From our friends at the Washington Jewish Film Festival...
The 28th Annual Washington Jewish Film Festival Unveils 2018 Slate
Washington's largest Jewish cultural event runs May 2-13, and features the best in independent and international cinema
Today the Washington Jewish Film Festival announced the program for the 28th annual event. The Festival, which runs from May 2-13 in venues throughout the Washington, DC area, includes 57 feature-length and 23 short films from 27 countries, and showcases the diversity of Jewish life around the world. Opening Night will be SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME, a biographical documentary on the famed entertainer featuring never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection. THE INVISIBLES, a tale of four young Jews who lived in hiding after the Nazis declared Berlin “free of Jews” in 1943, closes out the twelve-day event.
Today the Washington Jewish Film Festival announced the program for the 28th annual event. The Festival, which runs from May 2-13 in venues throughout the Washington, DC area, includes 57 feature-length and 23 short films from 27 countries, and showcases the diversity of Jewish life around the world. Opening Night will be SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME, a biographical documentary on the famed entertainer featuring never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection. THE INVISIBLES, a tale of four young Jews who lived in hiding after the Nazis declared Berlin “free of Jews” in 1943, closes out the twelve-day event.
“With each Festival, we aim to celebrate, explore and deepen our understanding of the international Jewish experience,” said Ilya Tovbis, Director of the Washington Jewish Film Festival. “The 2018 program also responds to the urgent call to action around issues of gender equality in the film industry and beyond. In the wake of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, the Washington Jewish Film Festival presents a slate of powerful films that champion female pioneers who broke through systemic and societal barriers. From a Supreme Court justice before the camera, to a legendary documentarian behind it, we are excited to showcase women paving the way to a more equitable society and more just future.”
Touching on an array of Jewish perspectives from multiple countries and cultures, this year’s Festival includes the thematic strand Starring Wonder Women, which showcases trailblazing women who smashed through glass ceilings. Returning from prior festival editions are the queer cinema program Rated LGBTQ and WJFF Classics, a presentation of repertory Jewish cinema featuring select new digital restorations.
This year, documentarian Roberta Grossman will be honored with the WJFF Visionary Award; clips from her upcoming film WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY will be previewed as part of the award ceremony.
While at the festival, Grossman will give an extended discussion on the #MeToo movement following a screening of her 2018 film SEEING ALLRED; in addition, she will introduce a special 10th anniversary screening of her 2008 film HANNAH SENESH: BLESSED IS THE MATCH.
A program of the Edlavitch DCJCC, the Washington Jewish Film Festival (WJFF) is the largest Jewish cultural event in the greater Washington, DC area. Films and programs will take place at AFI Silver Theatre, Bethesda Row Cinema, E Street Cinema, and the Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater at the Edlavitch DCJCC.
A full festival schedule can be found at www.wjff.org. A list of titles and events is included below.
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION:
SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME
Director: Sam Pollard
2017, 100 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Sammy Davis, Jr.’s career was indisputably legendary; so vast and multi-faceted that it was dizzying in its scope and scale. And yet, his life was complex and contradictory. Featuring interviews with Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg, and Kim Novak, and never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection, SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory blazed across the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the 1980s. (DC Premiere)
CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION:
THE INVISIBLES
Director: Claus Räfle
2017, 110 min, Narrative
Country: Germany
In June 1943, Germany infamously declared Berlin “judenfrei” - “free of Jews.” THE INVISIBLES tells the remarkable stories of some of the 7,000 Jews still living in Berlin at that time. (DC Premiere)
WJFF VISIONARY AWARD PRESENTED TO ROBERTA GROSSMAN:
ROBERTA GROSSMAN is an award-winning filmmaker, who has written, directed, and produced more than 40 hours of film and television. Grossman’s 2012 HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE) uses the song “Hava Nagila” as a portal into 150 years of Jewish history, culture and spirituality. HANNAH SENESH: BLESSED IS THE MATCH, Grossman’s 2008 film, was shortlisted for an Academy Award, aired on PBS, and nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
In 2014, Grossman completed ABOVE AND BEYOND with producer Nancy Spielberg, about the American-Jewish WWII pilots who volunteered to fight in Israel’s War of Independence.
Most recently, Grossman teamed with Sophie Sartain to co-direct the Netflix documentary SEEING ALLRED, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
She also produced DOROTHEA LANGE: GRAB A HUNK OF LIGHTNING, 500 NATIONS, and HOMELAND: FOUR PORTRAITS OF NATIVE ACTION.
The WJFF’s Annual Visionary Award recognizes creativity and insight in presenting the full diversity of the Jewish experience through moving image. The 2018 honoree is Roberta Grossman, who will join us for a special extended Q&A and Award ceremony. The award will be presented alongside a sneak peek showing of 30 minutes of clip excerpts from her forthcoming film, WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY.
WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY
Director: Roberta Grossman
2018, Documentary
Country: United States
A 30 minute sneak preview of WJFF Visionary Awardee Roberta Grossman’s forthcoming documentary WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY which tells the story of the Oyneg Shabes Archive. (Preview Clips)
SPOTLIGHT SELECTIONS:
AN ACT OF DEFIANCE
Director: Jean van de Velde
2018, 123 min, Narrative
Country: Netherlands
In this riveting historical drama, 10 political activists - including Nelson Mandela and his inner circle of Black and Jewish supporters - are caught up in a raid by the apartheid South African government. Bram Fischer, a sympathetic lawyer, risks his career and freedom to defend these men. (DC Premiere)
THE CAKEMAKER
Director: Ofir Raul Graizer
2017, 105 min, Narrative
Countries: Germany/Israel
After his Israeli lover dies, German baker Tomas travels to Jerusalem and finds work with his lover’s widow, but keeps his identity a secret. Both mourning the same man, they stave off loneliness by finding common cause in the kitchen, but suspicions, jealousies, and cultural differences threaten their fragile friendship. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
DRIVER
Director: Yehonatan Indursky
2018, 90 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
From the creator of SHTISEL, and the producers of THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER and THE WOMEN’S BALCONY, comes an intimate exploration of lives at the fringes of Bnei Brak’s ultra-Orthodox community. (North American Premiere)
LONGING
Director: Savi Gabizon
2017, 104 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
In this achingly funny and bittersweet tragicomedy, Ariel’s life is thrown into disarray when he learns he has been a father for nearly two decades. Nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards including Best Film.
