SPECIAL EVENTS

Welcome to the 6th Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival.  March 9 - 21, 2010. Funded in part by the JCC Patrons of the Arts.

The Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival is intended to expose the Houston community to current documentary, feature and short movies with meaningful Jewish or Israeli content as well as Israeli-made movies with contemporary themes. Films will cover a diverse range of cultural, religious or historical topics of Jewish relevance and are expected to educate, inform and entertain a wide general audience.

This is a collaborative venture with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and new this year the Holocaust Museum Houston.

Schedule of Screenings and Events:

Opening Night
THE FIRST BASKET
Tuesday, March 9 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Director: David Vyorst
USA, 86 minutes, English
Documentary
This jaunty documentary about Hebrew hoopsters is a valuable reminder that before LeBron and Kobe, there was Inky, Hank and Ossie! For nearly three decades, basketball was dominated by Jewish players - and coaches who found the sport an ideal vehicle for assimilation in the United States. The First Basket rounds up many Jewish veterans, some now deceased, to tell stories of a sporting tradition that continues in Israel today. Full of vivid anecdotes and distinctive characters, this film is slam dunk March madness entertainment for the whole family.

Reception prior to the film

SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN
Wednesday, March 10 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Friday, March 19 • 1:00 PM • JCC
Director: Omri Givon
Israel, 2008, 94 minutes, Hebrew with subtitles
Thriller
In this powerful mystery thriller, a young Israeli woman (Reymond Amsalem, Three Mothers) struggles to reclaim her memory after a terrorist bomb that claims her boyfriend’s life leaves her body – and her psyche – severely scarred. A year after the attack, an unfamiliar necklace, a handsome stranger and the newfound knowledge that she was clinically dead for seven minutes may help her unlock the key to her past. A haunting profile about terrorist trauma, Seven Minutes in Heaven stays with you long after the film’s startling conclusion.

PIZZA IN AUSCHWITZ
Thursday, March 11 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Director: Moshe Zimmerman
Israel, 2008, 62 minutes, Hebrew with subtitles
Documentary
Full of chutzpah and grit from its title to its theme, Pizza in Auschwitz is a Holocaust survivor’s road trip like no other. Israeli Danny Chanoch persuades his grown-up children, Miri and Sagi, to retrace his unthinkable journey from farm to shtetl to concentration camp. Tensions build when Danny divulges his ultimate goal: to spend a night in his old barracks in Auschwitz. A roller coaster of irreverent black humor and joie de vivre, this intimate, defiant documentary uncovers a family coping with the demons and shadows that haunt their lives.

FRANKIE MANNING: NEVER STOP SWINGING
Friday, March 12 • 1:00 PM • JCC
Director: Julie Cohen
USA, 2009, 30 min, English
Documentary
“Frankie Manning was a man who truly LIVED every moment of his life,” said Julie Cohen director this documentary. Frankie made his mark at the legendary Savoy Ballroom, one of the first racially integrated public places in the country. The Savoy, located in Harlem, was the vision of Moe Gale, a Jewish man and Charles Buchanan, a black man and billed as the “world’s finest ballroom”. Frankie became a member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, the energetic, immensely talented group that made the Lindy Hop a national phenomenon. His dance sequence in “Hellzapoppin” is still considered the greatest swing dance number of all time. The dance clip has over 1000 hits on You Tube. The film features footage of his dancing from the 1930’s to 2009, as well as, his last major interview before his death in 2009. Also featured is Ruthie Rheingold, a 92 year old Jewish woman, who along with her partner Harry Rosenberg, made up the only white couple to dance in Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, The film includes a reunion between Frankie and Ruthie.

Director Julie Cohen in attendance.

