The Jewish Film Festival of Dallas provides a window to the Jewish experience and allows us to explore contemporary and historical themes in many different global settings. Some films will make you laugh, and others will make you cry, but all will provide you with a life lesson.

In our 26th annual festival, we are delighted to present compelling films throughout the year. For the first time in years, we will host an in-person festival at Studio Movie Grill, 13933 N Central Expy, Dallas, TX 75243, Theater # 15. To enhance your viewing and learning experience, we will offer a virtual Talk Back with an expert on the subject matter after some of the films.

Schedule

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

7:00pm: The Main in the Basement

Simon, Helen, and their daughter live in Paris in an old apartment that belongs to his Jewish family for generations. They decide to sell the basement to an old man but after the deal is done, they find out some disturbing facts on the guy. A new thriller on the Anti Semitism that lurks beneath.

Community Partner: Congregation Shearith Israel

Online Talk Back: Monday, September 12, 2022 at 7:30pm with Rabbi Adam Roffman on zoom

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

Saturday, September 10, 2022

8:00pm: The Main in the Basement

Simon, Helen, and their daughter live in Paris in an old apartment that belongs to his Jewish family for generations. They decide to sell the basement to an old man but after the deal is done, they find out some disturbing facts on the guy. A new thriller on the Anti Semitism that lurks beneath.

Community Partner: Congregation Shearith Israel

Online Talk Back: Monday, September 12, 2022 at 7:30pm with Rabbi Adam Roffman on zoom

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

7:00pm: iMordecai

A heart-warming movie based on a true story, iMordecai stars Academy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy-winning actor Judd Hirsch as Mordecai Samels and Academy Award-nominated Carol Kane as his wife, Fela, both survivors from Poland, are now living in Miami. Their son, Marvin is an ambitious cigar maker trying to support his own family while still being there for his aging parents. But when Mordecai's ancient flip phone breaks, he starts to take lessons from Nina, a young employee of Ultratech. She tutors Mordecai on his new iPhone, opening him up to all kinds of novel experiences and adventures, which makes him feel like a kid again. An uplifting comedy, iMordecai urges us all to live the one life we have to the fullest.

Community Partners: Adat Chaverim / Women of Adat Chaverim & Congregation Beth Torah, Chai Lights, Sisterhood and Adult Education

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

Thursday, September 15, 2022

7:00pm: Farewell Mr. Haffmann

Occupied Paris, 1941: all members of the Jewish community are instructed to come forward and identify themselves to authorities. Dedicated jeweler Joseph Haffmann, fearing the worst, arranges for his family to flee the city and offers his employee François Mercier the chance to take over his store until the conflict subsides. But his own attempts to escape are thwarted, and Haffmann is forced to seek his assistant's protection. It's a risky proposition for both men, and one that Mercier's wife Blanche is skeptical of. As the couple move in to the Haffmann home, the agreement turns into a Faustian bargain, one that will forever change the fate of all...

Community Partners: The Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies & JCC Dallas Senior Department

Online Talk Back: Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 7:30pm with Professor David Patterson on zoom

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

Saturday, September 17, 2022

8:00pm: Farewell Mr. Haffmann

Occupied Paris, 1941: all members of the Jewish community are instructed to come forward and identify themselves to authorities. Dedicated jeweler Joseph Haffmann, fearing the worst, arranges for his family to flee the city and offers his employee François Mercier the chance to take over his store until the conflict subsides. But his own attempts to escape are thwarted, and Haffmann is forced to seek his assistant's protection. It's a risky proposition for both men, and one that Mercier's wife Blanche is skeptical of. As the couple move in to the Haffmann home, the agreement turns into a Faustian bargain, one that will forever change the fate of all...

Community Partners: The Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies & JCC Dallas Senior Department

Online Talk Back: Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 7:30pm with Professor David Patterson on zoom

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

8:00pm: iMordecai

A heart-warming movie based on a true story, iMordecai stars Academy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy-winning actor Judd Hirsch as Mordecai Samels and Academy Award-nominated Carol Kane as his wife, Fela, both survivors from Poland, are now living in Miami. Their son, Marvin is an ambitious cigar maker trying to support his own family while still being there for his aging parents. But when Mordecai's ancient flip phone breaks, he starts to take lessons from Nina, a young employee of Ultratech. She tutors Mordecai on his new iPhone, opening him up to all kinds of novel experiences and adventures, which makes him feel like a kid again. An uplifting comedy, iMordecai urges us all to live the one life we have to the fullest.

Community Partners: Adat Chaverim / Women of Adat Chaverim & Congregation Beth Torah, Chai Lights, Sisterhood and Adult Education

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

Monday, September 19, 2022

7:00pm: Berenshtein

Using a subtle combination of fiction and documentary genres, this story leads viewers on an exciting journey into the depths of the soul of a Jewish partisan. Leonid Berenshtein was a partisan battalion commander during WW1. He was responsible for an amazing discovery that changed the outcome of the war. But beyond the medals, lies a wonderful story of a young Jewish orphan who became a leader survived against all odds and succeeded to preserve his identity.

Community Partner: The Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies

Online Talk Back: Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 7:30pm with Professor David Patterson on zoom

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

12:00am: Berenshtein

Using a subtle combination of fiction and documentary genres, this story leads viewers on an exciting journey into the depths of the soul of a Jewish partisan. Leonid Berenshtein was a partisan battalion commander during WW1. He was responsible for an amazing discovery that changed the outcome of the war. But beyond the medals, lies a wonderful story of a young Jewish orphan who became a leader survived against all odds and succeeded to preserve his identity.

Community Partner: The Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies

Online Talk Back: Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 7:30pm with Professor David Patterson on zoom

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

7:00pm: The Levys of Monticello

A missing chapter of American Jewry comes to light in this fascinating chronicle of the Virginia home of one of the nation’s founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello residence, just outside of Charlottesville, stands as a complex symbol of the paradox of Democracy. Designed by Jefferson, built and tended by slaves, the palatial plantation was his presidential retreat, retirement home, and final resting place. Sold due to mounting debts, Urian Phillips Levy, a Jewish naval officer, and fervent believer in Jeffersonian ideals, became its unlikely caretaker. When historical preservation was all but unheard of, Levy’s family restored and saved the estate from ruin. The story behind this national treasure confronts the stain of ongoing racism and anti-Semitism that remain part of the national narrative.

Community Partners: Dallas Jewish Historical Society & Jewish War Veterans Post 256 and Auxiliary

Location: Studio Movie Grill - Spring Valley

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

8:00pm: The Levys of Monticello

A missing chapter of American Jewry comes to light in this fascinating chronicle of the Virginia home of one of the nation’s founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello residence, just outside of Charlottesville, stands as a complex symbol of the paradox of Democracy. Designed by Jefferson, built and tended by slaves, the palatial plantation was his presidential retreat, retirement home, and final resting place. Sold due to mounting debts, Urian Phillips Levy, a Jewish naval officer, and fervent believer in Jeffersonian ideals, became its unlikely caretaker. When historical preservation was all but unheard of, Levy’s family restored and saved the estate from ruin. The story behind this national treasure confronts the stain of ongoing racism and anti-Semitism that remain part of the national narrative.

Community Partners: Dallas Jewish Historical Society & Jewish War Veterans Post 256 and Auxiliary

Date: September 7, 2022  - September 27, 2022

Location: Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley - 13933 N Central Expy, Dallas, TX 75243

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