8th Denver Jewish Film Festival Moves to March, Adds Venues and Explores the Diverse Nature of the Modern Jewish Experience

In its eighth year, the Denver Jewish Film Festival, the eagerly anticipated annual event presented by the Mizel Center for the Arts and the Denver Film Society, moves to the spring and unveils over 15 new films (documentaries, features and shorts) March 11 - 18, all of which explore intimate stories of Jewish life from around the world. Additionally, for the first time, the festival will offer three venues for filmgoers. All films in the line-up will screen once at the Mizel Center at the Jewish Community Center (350 South Dahlia Street) and additional screenings will take place at the Starz FilmCenter (900 Auraria Parkway) and in Boulder at the Cinema Saver Basemar Twin (2490 Baseline Road).
“This is going to be an entertaining and stimulating year,” said Dan Jacobs, film festival director, Mizel Center. “We’re seeing a lot of feature films with high production values by sophisticated filmmakers. We’re also seeing a theme emerge-the diverse nature of the modern Jewish experience-with Israeli films in particular depicting an urban diversity that will appeal to younger audiences. A number of recent films examine larger themes through stories of people’s lives, placing events in an intimate context.”
The festival will open on March 11 with a screening of the delightful and contemporary comedy, GOD IS GREAT…I AM VERY SMALL starring Audrey Tautou (AMELIE) followed by the Opening Night Gala in Phillips Hall at the Mizel Center. Honest, unpredictable and slyly amusing, with deliberately off-kilter direction and jump-cuts mirroring the distracted love affair of the two main characters, GOD IS GREAT…I AM VERY SMALL marks the arrival of first-time director, Pascale Bailly. The evening will be emceed by Greg Moody of CBS4 and is sponsored by Coors Brewing Company.
The festival’s closing night film (March 18) will be the Academy Award® nominated documentary, MY ARCHITECT: A SON’S JOURNEY, directed by Nathaniel Kahn. Producer Susan Behr will appear in person to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A following the screening. MY ARCHITECT is a tale of love and art and betrayal and forgiveness in which the son of Louis I. Kahn, one of the major architects of the twentieth century undertakes a five-year, worldwide journey to understand his long-dead father. The senior Kahn sought for truth and clarity as he created a handful of intensely powerful and spiritual buildings. However, his personal life was filled with secrets and chaos. Jodi Brooks of CBS4 emcees and the festival’s Wrap Party follows in Phillips Hall at the Mizel Center.

Janis Plotkin, former executive artistic director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and co-producer of the first Jewish Film Festival in Moscow will present a special program on Sunday, March 14 highlighting 20 years of Israeli and Palestinian cinema. Plotkin, in her Sharing the Screen program, will introduce, present and discuss clips representing the voices and views of independent Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers in their exploration of the volatile and poignant relationships that embody the struggle for peace in the Middle East.
Another highlight will be the screening of YOSSI AND JAGGER, which is one of several films in this year’s festival that examines the very personal dimensions of larger conflicts. Starring the Israeli heartthrob Yehuda Levi, the film portrays the secret love affair between two Israeli officers in a remote army base on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Without flag-waving or ideological posturing, this film tells the story of young people trying to survive in a difficult world, made harder because the two men will have to decide what they’ll do when Jagger's tour of duty comes to an end. The film will be introduced and discussed by David Shneer, director of the Center for Judaic Studies and assistant professor of history at the University of Denver. He is also a founder of Mosaic: The National Jewish Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and the editor of Queer Jews and the newly released Yiddish and the Creation of Soviet Jewish Culture.2