Schedule:

February 3, 2024

7:30 p.m: Opening Night: Matchmaking
2022, Romantic Comedy, 98 minutes, Hebrew, Erez Tadmor
This sweet forbidden romance is a joyous tale about tolerance and love. Moti Bernstein is the son every mother wants, the student every Rabbi loves to teach, the ideal Yeshiva study mate, the perfect match for every bride. In search of a wife, he will meet the best girls in the Jewish Orthodox world but will fall for the one girl he can never have, and the only one he wants: Nechama. Against everything he knows and every value he holds dear, Moti will be forced to go out on a limb in the most unexpected and unusual of ways.
Location: Memorial Hall OTR, 1225 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202

February 4 - 6, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: Barren
Virtual 48-hr Viewing Window Opens at 7pm ET on February 4
Viewing Region: Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida
2022, Drama, 108 minutes, Hebrew, Mordechai Vardi
A childless young ultra-Orthodox couple faces a crisis, after a traumatic treatment for barrenness. When the difference between good and bad is unclear, the family must deal with unresolved secrets that raise fundamental questions about religion and faith.
Location: Virtual

February 7, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: Irena’s Vow
2023, Historical Drama, 120 minutes, English, Louise Archambault
Set in Poland during the German occupation, 19-year-old Irena Gut is promoted to housekeeper in the home of a highly-respected Nazi officer when she finds out that the Jewish ghetto is about to be liquidated. Irena uses her wit, humor, and courage to hide 12 Jews, concealing them in the midst of countless obstacles. Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the remarkable true story of Irena Gut Opdyke and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy.
Location: Mariemont Theatre, 6906 Wooster Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45227

February 8, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: Children of Nobody
2022, Drama, 108 minutes, Hebrew, Erez Tadmor
Living on the fringes of Israeli society, troubled boys must band together to save the shelter for at-risk youth that has kept them off the streets. For generations, an altruistic surrogate mother, Margalit, provided loving refuge to victims of neglect and violence in a shabby house on Tel Aviv’s outskirts. When tragedy strikes, it’s up to right-hand man Jackie to keep the home. Inspired by a true story, this compassionate drama gives voice to those on the periphery, often unnoticed and uncared for.
Location: Mariemont Theatre, 6906 Wooster Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45227

February 10 – February 12, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: Jerry’s Last Mission
Virtual 48-hr Viewing Window Opens at 7pm ET on February 10
Viewing Region: Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida
2021, Documentary, 58 minutes, English, Louisa Merino
Official Selection, 2023 Global Peace Film Festival
P-51 fighter pilot Jerry Yellin flew combat missions on Iwo Jima and over Japan, including the last combat mission of World War II. As he confronts his decades-old fear and hatred, Yellin overcomes his PTSD as he was forced to face his enemy once again when his youngest son moved to Japan and married the daughter of a Kamikaze pilot. This documentary tells the story of Jerry’s reconciliation with the enemy and healing from the wounds of war.
Location: Virtual

February 13, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: The Catskills
2024, Documentary, 84 minutes, English, Lex Gillespie
As bungalow colony proprietors, guests, waiters, comedians, hoteliers, and beauticians share colorful tales of Catskill farms, boarding houses, and luxury resorts, they paint a picture of vibrant American Jewish life and culture in the 20th century. With a trove of lost-and-found archival footage and a cast of characters endowed with the gift of gab, this documentary journeys into the storied mountain getaway north of New York City.
Location: The Schiff Center at The Seven Hills School, 5400 Red Bank Road, Cincinnati, OH 45227

February 14 - February 16, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: The Holy Closet
Virtual 48-hr Viewing Window Opens at 7pm ET on February 14
Viewing Region: Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida
2022, Documentary, 59 minutes, Hebrew, Moran Nakar
What does the wedding ceremony of two religious Jewish gay men look like? Or the pregnancy of a trans religious man? These are the stories of LGBTQ people who chose to remain religious Jews and to build their lives, relationships, families, and everyday activities according to the Jewish religion.
Location: Virtual

February 18, 2024

3:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: Remembering Gene Wilder
2023, Documentary, 90 minutes, English, Ron Frank
This documentary, told in part through Gene Wilder’s own voice, offers generous helpings of film clips from across Wilder’s career. A heartfelt tribute to the beloved star, this multi-talented performer is dramatically brought to life through never-before-seen home movies and photographs, as well as the intimate insights of friends and colleagues, including Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Kane, and more.
Location: Mayerson JCC, 8485 Ridge Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45236

February 19 – February 21, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: GIADO – Holocaust in the Desert
Virtual 48-hr Viewing Window Opens at 7pm ET on February 19
Viewing Region: Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida
2023, Documentary, 55 minutes, Hebrew, Italian, Sharon Ada Yaish, Golan Rise
For seven decades, Yosef Dadush concealed a private diary, securely locked away in a closet at his home. Now, this documentary grants us the precious opportunity to peer into the harrowing existence endured by the inmates of Giado – a concentration camp situated in the heart of the Libyan Desert.
Location: Virtual

February 22, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: Vishniac
2023, Documentary, 93 minutes, English, German, Laura Bialis
Executive Producers: Nancy Spielberg, Ori Eisen, Mirit Eisen, Taube Philanthropies, Maimonides Fund
He was difficult, flamboyant, and brilliant. Photographer and scientist Roman Vishniac captured
iconic images of Jewish life – from the cafes of pre-war Berlin to the shtetls of Eastern Europe
all before fleeing Nazi Germany to reinvent himself in America. Told through the eyes of his daughter Mara, this documentary reconstructs his dramatic life, complicated relationships, and breathtaking legacy.
Location: Cincinnati Skirball Museum, 3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220

February 25, 2024

3:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: Stay With Us
2022, Comedy, 93 minutes, French, Gad Elmaleh
After failing to hide his desire to convert to Catholicism, Gad’s family strives to convince him that he should not abandon Judaism. Inspired by the director’s own fraught relationship to the Jewish faith and starring Gad Elmaleh’s real-life family, this is a heart-warming and charming story about faith, family and acceptance.
Location: Mariemont Theatre, 6906 Wooster Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45227

February 27, 2024

7:00 p.m: Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: Less Than Kosher
2023, Musical Comedy, 65 minutes, English, Daniel AM Rosenberg
Winner, Audience Award, 2023 Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Toronto Jewish Film Festival
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 into a job as a Cantor at her family’s synagogue, she’s thrown into a wild ride of illicit affairs, tense family drama, and self discovery.
Location: Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220

February 29, 2024

7:00 p.m: Closing Night: The Story of Annette Zelman
2023, Drama, 93 minutes, French, Philippe Le Guay
Based on actual events, Annette Zelman, an art student living in Paris in the early 1940s, and her Catholic classmate, Jean, fall in love and dream of the life they could build together. What follows is a tale of love and resistance that plumbs the depths of human passion, prejudice, and betrayal.
Location: Union Terminal, Reakirt Auditorium, 1301 Western Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45203

Date: February 3 - 29, 2024

Location: Various Venues in Cincinnati, OH 45201

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