The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Jewish Museum kicked off the 26th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival yesterday and half of the lineup is directed by women.
The NYJFF is one of the oldest Jewish film festival’s around the world, and presents both narrative and documentary films each year that “explore the diverse Jewish experience.”
The festival opened with the New York Premiere of Dorit Hakim’s “Moon in the 12th House,” which follows “two estranged Israeli sisters on the road to reconciliation.” The fest will close on the 24th with the New York Premiere of Maria Schrader’s “Stefan Zweig, Farewell to Europe,” a “dramatic chronicle of the German-Jewish writer’s years in exile from Nazi Germany.”
Tickets may be purchased online or in person at the Film Society’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and Walter Reade Theater box offices, 144 & 165 West 65th Street. All films screen digitally at the Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th St.) unless otherwise noted.
The list of female-directed films are listed below, with synopses courtesy of NYJFF.
Opening Night-“Moon in the 12th House”
Dorit Hakim, Israel, 2016, 110m
Hebrew with English subtitles
New York Premiere
When two estranged young sisters are reunited, they must come to terms with each other and the circumstances that tore them apart: Lenny had stayed in their childhood home to take care of their father, while Mira left for a faster life in Tel Aviv. Despite their divergent paths, love and affection bind the characters and lead them toward fragile redemption. This impressive debut feature by Dorit Hakim features unforgettable performances by Yuval Sharf (“Ana Arabia,” “Footnote”) and Yaara Pelzig (“Policeman”).
Wednesday, January 11, 3:30pm & 9:00pm
Closing Night-“Stefan Zweig, Farewell to Europe”
Maria Schrader, Austria/France/Germany, 2016, 106m
German, English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Known for her performances in “Aimée and Jaguar and In Darkness,” Maria Schrader goes behind the camera to chronicle the years of exile of Stefan Zweig, one of the most widely read German writers of his time. In the film, told in five chapters, from the mid 1930s to 1942, and taking place in Buenos Aires, New York, and Brazil, Zweig struggles to find the right stance toward the events in Nazi Germany, while searching for a home abroad. Schrader’s emotional film is as much about a tormented literary icon as it is about a continent going up in flames. Starring Josef Hader as Zweig and Barbara Sukowa (“Hannah Arendt”) as his wife, Friderike.
Tuesday, January 24, 3:30pm & 9:00pm
“Angel Wagenstein: Art Is a Weapon”
Andrea Simon, U.S./Bulgaria, 2017, 84m
Bulgarian, English, German and Russian with English subtitles
World Premiere
This documentary portrait of Bulgarian Jewish filmmaker, novelist, partisan warrior, and lifelong revolutionary Angel Wagenstein introduces American viewers to a brilliant and charismatic artist, for whom art became a form of resistance against a series of oppressive and corrupt regimes. It is also a meditation on what his life and films reveal about the intimate realities of Cold War culture in a divided and contentious post-war Europe, and the vertiginous transformations of 1989 and after in the former Eastern Bloc states.
Sunday, January 22, 8:30pm
“Bette Midler: The Divine Miss M”
Samantha Peters, UK, 2014, 75m
U.S. Premiere
For five decades the woman they call “The Divine Miss M” forged a path that has taken her from a pineapple canning factory in Honolulu to the highest echelons of Hollywood. The BBC’s “Imagine” series joins Bette Midler on her journey through the chorus lines of Broadway, the bathhouses and nightclubs of New York City in the 1970s, and to the top of the film industry. Her combination of soulful voice and raucous wit made her irreplaceable as an outrageous, captivating entertainer. As she releases her first album in eight years, host Alan Yentob joins Ms. Midler to revisit the places and early influences of her spectacular career.
Monday, January 16, 9:00pm
“Dimona Twist”
Michal Aviad, Israel, 2016, 70m
Hebrew with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
Israeli documentarian Michal Aviad (“The Women Pioneers”) returns to the NYJFF with another moving film focusing on the lives of women in Israel, specifically those from North Africa and Poland who came by ship in the 1950s and 1960s and were sent to Dimona, a newly established town in the desert. They talk about the pain of leaving their homes behind, about poverty and the difficulties of adjusting in their new homeland, and about their determined attempts to create rich and meaningful lives. These intimate conversations are interwoven with stunning archival footage and music of the time.
