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!

Film Schedule:

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

7pm: Remembering Gene Wilder

Few comedic actors have left a more indelible mark on our culture than Gene Wilder (1933 – 2016), whose performances in such classics as The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and Silver Streak made him one of the most beloved stars of his era. This enrapturing and heartfelt documentary takes a close look at the life and career of this American original, 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 and beyond. Using a variety of touching and hilarious clips and outtakes; never-before-seen home movies; narration from Wilder’s audiobook memoir; and interviews from a roster of brilliant collaborators including Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Kane, Harry Connick Jr., Rain Pryor, Karen Wilder (Gene’s wife), and Peter Ostrum, who portrayed Charlie in one of Gene’s most memorable roles, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Ron Frank’s film shines a light on an essential performer, writer, director, and all-around mensch.

Running Time 90 minutes
Genre Documentary
Country USA
Language English
Year 2023

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Sunday, February 4, 2024

4pm: Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life

For three years, Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life follows survivors, families of the victims, diverse community members, students and civic leaders as they examine their vulnerabilities and the impact of rising antisemitism, racism, hate speech, and gun violence. Against the backdrop of a tumultuous period in the country, a local community that has faced violence and trauma works to heal and grapple with what it means to be stronger than hate.

Running Time 80 minutes
Genre Documentary
Country USA
Language English
Year 2022

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Tuesday, February 6, 2024

7pm: March ‘68

Warsaw, 1968. University students Janek and Hania are deeply in love and preparing for the future together. They spend joyful days and nights naively unaware of the precipice on which Poland is situated. When the Communist regime suppresses the work of a renowned playwright, theater student Hania is emboldened to take to the streets in protest with Janek by her side, despite his status as the son of a colonel in the Interior Ministry. . Hania’s father, an excellent doctor, and her mother lose their jobs and are among those affected by the anti-Semitic purge. With no money and no prospects for the future, Hania’s family decides to emigrate. Now Hania and Janek must choose between love, family and freedom. Based on the seldom told story of Poland’s exodus of nearly 15,000 Jews due to a hostile anti-Semitic campaign, writer/director Krzysztof Lang intersperses archival news and on-the-street footage with the fictional story, mining his personal experience of loss to dedicate this film to his old friends who were unjustly persecuted.

Running Time 117 minutes
Genre Romance/Drama
Country Poland
Language Polish w/ English Subtitles
Year 2022

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Sunday, February 11, 2024

4pm: The Narrow Bridge

The Narrow Bridge is an eye-opening work of nonfiction about trauma and healing that follows four individuals, Palestinian and Israeli, who have each suffered unimaginable grief—the loss of a loved one to violence—but who manage to use their misfortunes to find a way to healing and reconciliation. The film’s four main subjects, Bushra, Rami, Meytal, and Bassam, are part of an organization called Israeli Palestinian Bereaved Families, a union of people who aim to turn their personal devastation into social change through workshops, talks, and public memorials. As Australian filmmaker and trauma psychologist Esther Takac’s sensitively drawn documentary shows, their objectives are met with strong opposition, yet they are driven along their brave path toward some form of peace that exists beyond politics.

Running Time 79 minutes
Genre Documentary
Country Australia
Language Arabic, Hebrew, & English w/ English subtitles
Year 2021

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Sunday, February 18, 2024

4pm: My Father’s Secrets

In 1960s Belgium, Michel and his brother Charly live a happy childhood in their Jewish family. Their father, silent and discreet, reveals nothing of his past. The two brothers imagine him as a great adventurer or treasure hunter… but what is he hiding?

Based on the graphic novel by renowned Israeli author and cartoonist Michel Kichka, My Father’s Secrets is a visually-stunning and poignant story of a family living in the shadow of the Holocaust. Growing up in 1960s Belgium, Michel and his younger brother Charly know that their father is hiding a secret but his refusal to speak about his past casts a pall on their otherwise happy childhood. Similar to Maus, the choice to render the story through animation allows the viewer to process a tale of generational trauma at a distance while underscoring the transformative power that art played in Michel’s relationship with his father.