Flame and Citron (Flammen & Citronen)
Saturday, March 13 •6:00 PM •MFAH
Sunday, March 21 •3:00 PM •MFAH
Director: Ole Christian Madsen
Denmark, 2008, 130 min, Danish and German
Drama
“Based on a true story, this is a companion piece of sorts to Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Danish Nazi hunters Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and Citron (Mads Mikkelsen) relentlessly go after anyone who has ever pledged allegiance to Das Führer. When it seems they might be assassinating innocent people, they strike out on their own and put together a renegade team of hit men. Adding to the drama is the fact that Flame has trouble separating himself from his girlfriend Ketty (Stine Stengade), whom he suspects could be a sympathizer. Featuring a veteran group of Danish actors and actresses, director Ole Christian Madsen’s film is one of the highest grossing Danish movies of all time.” – Cleveland Scene

Ajami
Saturday, March 13 •8:45 PM •MFAH
Sunday, March 14 •PM •MFAH
Directors: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Israel, 120 min, Hebrew and Arabic
Drama
Ajami is a brave, apolitical look at Jews, Christians and Muslims living in Jaffa’s multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood. The film is a searing debut by Israeli and Palestinian co-directors, whose balanced perspective and use of non-professional local actors portray an authenticity to a complex, cross-cultural drama: 13-year-old Nasri and his older brother live in fear after their uncle wounds a prominent clan member; a young Palestinian refugee Malek works illegally in Israel to pay for the surgery that will save his mother; Binj, a wealthy Palestinian, dreams of a bright future with his Jewish girlfriend; and Jewish policeman Dando seeks revenge when his brother is found murdered in the West Bank. As their stories intersect and the film’s narrative shifts back and forth in time, we witness a dramatic collision of different worlds and the tragic consequences of enemies living as neighbors.

THE JEWS OF NEW YORK
Sunday, March 14 • 10:30 AM • JCC
Wednesday, March 17 • 1:00 PM • JCC
Director: Julie Cohen
USA, 2008, 80 min, English
Documentary
What one people did for a city and what a city did for them is nostalgically portrayed in The Jews of New York. From the earliest immigrants through current day, narrator Tovah Feldshuh weaves a tapestry of the Jewish community and the impact it has had on the secular face of New York – from medicine to politics, from finance to Broadway and from real estate to retail. The film includes interviews with “Hizzoner” Ed Koch, Joe Stein and Sheldon Harnick (the playwright and lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof); David and Drew Schiff (the great grandson and great great grandson of Jacob Schiff); Dr. Arthur Aufses of Mount Sinai Medical Center; Hasidic Rabbi Haskel Besser, and three generations of the Russ and Daughters Delicatessen – representing the quintessential ‘flavor’ of New York.  

Director Julie Cohen in attendance.

HEY HEY IT’S ESTHER BLUEBURGER
Sunday, March 14 • 1:00 PM • MFAH
Director: Cathy Randall
Australia, 2008, 103 min, English
Comedy
Written and directed by Cathy Randall, Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger is a charming, original, coming of age comedy that explores what it’s really like to be and outsider in your own world. Thirteen-year-old Esther is not like other girls. She befriends a duck, talks to God through the toilet and break-dances at her Bat Mitzvah. Life changes when Esther meets Sunni (Keisha Castle Hughes, Whale Rider) and she learns that it’s ok to be different, and that being true to yourself is more important than fitting in. Also stars Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine, 2010 Golden Globe winner for The United States of Tara).

FOUR SEASONS LODGE
Sunday, March 14 • 6:00 PM • HMH *HMH Logo*
Sunday, March 21 • 1:00 PM • MFAH
Director: Andrew Jacobs
USA, 2008, 101 min, English
Documentary
You will laugh and you may shed a tear, at this touching documentary that demonstrates “life is stronger than death” . . .Every summer since 1979, a group of Holocaust survivors gather at The Four Seasons Lodge to celebrate their lives – they’re Holocaust Survivors with a captivating joie de vivre and a bracing sense of humor. Located in the lush Catskill Mountains of New York this documentary recalls these survivors’ collective memories, close friendships and rich traditions at a time when their favorite retreat is about to close. Beautifully photographed by Albert Maysles (Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens) and Justin Schein (No Impact Man), this counterintuitive film takes on sobering topics like aging and the legacy of the Holocaust in a uniquely life-affirming way, capturing the Lodgers’ intoxicating passion for life. The documentary examines tightly bonded friendships and the quest for peace in spite of haunting memories “This is our revenge on Hitler,” exclaims camper Fran Lask, 82, a survivor of Bergen-Belsen. “To live this long, this well, is a victory.” Winner, 2009 Miami Jewish Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Documentary. Official Selection, 2008 Hamptons Film Festival. Official Selection, 2008 Silverdocs Film Festival. Official Selection, 2009 Provincetown Film Festival