A MEMOIR OF WAR
Director: Emmanuel Finkiel
2017, 127 min, Narrative
Countries: Belgium/France
Emmanuel Finkiel’s adaptation of seminal author Marguerite Duras’s autobiographical novel (The War: A Memoir) centers on an intensely powerful performance by Mélanie Thierry as Duras. Both she and her husband, the writer Robert Antelme, were members of the Resistance living in Nazi-occupied Paris. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
SHELTER
Director: Eran Riklis
2018, 93 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Naomi (Neta Riskin, NORMAN) is a Mossad agent sent to Germany to protect Mona (Golshifteh Farahani, PATERSON), a Lebanese informant, in Eran Riklis’ (LEMON TREE) international espionage thriller. (DC Premiere)
THE TESTAMENT
Director: Amichai Greenberg
2017, 96 min, Narrative
Countries: Austria/Israel
Holocaust researcher Yoel’s legal battle over a WWII massacre of Jews in Austria gets increasingly personal when he discovers a secret testimony tape recorded by his mother. (DC Premiere)
MAIN SLATE:
BACK TO BERLIN
Director: Catherine Lurie
2018, 76 min, Documentary
Countries: Bulgaria/Czech Republic/Germany/Greece/Hungary/Israel/Poland/Romania/Slovakia
An epic journey that marries biker-flick and Holocaust documentary. 11 modern-day Israeli bikers trace the path of original 1930s riders who carried the Maccabiah torch from Tel Aviv to Berlin. (World Premiere)
BACK TO THE FATHERLAND
Directors: Kat Rohrer, Gil Levanon
2017, 77 min, Documentary
Countries: Austria/Germany/Israel
Gil and Kat have been friends for over a decade. Gil is from Israel, Kat from Austria; Gil is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Kat the granddaughter of a Nazi officer. This deeply human and ultimately revealing film tackles the challenges and opportunities for reconciliation and understanding between the third generation on both sides of the Shoah. (U.S. Premiere)
BUDAPEST NOIR
Director: Éva Gárdos
2017, 94 min, Narrative
Country: Hungary
In the politically fraught autumn of 1936, Zsigmond Gordon probes the murder of a young prostitute, uncovers Budapest’s seedy underbelly, and discovers clues leading him to the highest echelons of power. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
CLOSENESS
Director: Kantemir Balagov
2017, 118 min, Narrative
Country: Russia
In this controversial Cannes award-winner set in the small Russian town of Nalchik, a Jewish family’s ties fray when son David and his fiancé Lea are kidnapped. First-time director Kantemir Balagov harkens back to the Russia of his youth - one shaped by the Chechen wars. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE COUSIN
Director: Tzahi Grad
2017, 92 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Naftali, an open-minded Israeli, begins to question his liberal convictions when the Palestinian day laborer he hires is accused of a heinous crime against a local teenage girl. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
CUBA’S FORGOTTEN JEWELS: A HAVEN IN HAVANA
Directors: Judy Kreith, Robin Truesdale
2017, 45 min, Documentary
Country: United States
A story of survival, cross-cultural exchange, and an oft-overlooked haven for 6,000 Jewish refugees during WWII–including hundreds of gem cutters who briefly turned Cuba into a diamond-polishing center. (DC Premiere)
THE DEAD NATION
Director: Radu Jude
2017, 83 min, Documentary
Country: Romania
Radu Jude (AFERIM!, SCARRED HEARTS) investigates the roots of the Romanian Holocaust through a Jewish doctor’s diary, stills from a rural photo studio, and chilling patriotic anthems. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
DON’T FORGET ME
Director: Ram Nehari
2017, 87 min, Narrative
Countries: France/Germany/Israel
A black comedy that pulls from the sensibilities of SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, but hits hard, in offering an unflinching and earnest look at characters struggling with mental illness. (North American Premiere)
THE DYBBUK (New Restoration)
Director: Michael Waszyński
1937, 123 min, Narrative
Country: Poland
A tale of star-crossed lovers and supernatural possession that is considered one of the most influential Jewish films of all time.
Featured in the WJFF Classics strand
GI JEWS: JEWISH AMERICANS IN WORLD WAR II
Director: Lisa Ades
2018, 87 min, Documentary
Country: United States
The stories of 550,000 Jewish men and women–both famous and unknown–who served in WWII and fought against fascism while struggling for equality at home. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
HANNAH SENESH: BLESSED IS THE MATCH
Director: Roberta Grossman
2008, 86 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Narrated by Academy Award-winner Joan Allen, this stirring documentary follows the journey of Hungarian poet, paratrooper, and resistance fighter Hannah Senesh.
Featured in the WJFF Classics strand
HEADING HOME: THE TALE OF TEAM ISRAEL
Directors: Seth Kramer, Jeremy Newberger, Daniel A. Miller
2018, 91 min, Documentary
Countries: Israel/Japan/South Korea/United States
An underdog Israeli national baseball team that qualifies, for the first time ever, for the World Baseball Classic. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE HERO
Director: Menno Meyjes
2016, 95 min, Narrative
Country: Netherlands
Sara Silverstein’s reunion with her family in the Netherlands is marred by a series of anti-Semitic violent assaults, which reveal a dark family secret. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE IMPURE
Director: Daniel Najenson
2017, 69 min, Documentary
Countries: Argentina/Israel
In the early 20th century, thousands of Jewish women were brought to Argentina brothels by Jewish pimps. Both the unfortunate women and their keepers were dubbed “the impure.” (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
IN HER FOOTSTEPS
Director: Rana Abu-Fraiha
2017, 70 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
After 10 years of dealing with breast cancer, Rana’s mother’s only wish is to be buried in Omer–a town she fled to from her Bedouin village long ago. (U.S. Premiere)
ISRAEL: STORIES OF MODERN DAYS
Directors: William Karel, Blanche Finger
2017, 53 min, Documentary
Country: France
Ten renowned Israeli writers shine a spotlight on Israel at 70. Their work echoes the issues their country faces: the conflict, the weight of the past, the Zionist project, religion, the army, and social tensions. (U.S. Premiere)
KISHON
Director: Eliav Lilti
2017, 87 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
Ephraim Kishon was one of the great writers who shaped the Israeli essence through his work. At the age of 70, he invited college journalist Yaron London to assist him in unfolding his life story. (U.S. Premiere)
THE LAST SUIT
Director: Pablo Solarz
2017, 92 min, Narrative
Countries: Argentina/Spain
Now in a retirement home, Holocaust survivor Abraham isn’t about to fade away quietly. Instead he sets off across the world on one last mission: to find the man who years earlier saved him from certain death. (DC Premiere)
THE LAST SUPPER
Director: Florian Frerichs
2018, 83 min, Narrative
Country: Germany
On the day Hitler assumes power, an affluent German-Jewish family comes together for dinner. The politics of the moment and their individual sympathies nearly tear them apart. (World Premiere)
THE LEGEND OF KING SOLOMON
Director: Albert Hanan Kaminski
2017, 80 min, Narrative
Countries: Hungary/Israel
An animated family adaptation of the Biblical story of a young King Solomon who teams up with Princess Naama and the Queen of Sheba to end Asmodeus’ tyrannical drive for power. (North American Premiere)
LET ME HEAR THY VOICE
Director: Mili Ben Hay
2017, 48 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
After generations of silence, more and more women dare to give their own musical interpretation to ancient Jewish texts - a territory previously known only to men. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
LIBYA: THE LAST EXODUS
Director: Ruggero Gabbai
2018, 65 min, Documentary
Country: Italy
From Italian colonization, through foreign domination, and delicate cohabitation with the Arab population, follow the lives of Libya’s Jews who lived in the country for centuries until the violent riots of 1967. (North American Premiere)
LIFE IS RICH
Director: Bonnie Rich
2018, 46 min, Documentary
Country: United States
A real-life comedy about Bonnie Rich, a filmmaker and Jewish mom on a mission - to persuade her millennial daughters to raise her unborn grandchildren Jewish. (World Premiere)
THE MAESTRO: IN SEARCH OF THE LAST MUSIC
Director: Alexandre Valenti
2016, 74 min, Documentary
Countries: France/Italy
For more than 30 years, one man has single-handedly taken on a unique challenge: tracking down, archiving, and performing all the pieces of music written and composed in WWII camps. (DC Premiere)
MAKTUB
Director: Oded Raz
2017, 105 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Guy Amir and Hanan Savyon, the acclaimed writers and stars behind Israeli TV mega-hits SCARRED, ASFUR, and MA BAKARISH, play partners in crime in this hilarious, politically incorrect caper. (DC Premiere)
MOE BERG: ALL-STAR ESPIONAGE?