Running Time 74 minutes
Genre Animation
Country France, Belgium
Language English
Year 2022

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Tuesday, February 20, 2024

7pm: Queen of the Deuce

From the late ’60s to the mid ’80s, in the notorious Times Square area known as the Deuce, the eccentric, Greek-born Chelly Wilson built a **** cinema empire and a reputation as one of the most savvy and charismatic figures on the scene. With a cigarette in hand and bags of money stashed in the corner, Chelly regularly held court in her bunkerlike apartment above the legendary 8th Avenue all-male Adonis Theatre, summoning a lively cabal of associates and grandchildren often underfoot. Yet few in her circle knew of the risks she took to get there.

Queen of the Deuce reveals Chelly’s origins as a taboo-breaking entrepreneur and traces the fraught events that lead to her departure from Europe on the eve of war, and the unconventional trajectories of her American business ventures and personal life. With the rise of feminism, the sexual revolution and gay pride in frame, Queen of the Deuce is an alternate take on cultural history as seen through Chelly Wilson’s empowering story of survival.

Running Time 90 minutes
Genre Documentary
Country Canada, Greece
Language English, Greek
Year 2022

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Thursday, February 22, 2024

7pm: Simone: Woman of the Century

Simone Veil’s life story through the pivotal events of Twentieth Century. An intimate and epic portrait of an extraordinary woman who eminently challenged and transformed her era defending a humanist message still keenly relevant today.

Running Time 139 minutes
Genre Drama, Historical, Biography
Country Canada, Greece
Language French
Year 2023

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Sunday, February 25, 2024

4pm: Hope Without Boundaries

In the midst of a war in Ukraine, an Israeli field hospital is established to provide medical care to those affected by the conflict. The film follows the challenges faced by the medical teams, many of whom are descendants of Holocaust survivors, as they treat Ukrainian patients who have lost everything. Amidst the chaos and destruction, the film highlights the humanity and compassion of those providing care, showcasing the power of small acts of kindness to bring people together. The film also explores the intersection of history and culture, as the Israeli teams offer help and hope to those in need, while navigating their own emotional struggles. A touching portrayal of humanity and the impact that small acts of kindness can have in the face of adversity.

Running Time 65 minutes
Genre Documentary
Country Israel
Language Hebrew, Ukrainian, English w/ subtitles
Year 2023

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Tuesday, February 27, 2024

7pm: Vishniac

From the cosmopolitan streets of pre-war Berlin to the shtetls in Poland and Lithuania to the Princeton offices of Albert Einstein, Vishniac takes viewers on a journey, through the lens of one of the foremost photographers of the 20th century. Roman Vishniac is best known for having traversed Eastern Europe from 1935 through 1938, on assignment for the American Joint Distribution Committee, to photograph Jewish life in Eastern Europe. The purpose of the photographs was to raise funds for impoverished Jewish communities. Few predicted that less than a decade later, these communities would be wiped out, and that Vishniac’s photographs would provide the last visual records of an entire world.

The film frames Vishniac’s legacy as a key modernist photographer and preserver of memory. Vishniac’s collection, including over 10,000 images, is vast, mysterious, and causes us to step back in time. Through his stunning images, the film exposes new audiences to a lost world that is quickly fading from our grasp.

Running Time 90 minutes
Genre Documentary
Country USA
Language English
Year 2023

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Thursday, February 29, 2024

7pm: Our Story

Lee Biran and Eliana Tidhar make the perfect duo in this charming musical rom-com. Tal (Biran) is an ambitious music agent working at his mother’s agency. On a visit to a school in the south of Israel, he meets an introverted music teacher (Tidhar). Their encounter could prove to be the perfect chance to launch her career, but they must first overcome their differences and let their love of music do the rest. Married in real life, Biran and Tidhar are utterly convincing as Tal and Ori, two characters who discover the courage to defy other peoples’ expectations of who they should be and to follow their own dreams.

Running Time 103 minutes
Genre RomCom, Musical
Country Israel
Language Hebrew, English subtitles
Year 2022

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Fest Date: January 30 - February 29, 2024

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

Ticket: $7 Community / $5 Member

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