THE CASE FOR ISRAEL
Sunday, March 14 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Director: Michael Yohay
USA, Israel, 2008, 77 min, English
Documentary
Presenting a vigorous case for Israel — for its basic right to exist, to protect its citizens from terrorism, and to defend its borders from hostile enemies, Alan Dershowitz engages leaders from Israel and North America in discourse on critical challenges facing Israel and the West. Utilizing archival footage and compelling interviews with top experts, the film presents a stirring rebuttal to growing criticism from the media, academic and international communities. In particular, Dershowitz challenges former President Jimmy Carter and his provocative book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, which was criticized for characterizing Israeli policy in the territories as apartheid.

WAVES OF FREEDOM
Monday, March 15 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Director: Alan Rosenthal
Israel, 2008, 52 min, English
Documentary
In one of the least known, but most dramatic stories of American heroism and support of Israel, 27 returning U.S. veterans, just home from WWII are asked to again put their lives on the line. They are secretly recruited by the Aliyah Bet (Haganah underground) to purchase and man a fleet of barely seaworthy ships, load them to the brim with displaced Jewish persons, break the British naval blockade and smuggle them into the port of Haifa, Palestine. Undaunted by warnings that they could be hanged if caught by the British Navy, they set sail a “rust-bucket” ship across the Atlantic to pick up their precious human cargo. Along route they barely escape British destroyers, at one point the crew ending up in a Cyprus Internment Camp. . . just the beginning of their story. Through poignant, insightful and sometimes humorous firsthand recollections, interspersed with archival footage, director Alan Rosenthal brings to life the journeys and battles of the small ship that sailed across the “waves of freedom” and played a significant role in the saga that led to the modern State of Israel. “The Tradewinds” (renamed “Hatikva,” meaning hope, en route) gut its interior to house over 1,500 refugees. In the end, these courageous men returned to the US not as heroes, but as subjects of an FBI investigation.

Preceded by:
LEAVING THE FOLD
Director: Eric Scott
USA, 2007, 52 min; English, French, Hebrew with subtitles
Documentary
For the five Jews featured in Leaving the Fold, a beautifully shot and seamlessly woven documentary by director Eric R. Scott, the need to flee from their particular Ultra-Orthodox Jewish enclaves in Montreal, New York and Jerusalem - and thus sever ties with their families and communities - is their spiritual destiny, and on so many practical levels, their lives' greatest dilemma. Also poignant is how a father, long grey beard and wisdom intact, works hard to come to terms with the fact that two of his eight children have fallen out of line with a faith he holds so dear.

ELI & BEN
Tuesday, March 16 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Director: Ori Ravid
Israel, 2009, 89 minutes, Hebrew with subtitles
Drama
A 12-year-old boy is challenged by real life ethical dilemmas and his love for his father in Eli & Ben, a coming-of-age drama that wins the hearts of teens and adults alike. Eli has his sheltered world turned upside down after his beloved father, Ben, (Lior Ashkenazi, Walk on Water) the city architect, is arrested for accepting bribes. Forced to question everything he believes in, Eli sets out to restore his father’s reputation while navigating questions of love, friendship and the ultimate truth.