Director: Aviva Kempner
2018, 60 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Aviva Kempner presents a sneak peek at her latest documentary profiling a little known Jewish hero: enigmatic baseball player, Morris “Moe” Berg. (Work-in-Progress)
MR. AND MRS. ADELMAN
Director: Nicolas Bedos
2017, 120 min, Narrative
Country: France
A quintessentially French couple, totally consumed by one another, tangle through four decades of music, haircuts, and a romance that’s more shattered glass and Camus than chocolate and flowers. (DC Premiere)
THE MUSEUM
Director: Ran Tal
2017, 65 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
A striking and refreshingly lively (even spunky) account of the Israel Museum, which explores the country’s soul through the galleries, storerooms, and visitors of Israel’s most important cultural institution. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
MY DEAR CHILDREN
Directors: LeeAnn Dance, Cliff Hackel
2018, 70 min, Documentary
Country: United States
The pogroms that followed on the heels of the Russian Revolution killed tens of thousands of Jews. Feiga Shamis, a Jewish mother of 12, wrote about those years in a rare first-hand account. (East Coast Premiere)
THE NEW BLACK (SHABABNIKS)
Directors: Eliran Malka, Daniel Paran
2018, 85 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Join us for the U.S. Premiere of the latest hit Israeli TV comedy, which centers on four misfit Haredi students studying at a yeshiva in Jerusalem. Part SRUGIM and part ENTOURAGE - and all pure fun. (U.S. Premiere)
OUTDOORS
Director: Asaf Saban
2018, 80 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
An Ingmar Bergman-worthy tale of a couple whose relationship frays as their dream home is built around them. Equally grounded in realism and allegory, OUTDOORS is an unmistakable accomplishment. (U.S. Premiere)
THE PROMISED BAND
Director: Jen Heck
2016, 89 min, Documentary
Country: United States
A fake rock band comprised of Israeli and Palestinian women decide that - despite their limited artistic ability - a music group offers them a useful cover under which to meet and interact. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
RBG
Directors: Betsy West, Julie Cohen
2018, 97 min, Documentary
Country: United States
An intimate portrait of an unlikely rock star: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers explore how her early legal battles changed the world for women. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
REMEMBER BAGHDAD
Director: Fiona Murphy
2017, 69 min, Documentary
Country: United Kingdom
An untold story of Iraq that looks at how the country developed through the eyes of the Jews - Iraq’s first wave of refugees - who lived peacefully in the area for 2,600 years. (DC Premiere)
SAVING NETA
Director: Nir Bergman
2016, 90 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Nir Bergman (BROKEN WINGS) returns with his grandest and most evocative tableau to date - a richly imagined ode to femininity, parenthood, and human connection. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
SCAFFOLDING
Director: Matan Yair
2017, 90 min, Narrative
Countries: Israel/Poland
While his demanding father prepares him to take over the family scaffolding business, Asher finds a role model in Rami, a teacher whose class assignments inspire him to forge a new identity. (DC Premiere)
SEEING ALLRED
Directors: Sophie Sartain, Roberta Grossman
2018, 96 min, Documentary
Country: United States
In this intimate, warts-and-all documentary, one thing is certain: Gloria Allred’s 40-year devotion to asserting, protecting, and expanding the rights of women is unwavering and her influence unassailable. (Special Screening)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
SHALOM BOLLYWOOD: THE UNTOLD STORY OF INDIAN CINEMA
Director: Danny Ben-Moshe
2017, 100 min, Documentary
Countries: Australia/India
A celebration of the all-singing, all-dancing history of the world’s largest film industry, SHALOM BOLLYWOOD reveals the unlikely story of Jewish women’s formative role in shaping Indian cinema. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
SHREE 420
Director: Raj Kapoor
1955, 177 min, Narrative
Country: India
A masterpiece of 1950s Bombay cinema featuring an evocative performance by Nadira (Farhat Ezekiel), where she plays the vamp-chasing men, drinking, and gambling, in a case of life imitating art.
Featured in the WJFF Classics strand
SPIRAL
Director: Laura Fairrie
2017, 79 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Anti-Semitism is on the rise throughout Europe. Director Laura Fairrie presents an alarming look at the impact of this reign of hatred on the lives of ordinary people. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
STANDING UP
Director: Jonathan Miller
2017, 74 min, Documentary
Country: United States
STANDING UP captures the devastating lows and exhilarating highs of three stand-up comedians: an ultra-Orthodox Jew, a couch-surfing custodian, and an Egyptian lawyer. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE STARRY SKY ABOVE ME
Director: Ilan Klipper
2017, 76 min, Narrative
Country: France
Laurent Poitrenaux delivers a tour-de-force performance as the neurotic and wounded Bruno in this charmingly odd film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. (East Coast Premiere)
THE STRANGEST STRANGER
Director: Magnus Bärtås
2017, 73 min, Documentary
Countries: Japan/Sweden
In Haruki Murakami’s novel Kafka on the Shore, a mysterious man appears, calling himself Johnnie Walker. Is he modeled on Joni Waka, a Jewish man living in Tokyo, or is it the other way around? (North American Premiere)
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
TEVYE’S DAUGHTERS
Director: Vladimir Lert
2017, 120 min, Narrative
Country: Ukraine
Filmed on the actual locations which inspired Sholem Aleichem’s famous folk tale, this uproariously funny and buoyant cinematic sendup centers on a downtrodden milkman. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE THIRD PLACE
Director: Nejemye Tenenbaum
2017, 88 min, Documentary
Country: Mexico
A hundred years after the establishment of the Syrian-Jewish community in Mexico City, its history is commemorated through a number of compelling and touching stories. The journey depicts the evolution, achievements, and struggles of a minority group that grapples with integrating to the country that welcomed them, or preserving their religious-ethnic identity. (U.S. Premiere)
TOUCHING THE SKY
Directors: Ilanit Bauman, Enav Shenhar, Idan Shavit, Tamar Tal-Anti
2018, 65 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
Female Israeli soldiers have had the right to apply to flight school for over 20 years, but only a few have earned their wings. Here we follow their trials over the first six months of the program. (World Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
TRACKING EDITH
Director: Peter Stephan Jungk
2016, 91 min, Documentary
Countries: Austria/Germany/Russia
This spellbinding documentary reflects on the remarkable life of Edith Tudor-Hart, who was an influential photographer working in Britain during the 1930s, and who also happened to be a KGB spy. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
THE TWO OF US (New Restoration)
Director: Claude Berri
1967, 86 min, Narrative
Country: France
When an 8-year-old Jewish boy living in Nazi-occupied France is sent by his parents to live in the countryside, he is faced with a culture clash both religious and generational.