Monday, January 23, 4:00pm & 8:30pm
“Doing Jewish: A Story from Ghana”
Gabrielle Zilkha, Canada, 2016, 85m
U.S. Premiere
Who would expect to find Jews in Ghana? Certainly not filmmaker Gabrielle Zilkha. But when she volunteered to work in Africa, and found herself alone as the Jewish New Year approached, she made a surprising connection with the Jewish Africans she met there. In remote Sefwi Wiawso, Zilkha encounters a group of practicing Jews, dedicated and devout, who perform rites like circumcision and observe Kosher dietary laws. Only recently did this Ghanese community discover they were part of a worldwide religion with millions of followers, and were as surprised as the filmmaker who made this inspiring documentary.
Screening with:
“Kol Nidre #3”
Tatiana McCabe, U.S. 2016, 4m
World Premiere
Images from Brooklyn-based artist Archie Rand’s acclaimed book The 613, an illustrated reimagining of the 613 Jewish commandments that earned praise from the likes of Art Spiegelman and Ang Lee, are recreated in this charming animated short.
Wednesday, January 11, 1:00pm, 6:30pm
“Numbers Guy” (Screening with “Hummus! The Movie”)
Vanessa Jung, Canada, 2015, 33m
New York Premiere
From behind his counter in Toronto, cashier David delivers more than your purchase; funny, fascinating trivia about facts and figures await his customers.
Tuesday, January 17, 8:45pm
Wednesday, January 18, 3:30pm
“Marie Curie, The Courage of Knowledge”
Marie Noëlle, Germany/France/Poland, 2016, 95m
French, German and Polish with English subtitles
New York Premiere
A sweeping biographical film about the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, “Marie Curie, The Courage of Knowledge” is as much an intimate portrayal of the struggles of the scientist’s private world as of her legendary public accomplishments, chronicling her battles against the male academic establishment, as well as her blissful marriage to her scientific partner, Pierre. Her world falls apart when her husband perishes in a tragic accident, and despite near scandal, Curie perseveres and triumphs once more. Director Marie Noëlle vividly depicts turn-of-the century Europe in this inspiring true story.
Tuesday, January 24, 1:00pm & 6:30pm
“The Patriarch’s Room”
Danae Elon, Israel/Canada, 2016, 83m
English, Hebrew, and Greek with English subtitles
New York Premiere
In 2005, the elderly Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem was accused of selling properties to Jewish Settlers. He was deposed and confined to his room in the Old City for eleven years. Documentarian Danae Elon (“Another Road Home”) forges a special relationship with the Patriarch to unravel the twisted story. With humor and sensitivity, Elon probes the workings of the Church and presents a portrait of a complicated religious community.
Sunday, January 15, 8:45pm
Tuesday, January 17, 1:00pm
“Saving Nur”
Nili Tal, Israel, 2016, 70m
Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Afflicted with a rare genetic disease, nine-year-old Nur has only one chance of survival: crossing the border from Gaza into Israel, where doctors are capable of performing a liver transplant. Meanwhile, her Palestinian parents Ibrahim and Maha are fighting resolutely for the life of their daughter while their family struggles back in Gaza. Director Nili Tal (“Ukraine Brides,” “Etched in My Body,” “Sixty and the City”) takes us on Nur’s journey across borders and shows us the transformative power of humanity and hope.
Screening with:
“My Travels with Oliver”
Laurel Chiten, U.S., 2017, 7m
World Premiere
With heartfelt humor, photojournalist Lowell Handler narrates a series of photographs she took while traveling the world with British neurologist, naturalist, and author Oliver Sacks.
Monday, January 23, 1:30pm & 6:15pm
Shorts Program
110m
Various languages
New York Premieres
Monday, January 16, 6:00pm
“Mr. Bernstein”
(Francine Zuckerman, Canada, 2015, 12m), when Debbie hears of her father’s life-changing musical experience in a refugee camp, she tracks down the famous conductor years later, with unexpected consequences.
“Home Movie ”
(Caroline Pick, UK, 2013, 17m), filmmaker Caroline Pick uses footage that her father shot from the 1930s to 1960s to look back at her family’s past in Czechoslovakia and Britain, gradually unearthing the story that her parents hid.
“Vow ”
(Netalie Braun, Israel, 2015, 28m) Eleven-year-old Tamal, overweight and a victim to bullying, develops a unique coping mechanism in “Vow,” a darkly funny portrayal of an adolescent in crisis.
