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Welcome to the 15th annual New
York Jewish Film Festival, a collaboration between
The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln
Center. This year, we are delighted to present another
fresh, new group of films that bring a striking diversity
of perspectives to enduring themes of the Jewish
artistic tradition. The movies presented by filmmakers
from Australia, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel,
Mexico, The Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the U.K.,
the U.S. and beyond express in infinite variety the
humor, resilience, and hope that have sustained Jews
for millennia. Collectively these selections reveal
a modern Jewish identity at once serious and playful,
reflective and full of joy. Last yearís hits included
the New York premieres of Lost
Embrace, Watermarks, and Nina’s
Tragedies, among other treasures. Please join
us for this sometimes tragic, often triumphant, and
always compelling cinematic journey at the 2006 New
York Jewish Film Festival.
Selection Committee: Rachel Chanoff, Independent Curator; Andrew Ingall, Assistant
Curator, The Jewish Museum; Richard Peña, Program Director, The Film Society
of Lincoln Center; Aviva Weintraub, Associate Curator and Director of the NYJFF,
The Jewish Museum
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This documentary offers a glimpse into the private studio of the late New York artist Leon Golub, whose monumental paintings call attention to human rights violations and the abuse of power. Directors Blumenthal and Quinn update their original tour de force Golub (New York Film Festival, 1988) with recent footage of the artist shortly before his death. The film also includes warm and comic exchanges between Golub and his wife, artist Nancy Spero.
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Wed Jan 11: 1:30
Wed Jan 11: 9:15
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During the Holocaust, Belzec in
Poland was one of the most efficient death camps
in Europe, despite being in operation for less than
one year. As WWII came to an end, the Nazis removed
all traces of Belzec. Moscovitz weaves footage of
the campís recent excavation with interviews with
local townspeople and testimony from the campís sole
Jewish survivor. “ …a chilling account thatís
as much about remembrance as it is about the past.”
– Variety
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Wed Jan 11: 3:30
Thurs Jan 12: 1
Thurs Jan 12: 6:15
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This riveting drama opens in a
Sudanese refugee camp in 1984, when an Ethiopian
Christian mother urges her son to assume a Jewish
identity in order to escape war and famine. As part
of the airlift “Operation Moses,” Solomon/Shlomo
is adopted by an Israeli family, but he dreams of
returning to his birth mother. Radu Mihaileanu, best
known for his controversial comedy Train
of Life,
directs an epic film about a boy burdened with a
deep secret.
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Wed
Jan 11: 6:15
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Shot in Tel Aviv, this documentary concerns ten Israelis who abandon their ultra-Orthodox traditions and embrace secular lifestyles. As they take their first steps in a strange new world, their difficult decision leads to a break with family and community.
This debut film examines the lives
of three Orthodox lesbians who find the courage to
make their lives whole and holy. Torah provides them
with order and guidance on all matters; but for women
who love women, traditional Jewish law cultivates
fear and shame. To be true to themselves, they face
the consequences of losing contact with family members
and friends. Using opaque curtains, silhouettes,
and web-cams to protect identities, Ilil Alexander’s
documentary provides entry into a hidden world in
need of healing.
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Thurs Jan 12: 3:30
Thurs Jan 12: 8:45
Mon Jan 16: 8:15
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Truth lies in a grandmotherís false explanation about the numbers tattooed on her arm.
Two ten-year-old siblings secluded
in their idyllic Budapest villa witness the unfolding
of the 1956 Hungarian revolution. They live out their
happy childhood largely under the watchful eye of
their superstitious and colorful nanny. Their Jewish
father, a high-ranking official in the Rákosi regime,
is put in a complicated and ultimately dangerous
position. And one fine day, a Russian tank appears
in their garden…
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Sat Jan 14: 7
Sun Jan 15: 8:15
Tue Jan 17: 6:15
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Guess whoís coming to dinner at the Dalinsky home? In this Spanish screwball comedy, Leni introduces her Palestinian fiancÈ to her Jewish family. Murder, mayhem, and belly dancing ensue in this cross-cultural romp that provides comic relief to a seemingly irresolvable conflict.
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Sat Jan 14: 9:15
Sun Jan 15: 5:45
Tue Jan 17: 8:30
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Based on Sholom Secundaís Yiddish play Der
Yusem, this is a film about the dramatic and often traumatic lives of immigrants on and off stage. The melodrama centers on a theater couple experiencing marital problems, and includes encounters with alcoholism, separation, and poverty. The film includes rare footage of the Lower East Side.
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Sun Jan 15: 1
Thurs Jan 19: 1
Sun Jan 22: 1
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Jack Feldstein’s neon animation
describes how a 90-year-old Jewish pensioner helps
a shlemiel find true love.