Featured in the WJFF Classics strand
SHORT FILMS:
BLOCK 13
Director: Ofir Peretz
2017, 25 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
It’s the eve of Yom Kippur. The streets lie in sacred silence, but David, a religious Jewish boy, is in turmoil. On the holiest night of the year, he sets out on a journey to restore his waning faith in God.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
COMPARTMENTS
Director: Daniella Koffler
2017, 15 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
Netta wishes to immigrate to Berlin. Her father, the son of Holocaust survivors, is horrified by her decision to live in the land that killed her ancestors. He refuses to speak to her again if she leaves.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
THE DRIVER IS RED
Director: Randall Christopher
2017, 15 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Set in Argentina 1960, this true crime documentary follows the story of secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he hunted down one of the highest ranking Nazi war criminals on the run.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
ERUV
Director: Aaron Rotenberg
2017, 6 min, Documentary
Country: Canada
This short film study revists the halachic idea of eruv as an opportunity to re-vision urban space through the practice of urban place-making.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
I’M FROM THE JEWS
Director: Niv Hachlili
2017, 18 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
A young man becomes possessed by his dead grandfather, forcing him to choose between his Arab family identity and continuing on with his life as an Israeli.
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
LARGE SOLDIER
Director: Noa Gusakov
2017, 23 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
It’s 1973 and all that 15 year-old Sherry wants is a boyfriend. A letter exchange with an unknown soldier sends her heart aflutter, but what happens when the imaginary becomes real?
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
LON
Director: Nina Landau
2017, 7 min, Documentary
Country: Belgium
LON is an ode to the power of imagination and how people maintain their dignity in the most challenging of times.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
NANA
Director: Ali Kellner
2017, 5 min, Documentary
Country: Canada
After being taken from her home in Budapest during World War II as a young girl, Vera Reiner survives alongside thousands of other Jewish women. This is their incredible story.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
NIGGUN
Director: Yoni Salmon
2017, 12 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
After a long journey, many years in the future, our cosmonauts reach their destination. Ananda, the space archaeologist, hopes to prove that the Earth is real, and Yamaka, the outcast rabbi, is searching for something subtler.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
NOTHING HAPPENS
Directors: Michelle Kranot, Uri Kranot
2017, 12 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
It’s bitterly cold in the inner city neighborhoods, and yet people have come together. They have come to witness an event. To participate in a spectacle. To see and be seen.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
ONE FOR THE ROAD
Director: Fernanda Faya
2016, 12 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Fernanda Faya reflects on her grandmother’s migration from Romania, after moving herself from Brazil to New York, in this personal and evocative cine-poem.
Screening with feature film CUBA’S FORGOTTEN JEWELS: A HAVEN IN HAVANA
ONE MORE EXPERIMENT
Director: Sergey Vlasov
2017, 15 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
In the near future, when human actors have been replaced by CGI, an aging actor gets one last chance to deliver a monologue from Andrei Tarkovsky’s THE STALKER.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
OPEN YOUR EYES
Director: Ilay Mevorah
2017, 14 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Ilana considers herself a liberal woman, but when her eye therapist is replaced by an Arab doctor, her prejudices comes to light.
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
REBEL
Director: Oran Zegman
2017, 17 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
In Tel Aviv’s Greek community of the 1950s, Rebecca’s decision to divorce her abusive husband forces her to pay the ultimate price for freedom.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
SAY WHAT!: A GERIATRIC PROPOSAL
Director: Aaron Weistein
2017, 6 min, Documentary
Country: United States
At a post-concert reception, a young jazz musician tries to survive aggressive grannies and other terrifying creatures.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
SHMAMA
Director: Miki Polonski
2017, 20 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Leah works as a maid in the hotel during the day, while Meital, her daughter, sings in the hotel’s lobby at night. They live trapped in their relationship, surrounded by the Dead Sea.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
STITCHERS: TAPESTRY OF SPIRIT
Director: Tassie Notar
2017, 15 min, Documentary
Country: Canada
An inspiring journey behind one woman’s ambitious project to create the entire Torah, in needlepoint.
Screening with feature film LET ME HEAR THY VOICE
SUMMER
Director: Pearl Gluck
2018, 19 min, Narrative
Country: United States
Two teenage girls in Hasidic sleepaway camp explore a forbidden book which leads them to a sexual awakening neither of them are prepared to encounter.
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
SUNSET
Directors: Katie Ennis, Gary Jaffe
2017, 15 min, Narrative
Country: United States
In the days following Pearl Harbor, a young man must decide whether to serve overseas or stay in New York with his streetwise male lover.
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
THE TRANSFER
Director: Michael Grudsky
2017, 22 min, Narrative
Countries: Germany/Israel
Three young Israeli soldiers and the Arab prisoner in their custody are forced to confront their prejudices when their transport vehicle breaks down in the Negev Desert.
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
UNDER THE BAR
Director: Craig Schattner
2017, 6 min, Documentary
Country: United States
To the Orthodox Jewish women at Woodmere Fitness Club, life is more than child rearing and keeping kosher - it’s about proving themselves through weight lifting.
Screening with feature film LIFE IS RICH
WENDY’S SHABBAT
Director: Rachel Myers
2017, 10 min, Documentary
Country: United States
A joyful group of senior citizens capture the spirit of Shabbat in their own unique way, gathering at a fast food restaurant to light candles and say prayers over hamburgers and fries.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
WOMAN WITH AN EDITING BENCH
Director: Karen Pearlman
2016, 15 min, Narrative
Country: Australia
Inspired by a true story, WOMAN WITH AN EDITING BENCH pays homage to Elizaveta Svilova - the unsung editor behind Dziga Vertov’s 1929 documentary masterpiece MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA.
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
TICKET AND PASS INFORMATION:
Festival passes are currently on sale online. Individual ticket sales open online on Friday, March 23, and continue through the festival. Patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance as many shows sell out. Individual tickets for regular screenings are $13.50 online, $15 at the theater. Individual tickets for spotlight evenings are $20 online, $25 at the theater. Individual tickets for Opening and Closing Night events are $30 online, $35 at the theater. In addition to individual tickets, WJFF offers Festival passes for $175 and All-Access VIP Passes for $275. Festival passes for patrons 30 years of age or younger are available for $40. More information is available at www.wjff.org.
ABOUT THE WASHINGTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL:
The Washington Jewish Film Festival (WJFF) is the centerpiece of the Edlavitch DCJCC’s comprehensive year-round film program. One of the largest and most respected Jewish film festivals in North America, WJFF is an international exhibition of cinema that celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture and experience through the moving image.
