unless we face the atrocities of the
past, we may be doomed to repeat them.
Director Leonid Prudovsky takes a walk on the lighter
side with this comedy of cross-cultural romance. An
Argentine-born telenovela actor has trouble finding
work when he immigrates to Israel. He falls for his
Hebrew teacher, whose parents adore him thanks to a
series of hilarious misunderstandings. His young
daughter brings an unexpectedly sharp wit to an
already eclectic group of characters. The laughs twist,
turn, and don’t let up.
Based on a true story, Olga tells the dramatic tale of
Olga Benario, a brilliant, committed political activist
and a valiant woman. German-born and half-Jewish,
Olga becomes a communist at 15, eventually
coordinating activities in the USSR, France, and
Britain before escaping to Rio de Janiero as the wife
of Brazilian Communist leader Luis Carlos Prestes.
When Dictator Getulio Vargas has the couple arrested,
Prestes goes to jail, but Olga is deported to Germany
by the Gestapo. In the most undignified setting in a
concentration camp, Olga remains a heroine by
teaching secret classes, publishing an underground
newspaper, organizing food for sick prisoners, and
encouraging her fellow prisoners to strive not only for
survival, but also for their dignity. This epic love story
is a tale that touches our hearts and inspires our
admiration. Winner of Cinema Brazil Grand Prize in
Art Direction, Costume Design, and Makeup.
The hostilities of one family ripped apart by
interfaith marriage come under the microscope. To
Leah and Eliezer, the eldest generation of the Welber
family, their grandchildren’s choice in spouses
represents a betrayal of their relatives killed in the
Holocaust. Just as their first great-grandchild is
about to be born, an unexpected event occurs that
will either reconcile three generations, or rend them
asunder for good.
The Rape of Europa is a documentary based on the
National Book Critics Circle Award-winning book by
Lynn H. Nicholas. The film tells the epic tale of the
systematic theft, deliberate destruction, and
miraculous survival of Europe’s art treasures during
the Third Reich and World War II. The film
interweaves the history of Nazi art looting with the
stories of contemporary restitution cases. It also tells
the dramatic story of the unprecedented heroic
efforts of the US Monuments Men who were sent to
Europe to safeguard and return displaced art at the
end of the war.
In this briskly-paced romantic drama, college student
Josh is on track for law school and a place at his
father’s firm. As his Orthodox Jewish family prepares
for their traditional Passover celebrations, Josh hits a
brick wall in the form of the alluring, troubled–and
not quite Jewish–Cheryth. As things heat up at the
dorm and at home, Josh is suddenly questioning his
faith, his father, and his future. Passion and new love
collide with family values and the demands of
tradition as Josh, Cheryth, and Josh’s family find
themselves questioning their lives.
Three absorbing stories about the impact of immigration on Israel come together
in director Eyal Halfon’s striking film that calls to mind Robert Altman’s Nashville
and Paul Haggis’ Crash. An ex-cop helps a brutal gangster smuggle Russian
women to Israel for prostitution, but rediscovers his conscience while assisting
and falling for a Ukranian call girl. A melancholic overweight farmer turns to one
of his overworked Thai laborers for understanding and compassion. A tough
nature ranger harasses the Thai workers while he depends on a Filipino
immigrant to care for his handicapped father. Cultures clash as these foreigners
shaping modern Israel come together in a dramatic and uplifting ending. Israelis’
entry 2006 Academy Awards; Best Picture Israeli Academy Awards; Best Feature
Jerusalem International Film Festival.
A confirmed night owl, Alan Berliner has an
obsessive mind that won’t shut down for sleep and
which leaves him feeling “ jet lagged in his own time
zone.” Digging deeply into the notion that true
creativity can come only from chaos and exhaustion,
the sleep-deprived documentarian interviews family
and friends and gives us an intimate glimpse into
the unsettling ripple effect one man’s insomnia has
on everyone around him. Can Berliner be cured of
his insomnia? Does he really want to be? This
delightful collage is a real eye-opener.
This beautiful documentary tells of the legacy of a
legendary Eastern Europe culture that was
destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. Founded
in the early 14th century, Vilna, Lithuania was a
multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society in which a
remarkable Jewish community took root and grew,
often under adverse conditions. It helped shape
many of the great ideologies of 20th century Jewish
life, had a deep religious and artistic heritage, and a
highly developed sense of social responsibility. Film
narrated by Mandy Patinkin.
Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner, Tony Kushner
(Angels in America) is a consummate artist and
indomitable political activist whose work challenges
us to “ wrestle with angels.” A Jewish homosexual,
raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Kushner has
become a compassionate voice for outsiders in a
climate of repression and censorship. Interweaving
interviews and personal moments from Kushner’s
life with scenes from his plays, Wrestling with
Angels covers the three years between 9/11 and
the 2004 presidential election as a three-act play.
Freida Lee Mock (Maya Lin) has created a film as
charismatic as Kushner himself. Award winner
at the Munich and the Cleveland International
Film Festivals.
Enter the larger-than-life world of Yiddish theatre
through award-winning Dan Katzir’s loving tribute to
the late Zypora Spaisman, founder of the longest
running Yiddish theatre in America. The film tells of
the poignant struggle of a beloved old art form to
remain relevant and an aging actress to find a stage
in a society that worships the “ cutting edge” and the
hip. A must-see film for everyone who loves theater.