Ira Wohl (Best
Man, NYJFF 1998) returns with Best
Sister, an intimate portrait of his 80-year-old
cousin Frances Reiss. In Best
Man, Frances was the primary caretaker for her
mentally retarded brother Philly, also the subject
of Wohl’s Academy Awardñwinning Best
Boy. In
the latest “Best” film, Frances finds herself
in the difficult position of depending on others.
During one week of filming in Queens, Wohl captures
Frances in an emotional arc of exhaustion, loneliness,
dignity, and joy.
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Sun Jan 15: 3:15
Mon Jan 16: 3:30
Wed Jan 18: 4
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In one of her most highly praised
roles, Sarah Bernhardt portrays Elizabeth’s legendary
ill-fated love affair with Robert Devereux, the Earl
of Essex. After Adolph Zukor brought the film to
New York with great success, he convinced other American
companies of the commercial viability of feature-length
films. When Bernhardt, at age sixty-five, accepted
the offer to star in Queen Elizabeth and Camille,
she remarked, “This is my last chance at immortality.”
Adapted from Alexandre Dumas fils’s
1852 novel and play, Camille tells the tragic story
of a courtesan who gives up her lover rather than
see him ostracized by high society.
With live
piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin. The exhibition Sarah
Bernhardt: The Art of High Drama is on view
at The Jewish Museum through April 2, 2006. There
will be an introduction and post-screening discussion
with exhibition co-curators Carol Ockman, Professor
of Art History at Williams College, and Kenneth E.
Silver, Professor of Fine Arts at NYU.
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Mon Jan 16: 12:30
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Charismatic cantor Jack Mendelson is today’s heir
to the great Eastern European cantorial tradition
that fermented in postwar Brooklyn. With missionary
zeal, Mendelson teaches a new generation of hazzanim
the art of Jewish liturgical music. The film features
commentary by Alan Dershowitz, Jackie Mason, and Metropolitan
Opera tenor Neil Shicoff. Klezmatics composer Frank
London provides the original score.
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Mon Jan 16: 6
Tue Jan 17: 1
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A letter from America forces a 73-year-old Berliner to confront a traumatic experience from his childhood.
Eva, the mother of a “perfect family,” suffered from a severe psychological illness. It was only after her episodic breakdowns that Eva revealed stories about her youth in Poland, raised by a wealthy German Protestant family. After the war she married a Holocaust survivor, converted to Judaism, and raised four Jewish children. Eventually Eva’s past caught up with her, torturing her with feelings of guilt. Years later, Eva’s daughter—filmmaker Esther Hoffenberg—sets out to investigate the relationship between illness and identity, as well as personal and social history. On a journey through imaginary and real worlds, the filmmaker poses the following question: To what extent do guilt, lies, and repression continue to live in our descendents?
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Tue Jan 17: 1
Wed Jan 18: 1:30
Wed Jan 18: 9
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How does it feel to have been pregnant or nursing for 25 out of 26 years of your married life? Director Shosh Shlam poses this question and others in this frank documentary about the impact of childbearing on four ultra-Orthodox women. In the film, one mother dramatically transforms from an obedient wife into an independent woman who rebels against social conventions.
Winner of the best documentary
award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, this film breaks
the code of silence surrounding divorce in Israel’s
rabbinical court system. Anat Zuria (Purity,
NYJFF 2004) profiles three strong women who gird
themselves for battle while trying to maintain their
sanity and faith.
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Wed Jan 18: 6
Sun Jan 22: 8:45
Mon Jan 23: 6
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This searing drama is set in Sarcelles,
a low-income suburb of Paris known as “Little Jerusalem.”
Laura, a young student of Kantian philosophy, is
torn between worldly desires and her Sephardic family’s
Orthodox traditions. Passions ignite when she meets
Djamel, an exiled Algerian Muslim. Laura’s pious
sister Mathilde embarks on a parallel emotional journey
to bridge Jewish law and sexual desire.
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Thurs Jan 19: 3
Thurs Jan 19: 8:30
Sat Jan 21: 7
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Edik is a smooth-talking grifter who devises a grand money-making scheme in a backwater Ukrainian town. With the support of the local mob, he casts the citizens of Golutvin as long-lost relatives of Jewish tourists. In this bawdy, dark comedy, director Pavel Loungin takes his audience on a heritage tour run amok.
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Thurs Jan 19: 6
Sat Jan 21: 9:15
Tue Jan 24: 8:30
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Six American Jewish octogenarians recall serving their country during WWII while fighting anti-Semitism at home and abroad.
Upon hearing an elderly shopkeeper’s
fantastic story about buried Judaica near Auschwitz,
a young Israeli organizes an archaeological dig in
the Great Synagogue of Oswiecim, the town located
near the infamous Nazi death camp in Poland. Yahaly Gat’s
documentary reveals secrets of the past, providing
an opportunity for cross-generational dialogue.