In addition to the annual festival, the WJFF presents an ongoing, year-round film series at the Edlavitch DCJCC. The WJFF serves over 18,000 people annually through 100+ screenings, nearly all of which are World, U.S., or regional premieres.
Follow the Washington Jewish Film Festival on Twitter (@wjff) for updates with the latest information about the festival and filmmakers who will participate in the WJFF. Join the conversation using #wjff on social media.
ABOUT THE EDLAVITCH DCJCC:
The Edlavitch DCJCC - the vibrant home and cultural heart of Jewish Washington - works to preserve and strengthen Jewish identity, tradition and values through a wide variety of social, cultural, recreational and educational programs and services. The EDCJCC is a partner agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
The EDCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.
The Edlavitch DCJCC is located at 1529 16th Street, NW in Washington, DC, four blocks east of Dupont Circle.
This year, documentarian Roberta Grossman will be honored with the WJFF Visionary Award; clips from her upcoming film WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY will be previewed as part of the award ceremony.
While at the festival, Grossman will give an extended discussion on the #MeToo movement following a screening of her 2018 film SEEING ALLRED; in addition, she will introduce a special 10th anniversary screening of her 2008 film HANNAH SENESH: BLESSED IS THE MATCH.
A program of the Edlavitch DCJCC, the Washington Jewish Film Festival (WJFF) is the largest Jewish cultural event in the greater Washington, DC area. Films and programs will take place at AFI Silver Theatre, Bethesda Row Cinema, E Street Cinema, and the Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater at the Edlavitch DCJCC.
A full festival schedule can be found at www.wjff.org. A list of titles and events is included below.
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION:
SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME
Director: Sam Pollard
2017, 100 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Sammy Davis, Jr.’s career was indisputably legendary; so vast and multi-faceted that it was dizzying in its scope and scale. And yet, his life was complex and contradictory. Featuring interviews with Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg, and Kim Novak, and never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection, SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory blazed across the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the 1980s. (DC Premiere)
CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION:
THE INVISIBLES
Director: Claus Räfle
2017, 110 min, Narrative
Country: Germany
In June 1943, Germany infamously declared Berlin “judenfrei” - “free of Jews.” THE INVISIBLES tells the remarkable stories of some of the 7,000 Jews still living in Berlin at that time. (DC Premiere)
WJFF VISIONARY AWARD PRESENTED TO ROBERTA GROSSMAN:
 |
| Filmmaker Roberta Grossman |
ROBERTA GROSSMAN is an award-winning filmmaker, who has written, directed, and produced more than 40 hours of film and television. Grossman’s 2012 HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE) uses the song “Hava Nagila” as a portal into 150 years of Jewish history, culture and spirituality. HANNAH SENESH: BLESSED IS THE MATCH, Grossman’s 2008 film, was shortlisted for an Academy Award, aired on PBS, and nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
In 2014, Grossman completed ABOVE AND BEYOND with producer Nancy Spielberg, about the American-Jewish WWII pilots who volunteered to fight in Israel’s War of Independence.
Most recently, Grossman teamed with Sophie Sartain to co-direct the Netflix documentary SEEING ALLRED, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
She also produced DOROTHEA LANGE: GRAB A HUNK OF LIGHTNING, 500 NATIONS, and HOMELAND: FOUR PORTRAITS OF NATIVE ACTION.
The WJFF’s Annual Visionary Award recognizes creativity and insight in presenting the full diversity of the Jewish experience through moving image. The 2018 honoree is Roberta Grossman, who will join us for a special extended Q&A and Award ceremony. The award will be presented alongside a sneak peek showing of 30 minutes of clip excerpts from her forthcoming film, WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY.
WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY
Director: Roberta Grossman
2018, Documentary
Country: United States
A 30 minute sneak preview of WJFF Visionary Awardee Roberta Grossman’s forthcoming documentary WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY which tells the story of the Oyneg Shabes Archive. (Preview Clips)
SPOTLIGHT SELECTIONS:
AN ACT OF DEFIANCE
Director: Jean van de Velde
2018, 123 min, Narrative
Country: Netherlands
In this riveting historical drama, 10 political activists - including Nelson Mandela and his inner circle of Black and Jewish supporters - are caught up in a raid by the apartheid South African government. Bram Fischer, a sympathetic lawyer, risks his career and freedom to defend these men. (DC Premiere)
THE CAKEMAKER
Director: Ofir Raul Graizer
2017, 105 min, Narrative
Countries: Germany/Israel
After his Israeli lover dies, German baker Tomas travels to Jerusalem and finds work with his lover’s widow, but keeps his identity a secret. Both mourning the same man, they stave off loneliness by finding common cause in the kitchen, but suspicions, jealousies, and cultural differences threaten their fragile friendship. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
DRIVER
Director: Yehonatan Indursky
2018, 90 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
From the creator of SHTISEL, and the producers of THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER and THE WOMEN’S BALCONY, comes an intimate exploration of lives at the fringes of Bnei Brak’s ultra-Orthodox community. (North American Premiere)
LONGING
Director: Savi Gabizon
2017, 104 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
In this achingly funny and bittersweet tragicomedy, Ariel’s life is thrown into disarray when he learns he has been a father for nearly two decades. Nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards including Best Film.