THE DEBT
Wednesday, March 17 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Director: Amram Jacoby
Israel, 2007, 93 min, Hebrew, German with subtitles
Thriller
Nominated for 4 Israeli Academy Awards, The Debt is an enthralling cat and mouse espionage thriller, which takes place in Israel in the mid-1990’s. In 1964, Rachel Brenner (Neta Garty, Turn Left at the End of the World) is one of three Mossad agents whose mission is to capture the “Surgeon of Birkenau”, a monstrous Nazi war criminal. Once captured, the three agents wait their return to Israel in order to deliver” the surgeon” for public trial. The surgeon manages to exploit their weaknesses and escapes under Rachel’s watch. Unable to face their failure the three decide to lie and return to Israel as heroes. Thirty years later, a frail man in a nursing home in the Ukraine claims to be the monstrous surgeon. Now, the three ex Mossad agents need to protect their lie. When Rachel takes on the private mission she gets the chance to redeem the Debt against which she built her life. Also stars Gila Almagor (Munich, Dangerous Acts, Summer of Aviya).

ARAB LABOR
Thursday, March 18 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Director: Roni Ninio
Israel, 2007, 4x24 min, Hebrew, Arabic with subtitles
TV sitcom
A controversial hit Israeli comedy series at its best. . . created by Sayed Kashua, a 32-year-old Israeli-born Palestinian journalist, Arab Labor (translated from the Hebrew “Avoda Aravit” which colloquially implies “shoddy or second-rate work”) takes a look into the life of Amjad, a Palestinian journalist and Israeli citizen in search of his identity as he attempts to gain status in the society into which he was born. Arab Labor, the first show to present Palestinian characters speaking Arabic on primetime Israeli TV, has generated controversy between Arab and Israeli media. It offers a fresh perspective on Israeli-Palestinian cultural friction while presenting an wonderfully entertaining show that has made an international splash. Episodes 1, 4, 5 and 10 will be shown.

WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE
Saturday, March 20 • 7:00 PM • MFAH
Directors: Emily Kunstler & Sarah Kunstler
USA, 2009, 90 min, English
Documentary
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe is a look into the life and legacy of William Kunstler one of the most famous and infamous lawyers of the twentieth century. He fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr., defended the Chicago Seven, and the Central Park Jogger. Emily and Sarah Kunstler share a provocative and deeply personal journey as they paint a complex portrait of a man, their father, whose life mirrors the battles that forever define our history. 

Director Emily Kunstler in attendance

Emily Kunstler graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Film and Video and has worked as a video producer for Democracy Now! She cofounded Off Center Media with her sister Sarah. Emily’s credits include 2003’s award-winning Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War which was instrumental in exonerating thirty-five wrongfully convicted people, and 2004’s Getting Through to the President, airing on the Sundance Channel, Current TV, and Channel Thirteen/WNET.

A reception in the museum galleries follows the screening

A MATTER OF SIZE
Sunday, March 21 • 7:30 PM • JCC
Directors: Sharon Maymon, Erez Tadmor
Israel, France, Germany, 2009 90 minutes, Hebrew, Japanese with subtitles
Comedy
Nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture, A Matter of Size follows four overweight, working-class friends who prove life can be lived to the fullest when you accept yourself and follow your dreams. Fed up with a diet-obsessed world and weight-loss failure, Herzl and his pals discover the one place where they can be true to themselves: sumo wrestling. Their comic, relatable tale traces a path from body shame to celebration, and from loneliness to love. A feel-good movie with a plus-size heart.

Preceded by
GEFILTE FISH
Director: Shelly Kling
Israel, 2008, 10 min, Hebrew with subtitles
Comedy
Shelly Kling-Yosef's Gefilte Fish tells the story of a young woman torn between her pre-nuptial family tradition to kill and prepare gefilte fish versus her sympathy for the live carp swimming in her bathtub. Although a uniquely Jewish story, the film's characters, comedy and poignancy transcend the boundaries of language and culture. From Tribeca to Hong Kong this short film has humored and endeared its audiences. 

Closing night dessert reception following both films.