The Boston Jewish Festival offers a broad panorama

17th ANNUAL BOSTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
November 2 – 13, 2005
Opening November 2 and continuing through November 13, The Boston Jewish Film Festival increases its reach with offerings targeted toward viewers in their 20s and 30s. This 17th annual Festival presents the best contemporary films from around the world on Jewish themes, punctuated by panel discussions; visits by film directors, actors, and subjects; and musical events.

The Festival is New England’s largest Jewish cultural event, with annual attendance running between 11,000 and 13,000. This critically acclaimed Festival features more than 50 independently produced films, shown in seven locations, and reflects the work of film artists from 16 countries. Highlights include 1 world premiere, 1 North American premiere, 4 U.S. premieres, and 6 New England premieres, plus numerous Massachusetts premieres. The Festival presents 29 visiting artists, noted speakers, panelists, and 14 musical performers.

Festival films explore what it means to be Jewish – in the U.S., Israel, and around the world. Themes this year include: the powerful role of individuals taking a stand against world events, issues facing older adolescents and young adults, older people with youthful spirits and a number of feature films by first-time directors.

“More than ever, this year’s Festival speaks the current language of our younger audiences,” said Sara L. Rubin, Executive Director. “Join us for our first-ever midnight showing, Jericho’s Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land. We highlight edgy voices, such as ‘cringe’ comedian Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic. Our stories explore issues important to adolescents, as in the world premiere of HINEINI: Coming Out in a Jewish High School, which documents the struggle to form a Gay/Straight Alliance at a Boston-area Jewish high school. And we follow Awake Zion, which links between Judaism and reggae culture, with a live reggae concert. The Festival is proud to extend our dynamic offerings to younger audiences, while continuing our tradition of offering the premiere collection of films and events that examine what it means to be Jewish in 2005.”

The ReelPass

The Festival offers a new convenience to younger views, the ReelPass, a three-film pass priced for attendees in their 20s and 30s.

Opening and Closing Events

On November 1, the Festival celebrates its opening gala: a buffet fundraiser dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Boston, and sneak preview of Ushpizin, a riveting comic drama of a childless Orthodox couple in financial crisis in Israel.

This year’s Festival offers two Opening Nights. On November 2, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), Live and Become is the epic of an Ethiopian boy who is airlifted from a Sudanese refugee camp to Israel in1984 during Operation Moses. On November 3, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, Only Human is a comedy about a woman introducing her Palestinian fiancé to her Jewish family.

The Festival closes at the MFA on November 13 with Fateless, adapted from the book by Hungarian Nobel Prize winner Imre Kertesz. Director Lajos Koltai will introduce his exquisitely-shot film, chronicling the experiences of a teenage survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Buchenwald.

World Premieres
- HINEINI: Coming out in a Jewish School, directed by Irena Fayngold (2005, USA, English, 60 minutes, video)

North American Premieres
- The Diaries of Yossef Nachmani, directed by Dalia Karpel (2005, Israel, Hebrew/Arabic with subtitles, 60 minutes, video)

U.S. Premieres
- Little Jerusalem (La Petite Jerusalem), directed by Karin Albou (2005, France, French with subtitles, 94 minutes, 35mm)
- Short, directed by Edan Alterman (2005, Israel, English and Hebrew with subtitles, 51 minutes, video)
- Esther’s Book, directed by Esaias Baitel (2004, Sweden, English narration, 15 minutes, 35mm)
- An Indomitable Woman (Helen Suzman), directed by Ingrid Gavshon (2005, South Africa, English, 12 minutes, video)

New England Premieres
- A Cantor’s Tale, directed by Erik Greenberg Anjou (2005, USA, English, 95 minutes, video)
- The Definition of Insanity, directed by Robert Margolis and Frank Matter (2004, USA/Switzerland, English, 85 minutes, 35mm)
- Fateless, directed by Lajos Koltai (2005, Hungary, Hungarian with subtitles,140 minutes, 35mm)
- The First Time I Was Twenty (La Premiere fois que j’ai eu 20 ans), directed by Lorraine Lévy (2004, France, French with subtitles, 93 minutes, 35mm)
- Jericho’s Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land, directed by Liz Nord (2005, Israel/USA, English and Hebrew with subtitles, 75 minutes, video)
- Live and Become (Va, vis, et deviens), directed by Radu Mihaileanu (2004, France/Israel, French/Hebrew/Aramaic with subtitles, 143 minutes, 35mm)

Live Action

- Jazz performers from Berklee College of Music bring alive a long-lost print of Danish filmmaker Carl Theodore Dreyer’s 1921 silent film Love One Another (Die Gezeichneten).
- Legendary actor Peter Falk attends the Festival with his heart-warming comedy Checking Out, with Laura San Giacomo, David Paymer and Judge Reinhold.
- Singer-songwriter Amy Fairchild performs live before The Definition of Insanity, which features several of her songs.
- Local belly dancers entertain following Only Human.
- For the second year, the Festival partners with the local group Balagan to bring an exciting selection of short films by internationally recognized artists.
- New this year are Reel Talks: discuss a variety of film topics with local and visiting experts, from Variety’s Paris-based critic Lisa Nesselson to Sundance Channel’s Cynthia Kane.