A MEMOIR OF WAR
Director: Emmanuel Finkiel
2017, 127 min, Narrative
Countries: Belgium/France
Emmanuel Finkiel’s adaptation of seminal author Marguerite Duras’s autobiographical novel (The War: A Memoir) centers on an intensely powerful performance by Mélanie Thierry as Duras. Both she and her husband, the writer Robert Antelme, were members of the Resistance living in Nazi-occupied Paris. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
SHELTER
Director: Eran Riklis
2018, 93 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Naomi (Neta Riskin, NORMAN) is a Mossad agent sent to Germany to protect Mona (Golshifteh Farahani, PATERSON), a Lebanese informant, in Eran Riklis’ (LEMON TREE) international espionage thriller. (DC Premiere)
THE TESTAMENT
Director: Amichai Greenberg
2017, 96 min, Narrative
Countries: Austria/Israel
Holocaust researcher Yoel’s legal battle over a WWII massacre of Jews in Austria gets increasingly personal when he discovers a secret testimony tape recorded by his mother. (DC Premiere)
MAIN SLATE:
BACK TO BERLIN
Director: Catherine Lurie
2018, 76 min, Documentary
Countries: Bulgaria/Czech Republic/Germany/Greece/Hungary/Israel/Poland/Romania/Slovakia
An epic journey that marries biker-flick and Holocaust documentary. 11 modern-day Israeli bikers trace the path of original 1930s riders who carried the Maccabiah torch from Tel Aviv to Berlin. (World Premiere)
BACK TO THE FATHERLAND
Directors: Kat Rohrer, Gil Levanon
2017, 77 min, Documentary
Countries: Austria/Germany/Israel
Gil and Kat have been friends for over a decade. Gil is from Israel, Kat from Austria; Gil is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Kat the granddaughter of a Nazi officer. This deeply human and ultimately revealing film tackles the challenges and opportunities for reconciliation and understanding between the third generation on both sides of the Shoah. (U.S. Premiere)
BUDAPEST NOIR
Director: Éva Gárdos
2017, 94 min, Narrative
Country: Hungary
In the politically fraught autumn of 1936, Zsigmond Gordon probes the murder of a young prostitute, uncovers Budapest’s seedy underbelly, and discovers clues leading him to the highest echelons of power. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
CLOSENESS
Director: Kantemir Balagov
2017, 118 min, Narrative
Country: Russia
In this controversial Cannes award-winner set in the small Russian town of Nalchik, a Jewish family’s ties fray when son David and his fiancé Lea are kidnapped. First-time director Kantemir Balagov harkens back to the Russia of his youth - one shaped by the Chechen wars. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE COUSIN
Director: Tzahi Grad
2017, 92 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Naftali, an open-minded Israeli, begins to question his liberal convictions when the Palestinian day laborer he hires is accused of a heinous crime against a local teenage girl. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
CUBA’S FORGOTTEN JEWELS: A HAVEN IN HAVANA
Directors: Judy Kreith, Robin Truesdale
2017, 45 min, Documentary
Country: United States
A story of survival, cross-cultural exchange, and an oft-overlooked haven for 6,000 Jewish refugees during WWII–including hundreds of gem cutters who briefly turned Cuba into a diamond-polishing center. (DC Premiere)
THE DEAD NATION
Director: Radu Jude
2017, 83 min, Documentary
Country: Romania
Radu Jude (AFERIM!, SCARRED HEARTS) investigates the roots of the Romanian Holocaust through a Jewish doctor’s diary, stills from a rural photo studio, and chilling patriotic anthems. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
DON’T FORGET ME
Director: Ram Nehari
2017, 87 min, Narrative
Countries: France/Germany/Israel
A black comedy that pulls from the sensibilities of SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, but hits hard, in offering an unflinching and earnest look at characters struggling with mental illness. (North American Premiere)
THE DYBBUK (New Restoration)
Director: Michael Waszyński
1937, 123 min, Narrative
Country: Poland
A tale of star-crossed lovers and supernatural possession that is considered one of the most influential Jewish films of all time.
Featured in the WJFF Classics strand
GI JEWS: JEWISH AMERICANS IN WORLD WAR II
Director: Lisa Ades
2018, 87 min, Documentary
Country: United States
The stories of 550,000 Jewish men and women–both famous and unknown–who served in WWII and fought against fascism while struggling for equality at home. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
HANNAH SENESH: BLESSED IS THE MATCH
Director: Roberta Grossman
2008, 86 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Narrated by Academy Award-winner Joan Allen, this stirring documentary follows the journey of Hungarian poet, paratrooper, and resistance fighter Hannah Senesh.
Featured in the WJFF Classics strand
HEADING HOME: THE TALE OF TEAM ISRAEL
Directors: Seth Kramer, Jeremy Newberger, Daniel A. Miller
2018, 91 min, Documentary
Countries: Israel/Japan/South Korea/United States
An underdog Israeli national baseball team that qualifies, for the first time ever, for the World Baseball Classic. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE HERO
Director: Menno Meyjes
2016, 95 min, Narrative
Country: Netherlands
Sara Silverstein’s reunion with her family in the Netherlands is marred by a series of anti-Semitic violent assaults, which reveal a dark family secret. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE IMPURE
Director: Daniel Najenson
2017, 69 min, Documentary
Countries: Argentina/Israel
In the early 20th century, thousands of Jewish women were brought to Argentina brothels by Jewish pimps. Both the unfortunate women and their keepers were dubbed “the impure.” (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
IN HER FOOTSTEPS
Director: Rana Abu-Fraiha
2017, 70 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
After 10 years of dealing with breast cancer, Rana’s mother’s only wish is to be buried in Omer–a town she fled to from her Bedouin village long ago. (U.S. Premiere)
ISRAEL: STORIES OF MODERN DAYS
Directors: William Karel, Blanche Finger
2017, 53 min, Documentary
Country: France
Ten renowned Israeli writers shine a spotlight on Israel at 70. Their work echoes the issues their country faces: the conflict, the weight of the past, the Zionist project, religion, the army, and social tensions. (U.S. Premiere)
KISHON
Director: Eliav Lilti
2017, 87 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
Ephraim Kishon was one of the great writers who shaped the Israeli essence through his work. At the age of 70, he invited college journalist Yaron London to assist him in unfolding his life story. (U.S. Premiere)
THE LAST SUIT
Director: Pablo Solarz
2017, 92 min, Narrative
Countries: Argentina/Spain
Now in a retirement home, Holocaust survivor Abraham isn’t about to fade away quietly. Instead he sets off across the world on one last mission: to find the man who years earlier saved him from certain death. (DC Premiere)
THE LAST SUPPER
Director: Florian Frerichs
2018, 83 min, Narrative
Country: Germany
On the day Hitler assumes power, an affluent German-Jewish family comes together for dinner. The politics of the moment and their individual sympathies nearly tear them apart. (World Premiere)
THE LEGEND OF KING SOLOMON
Director: Albert Hanan Kaminski
2017, 80 min, Narrative
Countries: Hungary/Israel
An animated family adaptation of the Biblical story of a young King Solomon who teams up with Princess Naama and the Queen of Sheba to end Asmodeus’ tyrannical drive for power. (North American Premiere)
LET ME HEAR THY VOICE
Director: Mili Ben Hay
2017, 48 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
After generations of silence, more and more women dare to give their own musical interpretation to ancient Jewish texts - a territory previously known only to men. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
LIBYA: THE LAST EXODUS
Director: Ruggero Gabbai
2018, 65 min, Documentary
Country: Italy
From Italian colonization, through foreign domination, and delicate cohabitation with the Arab population, follow the lives of Libya’s Jews who lived in the country for centuries until the violent riots of 1967. (North American Premiere)
LIFE IS RICH
Director: Bonnie Rich
2018, 46 min, Documentary
Country: United States
A real-life comedy about Bonnie Rich, a filmmaker and Jewish mom on a mission - to persuade her millennial daughters to raise her unborn grandchildren Jewish. (World Premiere)
THE MAESTRO: IN SEARCH OF THE LAST MUSIC
Director: Alexandre Valenti
2016, 74 min, Documentary
Countries: France/Italy
For more than 30 years, one man has single-handedly taken on a unique challenge: tracking down, archiving, and performing all the pieces of music written and composed in WWII camps. (DC Premiere)
MAKTUB
Director: Oded Raz
2017, 105 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Guy Amir and Hanan Savyon, the acclaimed writers and stars behind Israeli TV mega-hits SCARRED, ASFUR, and MA BAKARISH, play partners in crime in this hilarious, politically incorrect caper. (DC Premiere)
MOE BERG: ALL-STAR ESPIONAGE?
