Welcome to the 10th year of the Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival! We are thrilled to be bringing this year's film festival completely in-person and in our brand new, state-of-the-art Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center! Happy watching!

Series Pass:
Includes one ticket to each film.
$49 Community / $35 Member

Schedule:

Thursday, February 2, 2023

7pm: iMordecai - Opening Night

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center

$7 Community / $5 Member

A heart-warming movie based on a true story inspired by a chapter in the lives of the Samel family. iMordecai stars Academy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy-winning actor Judd Hirsch (star of the sitcom Taxi, Ordinary People, Independence Day) as Mordecai Samels and Academy Award-nominated actress Carol Kane (Hester Street) as his wife, Fela, both Holocaust survivors from Poland, who are now living in Miami. Their son, Marvin (Academy Award-nominated actor Sean Astin, The Lord of the Rings), is an ambitious cigar maker teetering on insolvency while trying to sell his company. But when Mordecai’s ancient flip phone breaks, he starts to take lessons from Nina (newcomer Azia Dinea Hale), a young employee of Ultratech. She tutors Mordecai on his new iPhone, which opens him up to all kinds of novel experiences and adventures, which makes him feel like a kid again. An uplifting comedy and a love letter to the city of Miami, iMordecai urges us all to live the one life we have to the fullest.

Running Time: 102 minutes
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2022

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Sunday, February 5, 2023

2pm: Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center

$7 Community / $5 Member

The fall of 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof, the film Pauline Kael of The New Yorker called “the most powerful movie musical ever made.” Now, in the engrossing and exuberant Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Daniel Raim captures director Norman Jewison’s brilliant vision to recreate the lost world of Jewish life in Tsarist Russia and reimagine the beloved musical as a wide-screen epic. Narrated by Jeff Goldblum, the film draws on behind-the-scenes footage and never-before-seen stills. Interviews with Jewison and many members of the cast and crew puts a spotlight on the creative process. We see how the making of Fiddler on the Roof was a life-changing experience for Jewison, as we get to know the heart and soul behind the film.

Running Time: 88 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2022

In partnership with
Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission

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Thursday, February 9, 2023

7pm: Wet Dog

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center
$7 Community / $5 Member

Based on Arye Sharuz Shalicar’s provocative autobiography, this thrilling, coming-of-age tale follows an Iranian Jewish teenager who, upon moving to a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in Berlin, joins a street gang whose Muslim members harbor anti-Semitic beliefs. Caught between hiding his Jewish identity to save his friendships and continue fitting in with them, or losing everything to live openly as a Jew, there is one thing he knows for sure: his next move will change the course of his life and that of his loved ones forever.

Running Time: 103 minutes
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Language: German with English subtitles
Year: 2021

In partnership with
Facing History and Ourselves

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Thursday, February 16, 2023

7pm: Haute Couture - Girls' Night Out

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center

$7 Community / $5 Member

Esther is at the end of her career as Head Seamstress at Dior Avenue Montaigne workshop. One day, she gets her handbag stolen in the metro by a 20 year old girl, Jade. Instead of calling the police she decides to take care of Jade. She sees in her the opportunity to pass on her skills, the craft of dressmaking, her only wealth. In the frenetic world of Haute Couture, Esther will give Jade la beauté du geste, a way to reach beyond herself.

Running Time: 119 minutes
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Language: French with English Subtitles
Year: 2022

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Sunday, February 19, 2023

2pm: The Jews and The Blues

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center

$7 Community / Free for MJCC & Jewish Historical Society Members

The Jews and the Blues is a musical journey that along the way becomes something much more; created by Drew Stone, a documentary filmmaker, musician, and talk show host born and raised in New York City. Join him as he follows his passion for music and adventure as he travels to Israel and discovers how the blues tie into this incredible mix of cultures. Arab, Ethiopian, Moroccan, Jewish, Israeli, united through the universal tie that binds us together... music. Experience the sights, sounds, and the unexpected on this expedition into uncharted territory.

Running Time: 67 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2022

In partnership with
Jewish Historical Society of Memphis and the Midsouth

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Tuesday, February 21, 2023

7pm: Valiant Hearts

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center

$7 Community / $5 Member

A gripping true tale of survival against all odds, Valiant Hearts tells the story of six Jewish children in 1942 who were hidden by the Resistance in the Château de Chambord, along with priceless artworks from the Louvre Museum. There they are aided by Rose, a conservator at Paris’s Jeu de Paume Museum and a member of the resistance, who is documenting the theft of artworks by Nazi officers. Through tears and laughter, the children grapple with unimaginable circumstances while learning about friendship, solidarity, and doing what’s right. Valiant Hearts features moments of gut-wrenching suspense and soaring inspiration and brings this moment in history to life for viewers both young and old.

Running Time: 92 minutes
Genre: Drama, History
Country: France
Language: French with English Subtitles
Year: 2021

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Thursday, February 23, 2023

7pm: Love and Mazel Tov

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center

$7 Community / $5 Member

What starts as an innocent flirtation quickly snowballs into a comedy of errors in this witty and warm-hearted German rom-com. Anne is immersed in the Jewish community, paying off the karmic debt run up by her non-Jewish grandparents who profiteered during the war. She manages a small Berlin bookshop that specializes in Judaica, and volunteers at a Jewish retirement home. When she meets Daniel, a newly-single doctor, he impulsively pretends to be Jewish in order to impress her. As their romance blossoms, complications arise when Daniel attends dinner with her family. Award-winning director Wolfgang Murnberger presents a charming look at modern love and a clever take on cultural appropriation and historical guilt.

Running Time: 88 minutes
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Germany
Language: German with English Subtitles
Year: 2021
Viewer discretion advised.

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Sunday, February 26, 2023

2pm: Who Are the Marcuses?

Followed by a discussion between Rabbi Abe Schacter-Gampel and Paula Jacobson

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center

$7 Community / $5 Member

Who Are the Marcuses? reconstructs the lives of Holocaust refugees Lottie and Howard Marcus. Former dentist Howard passed away in 2014 at age 104. Lottie passed less than two years later. In 2016, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev announced the Marcuses had given them over half a billion dollars: the largest single charitable donation to the State of Israel in its history. The film simultaneously traces the development of Israel’s vital water technology from pre-state to the present; how the Marcuses’ endowment to BGU has ensured its continued leading-edge development in this science for not only the Israeli people, but the world as a whole; sets the family’s gift in geopolitical context; and explores both its impact and implications for regional peace through technology exchange.

Running Time: 90 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Country: Israel, USA
Language: English
Year: 2022

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Thursday, March 2, 2023

7pm: Farewell, Mr. Haffmann

Location: in the Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center

$7 Community / $5 Member

Paris 1941. François Mercier is an ordinary man whose only goal is to start a family with Blanche, the woman he loves. François works for Mr. Haffmann, a talented Jewish jeweler. Under the German occupation, the employer and employee are forced to strike a deal which, over the following months, will upend the fate of all concerned.

Running Time: 115 minutes
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Belguim
Language: French with English Subtitles
Year: 2022

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Date: February 2 - March 2, 2023

Location: Memphis Jewish Community Center - Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center, 6560 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38138.

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