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Sun Jan 22: 3:15
Mon Jan 23: 1
Tue Jan 24: 3
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Ramin Farahani turns his lens
to Persian Jews — whose community in Iran dates back
2,700 years — focusing on those who remained after
the mass exodus following the Islamic Revolution
of 1979. Jews in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz relate
various kinds of discrimination they face, but the
film also describes positive aspects of Iranian society,
including the friendship between two tolerant Muslim
and Jewish families.
Tanaz Eshaghian is a first-generation
Iranian Jew, and self-described “weirdo,” who
doesnít conform to her community’s standards: she’s
independent, artistic, and outspoken. Tanaz reluctantly
agrees to blind dates with businessmen and dentists,
but can’t stomach the idea of a practical marriage
with a Persian yuppie. This guided tour through New
York and “Irangeles” maintains a wry sense
of humor while examining issues of shame and sexual
purity.
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Sun Jan 22: 6
Wed Jan 25: 3:30
Thurs Jan 26: 3:15
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Comedy director Jes Benstock visits the dark corners of his family tree armed with a camera, his dad, and a therapist.
This documentary takes us on a deep, personal tour of Messianic Jews, the controversial religious movement also known as Jews for Jesus. Followers preach and proselytize that Jews can accept Jesus as the messiah while maintaining their Jewish identity. Through interviews with converts and counter-missionary activists in Toronto, Hungary, and Israel, Igal Hecht offers a window into a growing phenomenon.
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Mon Jan 23: 3:30
Mon Jan 23: 8:45
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Goodbye Holland is a shocking documentary that
uncovers the painful truth about a country’s indifference
and collaboration during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
The film also deals with the period during and after
liberation when citizens and government officials met
Jews with an icy reception. In a moving personal exploration
of a national betrayal, Willy Lindwer shatters myths
about Dutch tolerance.
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Tue Jan 24: 12:30;
Wed Jan 25: 1
Thurs Jan 26: 6:15
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Parodying historical fiction, documentary, and early silent Yiddish film, November Wanderin deconstructs a family legend.
Young Israeli director Ido Haar
documents a search for his grandfather, a Red Army
hero who abandoned his pregnant wife and disappeared
somewhere in the Siberian steppes. With his mother
Marina’s permission, Ido is able to locate his grandfather.
Marina ponders what secrets this discovery might
reveal. The resulting reunion is full of surprises
for all involved.
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Wed Jan 25: 6:30
Thurs Jan 26: 1
Thurs Jan 26: 8:30
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This documentary explores the life and work of a Jewish National Fund administrator who was responsible for Jewish settlements in the Galilee in the 30s and 40s. Nachmani left behind fascinating diaries that shed light upon the authorís complex and contradictory personality and examine critical years of Zionism and the beginning of the Jewish-Arab conflict from the unique perspective of a man who displayed determination and persistence on one hand, and fear and doubt on the other. The film will be followed by a panel discussion with Dalia Karpel, Director of The Diaries of Yosef Nachmani, and Uri S. Cohen, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Literature, Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University, and moderated by Richard Pena, Program Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center, and Associate Professor, School of the Arts, Film Division, Columbia University.
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Wed Jan 25: 8:30
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The Academy Awardñwinning Best
Boy is a profoundly touching story of love, overwhelming
courage, and human dignity. Philly Wohl is a cheerful
52-year-old man born with mental retardation. When his
cousin, filmmaker Ira Wohl, questions what will happen
to Philly once his elderly parents can no longer care
for him, the family embarks on a mission to help Philly
become more independent. Their “best boy” ultimately
proves that it is possible to overcome any obstacle,
no matter how insurmountable it might seem.
This moving sequel to Best Boy continues the story of
Philly 20 years later. Wohl uses the same intimate family
verité style to show us how Philly makes new friends,
attends classes and takes on new responsibilities as
a 70-year-old bar mitzvah.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Susan Alper, Montreal Jewish Film Festival; Olli Chanoff, Lori Cearley, The Office; Josh Ford, Danette Wolpert, Washington Jewish Film Festival; Nicola Galliner, Berlin Jewish Film Festival; Aviva Kempner; Sharon Rivo, Mimi Krant, National Center for Jewish Film; Les Rabinowicz, Festival of Jewish Cinema - Australia; Anne Morra, Museum of Modern Art; Sara L. Rubin, Kaj Wilson, Boston Jewish Film Festival; Peter L. Stein, Nancy Fishman, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival; Lia van Leer, Jerusalem Film Festival; Alla Verlotsky, Seagull Films; The Film Society of Lincoln Center staff; The Jewish Museum staff; Makor staff.
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