Director: Aviva Kempner
2018, 60 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Aviva Kempner presents a sneak peek at her latest documentary profiling a little known Jewish hero: enigmatic baseball player, Morris “Moe” Berg. (Work-in-Progress)
MR. AND MRS. ADELMAN
Director: Nicolas Bedos
2017, 120 min, Narrative
Country: France
A quintessentially French couple, totally consumed by one another, tangle through four decades of music, haircuts, and a romance that’s more shattered glass and Camus than chocolate and flowers. (DC Premiere)
THE MUSEUM
Director: Ran Tal
2017, 65 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
A striking and refreshingly lively (even spunky) account of the Israel Museum, which explores the country’s soul through the galleries, storerooms, and visitors of Israel’s most important cultural institution. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
MY DEAR CHILDREN
Directors: LeeAnn Dance, Cliff Hackel
2018, 70 min, Documentary
Country: United States
The pogroms that followed on the heels of the Russian Revolution killed tens of thousands of Jews. Feiga Shamis, a Jewish mother of 12, wrote about those years in a rare first-hand account. (East Coast Premiere)
THE NEW BLACK (SHABABNIKS)
Directors: Eliran Malka, Daniel Paran
2018, 85 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Join us for the U.S. Premiere of the latest hit Israeli TV comedy, which centers on four misfit Haredi students studying at a yeshiva in Jerusalem. Part SRUGIM and part ENTOURAGE - and all pure fun. (U.S. Premiere)
OUTDOORS
Director: Asaf Saban
2018, 80 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
An Ingmar Bergman-worthy tale of a couple whose relationship frays as their dream home is built around them. Equally grounded in realism and allegory, OUTDOORS is an unmistakable accomplishment. (U.S. Premiere)
THE PROMISED BAND
Director: Jen Heck
2016, 89 min, Documentary
Country: United States
A fake rock band comprised of Israeli and Palestinian women decide that - despite their limited artistic ability - a music group offers them a useful cover under which to meet and interact. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
RBG
Directors: Betsy West, Julie Cohen
2018, 97 min, Documentary
Country: United States
An intimate portrait of an unlikely rock star: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers explore how her early legal battles changed the world for women. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
REMEMBER BAGHDAD
Director: Fiona Murphy
2017, 69 min, Documentary
Country: United Kingdom
An untold story of Iraq that looks at how the country developed through the eyes of the Jews - Iraq’s first wave of refugees - who lived peacefully in the area for 2,600 years. (DC Premiere)
SAVING NETA
Director: Nir Bergman
2016, 90 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Nir Bergman (BROKEN WINGS) returns with his grandest and most evocative tableau to date - a richly imagined ode to femininity, parenthood, and human connection. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
SCAFFOLDING
Director: Matan Yair
2017, 90 min, Narrative
Countries: Israel/Poland
While his demanding father prepares him to take over the family scaffolding business, Asher finds a role model in Rami, a teacher whose class assignments inspire him to forge a new identity. (DC Premiere)
SEEING ALLRED
Directors: Sophie Sartain, Roberta Grossman
2018, 96 min, Documentary
Country: United States
In this intimate, warts-and-all documentary, one thing is certain: Gloria Allred’s 40-year devotion to asserting, protecting, and expanding the rights of women is unwavering and her influence unassailable. (Special Screening)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
SHALOM BOLLYWOOD: THE UNTOLD STORY OF INDIAN CINEMA
Director: Danny Ben-Moshe
2017, 100 min, Documentary
Countries: Australia/India
A celebration of the all-singing, all-dancing history of the world’s largest film industry, SHALOM BOLLYWOOD reveals the unlikely story of Jewish women’s formative role in shaping Indian cinema. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
SHREE 420
Director: Raj Kapoor
1955, 177 min, Narrative
Country: India
A masterpiece of 1950s Bombay cinema featuring an evocative performance by Nadira (Farhat Ezekiel), where she plays the vamp-chasing men, drinking, and gambling, in a case of life imitating art.
Featured in the WJFF Classics strand
SPIRAL
Director: Laura Fairrie
2017, 79 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Anti-Semitism is on the rise throughout Europe. Director Laura Fairrie presents an alarming look at the impact of this reign of hatred on the lives of ordinary people. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
STANDING UP
Director: Jonathan Miller
2017, 74 min, Documentary
Country: United States
STANDING UP captures the devastating lows and exhilarating highs of three stand-up comedians: an ultra-Orthodox Jew, a couch-surfing custodian, and an Egyptian lawyer. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE STARRY SKY ABOVE ME
Director: Ilan Klipper
2017, 76 min, Narrative
Country: France
Laurent Poitrenaux delivers a tour-de-force performance as the neurotic and wounded Bruno in this charmingly odd film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. (East Coast Premiere)
THE STRANGEST STRANGER
Director: Magnus Bärtås
2017, 73 min, Documentary
Countries: Japan/Sweden
In Haruki Murakami’s novel Kafka on the Shore, a mysterious man appears, calling himself Johnnie Walker. Is he modeled on Joni Waka, a Jewish man living in Tokyo, or is it the other way around? (North American Premiere)
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
TEVYE’S DAUGHTERS
Director: Vladimir Lert
2017, 120 min, Narrative
Country: Ukraine
Filmed on the actual locations which inspired Sholem Aleichem’s famous folk tale, this uproariously funny and buoyant cinematic sendup centers on a downtrodden milkman. (Mid-Atlantic Premiere)
THE THIRD PLACE
Director: Nejemye Tenenbaum
2017, 88 min, Documentary
Country: Mexico
A hundred years after the establishment of the Syrian-Jewish community in Mexico City, its history is commemorated through a number of compelling and touching stories. The journey depicts the evolution, achievements, and struggles of a minority group that grapples with integrating to the country that welcomed them, or preserving their religious-ethnic identity. (U.S. Premiere)
TOUCHING THE SKY
Directors: Ilanit Bauman, Enav Shenhar, Idan Shavit, Tamar Tal-Anti
2018, 65 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
Female Israeli soldiers have had the right to apply to flight school for over 20 years, but only a few have earned their wings. Here we follow their trials over the first six months of the program. (World Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
TRACKING EDITH
Director: Peter Stephan Jungk
2016, 91 min, Documentary
Countries: Austria/Germany/Russia
This spellbinding documentary reflects on the remarkable life of Edith Tudor-Hart, who was an influential photographer working in Britain during the 1930s, and who also happened to be a KGB spy. (DC Premiere)
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
THE TWO OF US (New Restoration)
Director: Claude Berri
1967, 86 min, Narrative
Country: France
When an 8-year-old Jewish boy living in Nazi-occupied France is sent by his parents to live in the countryside, he is faced with a culture clash both religious and generational.
Featured in the WJFF Classics strand
SHORT FILMS:
BLOCK 13
Director: Ofir Peretz
2017, 25 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
It’s the eve of Yom Kippur. The streets lie in sacred silence, but David, a religious Jewish boy, is in turmoil. On the holiest night of the year, he sets out on a journey to restore his waning faith in God.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
COMPARTMENTS
Director: Daniella Koffler
2017, 15 min, Documentary
Country: Israel
Netta wishes to immigrate to Berlin. Her father, the son of Holocaust survivors, is horrified by her decision to live in the land that killed her ancestors. He refuses to speak to her again if she leaves.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
THE DRIVER IS RED
Director: Randall Christopher
2017, 15 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Set in Argentina 1960, this true crime documentary follows the story of secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he hunted down one of the highest ranking Nazi war criminals on the run.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
ERUV
Director: Aaron Rotenberg
2017, 6 min, Documentary
Country: Canada
This short film study revists the halachic idea of eruv as an opportunity to re-vision urban space through the practice of urban place-making.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
I’M FROM THE JEWS
Director: Niv Hachlili
2017, 18 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
A young man becomes possessed by his dead grandfather, forcing him to choose between his Arab family identity and continuing on with his life as an Israeli.
