A-Z List
ARABIC MOVIE
Dir. Eyal Sagui Bizawe and Sara Tsifroni
(60 min, Israel, 2015) Documentary
Not long ago, Israeli families of all backgrounds would huddle next to the TV each Friday to watch the week’s “Egyptian movie.” Did anybody ever wonder how Israel’s official TV station was able to bypass sealed borders to obtain these beloved Arab Movies of the Week?
AVALON
Dir. Barry Levinson
(128 min, USA, 1990) Narrative
Barry Levinson directs this evocative, nostalgic film which celebrates the virtues of family life and traces several generations of Baltimore Jewish immigrants. Headlined by a memorable performance from 2016 WJFF Visionary award winner Armin Mueller-Stahl.
BLACK JEWS: THE ROOTS OF THE OLIVE TREE
Dir. Laurence Gavron
(56 min, Senegal/France, 2016) Documentary
A large number of groups in Sub-Saharan African countries spontaneously converted to Judaism in the 20th Century. This film takes a close look at a Jewish community in Cameroon, while also examining African Israeli and African American Jewish communities.
BLUSH (Previously Barash)
CARVALHO’S JOURNEY
Dir. Steve Rivo
(85 min, USA, 2015) Documentary
At a time when the US was busy pushing and re-defining its borders, the nascent medium of photography was just starting to take root. At the center of this artistic and geographic expansion stood an observant Sephardic Jew from South Carolina, Solomon Carvalho (1815-1897).
COMPARED TO WHAT? The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank (Spotlight Evening)
CURT LOWENS: A LIFE CHANGES
Dir. Justin Binder, August Blum, Robert Carlson, Levi Glaser, George Khabbaz, Kayla Mossanen, Tammy Shine
(6min, USA, 2014) Documentary
An animated short by students in the Righteous Conversations Digital Storytelling Workshop, who bring to the screen Holocaust Survivor Curt Lowens’ story of escape and resistance during World War II.
DEMON
Dir. Marcin Wrona
(94 min, Poland/Israel, 2015) Narrative
In this chilling, modern interpretation of the Dybbuk legend, Piotr’s joy at visiting his bride-to-be at her Polish home is quickly upended by a gruesome discovery. A wickedly sharp and creepy story of possession set against a wild wedding celebration.
EINSTEIN IN THE HOLY LAND
Dir. Noa Ben Hagai
(55min, Israel, 2015) Documentary
When Albert Einstein visited Palestine in 1932, over 85,000 Jews lived there, and nearly all of them came out to greet the most famous Jew of his generation. For the next 12 days, Einstein kept a personal travel diary cataloging his impressions of the emerging Israeli State.
FIRE BIRDS
Dir. Amir Wolf
(105 min, Israel, 2015) Narrative
The body of an 80-year-old man with three stab wounds to the chest washes up by the Yarkon River. Amnon, a downtrodden detective, takes on the case, and soon finds himself contending with con men, crooked cops, romanced widows and a secret society of Holocaust survivors.