Festival Schedule:

April 7, 2024

12:00pm: Less Than Kosher

At 20, Viv was a promising young singer. At 30, her failing music career has forced her back into her mother's basement. But when this self-proclaimed bad Jew lands ***-backwards into a job as a Cantor at her family's synagogue, she’s thrown into a wild ride of illicit affairs, drug trips, tense family drama, self-discovery, and some serious Jewish bops. It’s “Shiva Baby” meets “A Star is Born.” Modern Jewish wit and Hebrew Electro-Pop.

Chairs: David Howman and Tara Levy

7:00pm: No Name Restaurant

To save the synagogue of the once largest Jewish community in the world from being shut down, Ben, an ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn Jew visiting Jerusalem, is sent out to be the desperately needed tenth man for the ceremonies of Pesach. Having missed his plane and been kicked off the bus in the Sinai Desert, his last hope is Adel, a grumpy Bedouin looking for his camel. When their car breaks down, it becomes a matter of their very survival.

6:00pm reception

Chairs: Itzik Levin and Yossi Shohat

April 8, 2024

7:00pm: My Neighbor Adolf

South America, 1960. A lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor convinces himself that his new neighbor is none other than Adolf Hitler. Not being taken seriously, he embarks on a detective mission to find the evidence. But, in order to gather evidence, he will need to be closer to his neighbor than he would like. So close that the two could almost become friends.

Chairs: David Gantner and Dr. Mark Goldman

Followed by post-film discussion "Love Your Neighbor" with Rabbi Dan Kaiman

April 9, 2024

7:00pm: The Monkey House

Nominated for 11 Israeli Ophir Awards, similar to the Academy Awards, director Avi Nesher’s entertaining and often comedic new film is a mix between a literary mystery and a character study. Adir Miller plays Amitai, a well-known novelist whose popularity is dwindling. Attempting to avoid obscurity, he tries to revive his fading career by launching a highly inventive scam. He recruits a reckless actress and trains her to pose as his biographer and the two become entangled in a web of their own lies, forever altering their lives. Inspired by a true story.

Chairs: Steve Aberson and Brent Ortolani

April 10, 2024

1:00pm: Remembering Gene Wilder

This heartfelt documentary takes a close look at the endearing comic genius of Gene Wilder, from his Jewish upbringing in Milwaukee, to his early stage work, to his breakthrough collaborations with Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor, to his marriage to Gilda Radner. Using a variety of touching and hilarious clips and outtakes; never-before-seen home movies; narration from Wilder’s audiobook memoir; and interviews from collaborators including Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, and Carol Kane, this film celebrates one of the most beloved stars of his era—performer, writer, director, and all-around mensch.
 
Chair: Barry Friedman

7:00pm: Bella

As women like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Stacey Abrams, and Katie Porter battle on the front line of an increasingly bifurcated democracy, they tread on the footpath laid by Bella Abzug. Known for her colorful chapeaus and for a voice, as Norman Mailer said that, “could boil the fat off of a taxicab driver’s neck,” “Battling Bella” came out swinging at the old guard even as a child. Defying her Jewish Orthodox community by saying Kaddish for her father as a 13-year-old girl, “It was in those early days…that I probably got my first ideas about feminism.” A lawyer who specialized in civil rights and labor law, she was a founder of the women’s rights movement, spearheaded campaigns against nuclear testing and the war in Vietnam, all before becoming the first woman elected to congress on a women’s rights and peace platform. Indefatigable, Azbug’s career spanned 65 years, a 42 year marriage and 2 daughters. Using never before seen home movies, audio diaries, news footage and new interviews from Barbra Streisand, Shirley MacLaine, Lily Tomlin, Gloria Steinem, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Marlo Thomas, family members, and colleagues, documentarian Jeff L. Lieberman gives an entertaining and comprehensive look at Abzug’s astonishing legacy fighting on behalf of women, the working class, communities of color and the LGBT.

6:00pm Sisterhood Dinner

Post-film discussion with Tulsa City Councilor Laura Bellis

April 11, 2024

7:00pm: Seven Blessings

A boisterous Jewish Moroccan family celebrates a family wedding and the traditional blessings that are pronounced during the ceremony, again at the reception, and then again for the next seven nights with loved ones hosting special dinners in the couple’s honor. Behind the facade of joie de vivre and togetherness, there are secrets, lies, and a painful old wound that forces them to confront the past while wrecking the present, all entwined in this acclaimed story about fury, forgiveness, and food. Added to the mix is a joyous comedy of errors and misinterpretation by numerous members of the family speaking multiple languages, spanning Hebrew, Arabic, French, and the French Moroccan dialect. Seven Blessings won this year’s Israel Academy Awards (Ophirs) for Best Picture in addition to nine other categories.

Chairs: Alin Avitan and Amanda Anderson

Post-film discussion with Alin Avitan

Fest Date: April 7 - 11, 2024

Location: Circle Cinema - 10 South Lewis Avenue Tulsa, OK 74101

Tickets:
For single film tickets at $12 each
Click here to get a Festival Pass and see all seven films for just $70.

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