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
LARGE SOLDIER
Director: Noa Gusakov
2017, 23 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
It’s 1973 and all that 15 year-old Sherry wants is a boyfriend. A letter exchange with an unknown soldier sends her heart aflutter, but what happens when the imaginary becomes real?
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
LON
Director: Nina Landau
2017, 7 min, Documentary
Country: Belgium
LON is an ode to the power of imagination and how people maintain their dignity in the most challenging of times.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
NANA
Director: Ali Kellner
2017, 5 min, Documentary
Country: Canada
After being taken from her home in Budapest during World War II as a young girl, Vera Reiner survives alongside thousands of other Jewish women. This is their incredible story.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
NIGGUN
Director: Yoni Salmon
2017, 12 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
After a long journey, many years in the future, our cosmonauts reach their destination. Ananda, the space archaeologist, hopes to prove that the Earth is real, and Yamaka, the outcast rabbi, is searching for something subtler.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
NOTHING HAPPENS
Directors: Michelle Kranot, Uri Kranot
2017, 12 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
It’s bitterly cold in the inner city neighborhoods, and yet people have come together. They have come to witness an event. To participate in a spectacle. To see and be seen.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
ONE FOR THE ROAD
Director: Fernanda Faya
2016, 12 min, Documentary
Country: United States
Fernanda Faya reflects on her grandmother’s migration from Romania, after moving herself from Brazil to New York, in this personal and evocative cine-poem.
Screening with feature film CUBA’S FORGOTTEN JEWELS: A HAVEN IN HAVANA
ONE MORE EXPERIMENT
Director: Sergey Vlasov
2017, 15 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
In the near future, when human actors have been replaced by CGI, an aging actor gets one last chance to deliver a monologue from Andrei Tarkovsky’s THE STALKER.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
OPEN YOUR EYES
Director: Ilay Mevorah
2017, 14 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Ilana considers herself a liberal woman, but when her eye therapist is replaced by an Arab doctor, her prejudices comes to light.
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
REBEL
Director: Oran Zegman
2017, 17 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
In Tel Aviv’s Greek community of the 1950s, Rebecca’s decision to divorce her abusive husband forces her to pay the ultimate price for freedom.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
SAY WHAT!: A GERIATRIC PROPOSAL
Director: Aaron Weistein
2017, 6 min, Documentary
Country: United States
At a post-concert reception, a young jazz musician tries to survive aggressive grannies and other terrifying creatures.
Screening as part of the DRAWING BORDERS shorts program
SHMAMA
Director: Miki Polonski
2017, 20 min, Narrative
Country: Israel
Leah works as a maid in the hotel during the day, while Meital, her daughter, sings in the hotel’s lobby at night. They live trapped in their relationship, surrounded by the Dead Sea.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
STITCHERS: TAPESTRY OF SPIRIT
Director: Tassie Notar
2017, 15 min, Documentary
Country: Canada
An inspiring journey behind one woman’s ambitious project to create the entire Torah, in needlepoint.
Screening with feature film LET ME HEAR THY VOICE
SUMMER
Director: Pearl Gluck
2018, 19 min, Narrative
Country: United States
Two teenage girls in Hasidic sleepaway camp explore a forbidden book which leads them to a sexual awakening neither of them are prepared to encounter.
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
SUNSET
Directors: Katie Ennis, Gary Jaffe
2017, 15 min, Narrative
Country: United States
In the days following Pearl Harbor, a young man must decide whether to serve overseas or stay in New York with his streetwise male lover.
Featured in the Rated LGBTQ strand
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
THE TRANSFER
Director: Michael Grudsky
2017, 22 min, Narrative
Countries: Germany/Israel
Three young Israeli soldiers and the Arab prisoner in their custody are forced to confront their prejudices when their transport vehicle breaks down in the Negev Desert.
Screening as part of the ASSUMED IDENTITY shorts program
UNDER THE BAR
Director: Craig Schattner
2017, 6 min, Documentary
Country: United States
To the Orthodox Jewish women at Woodmere Fitness Club, life is more than child rearing and keeping kosher - it’s about proving themselves through weight lifting.
Screening with feature film LIFE IS RICH
WENDY’S SHABBAT
Director: Rachel Myers
2017, 10 min, Documentary
Country: United States
A joyful group of senior citizens capture the spirit of Shabbat in their own unique way, gathering at a fast food restaurant to light candles and say prayers over hamburgers and fries.
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
WOMAN WITH AN EDITING BENCH
Director: Karen Pearlman
2016, 15 min, Narrative
Country: Australia
Inspired by a true story, WOMAN WITH AN EDITING BENCH pays homage to Elizaveta Svilova - the unsung editor behind Dziga Vertov’s 1929 documentary masterpiece MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA.
Featured in the Starring Wonder Women strand
Screening as part of the OUT WITH THE OLD shorts program
TICKET AND PASS INFORMATION:
Festival passes are currently on sale online. Individual ticket sales open online on Friday, March 23, and continue through the festival. Patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance as many shows sell out. Individual tickets for regular screenings are $13.50 online, $15 at the theater. Individual tickets for spotlight evenings are $20 online, $25 at the theater. Individual tickets for Opening and Closing Night events are $30 online, $35 at the theater. In addition to individual tickets, WJFF offers Festival passes for $175 and All-Access VIP Passes for $275. Festival passes for patrons 30 years of age or younger are available for $40. More information is available at www.wjff.org.
ABOUT THE WASHINGTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL:
The Washington Jewish Film Festival (WJFF) is the centerpiece of the Edlavitch DCJCC’s comprehensive year-round film program. One of the largest and most respected Jewish film festivals in North America, WJFF is an international exhibition of cinema that celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture and experience through the moving image.
In addition to the annual festival, the WJFF presents an ongoing, year-round film series at the Edlavitch DCJCC. The WJFF serves over 18,000 people annually through 100+ screenings, nearly all of which are World, U.S., or regional premieres.
Follow the Washington Jewish Film Festival on Twitter (@wjff) for updates with the latest information about the festival and filmmakers who will participate in the WJFF. Join the conversation using #wjff on social media.
ABOUT THE EDLAVITCH DCJCC:
The Edlavitch DCJCC - the vibrant home and cultural heart of Jewish Washington - works to preserve and strengthen Jewish identity, tradition and values through a wide variety of social, cultural, recreational and educational programs and services. The EDCJCC is a partner agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
The EDCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.
The Edlavitch DCJCC is located at 1529 16th Street, NW in Washington, DC, four blocks east of Dupont Circle.
