FILM INFO & TICKETS
Side Dishes – A Night of Free Shorts
Side Dishes – A Night of Free Shorts
No Reservations Required
2015 Main Series
Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
Date Passed
Terre Hamlisch, Marvin’s wife, is scheduled to appear.
Dessert Reception following film.
Composer, conductor, genius, mensch: Marvin Hamlisch earned four Grammys, four Emmys, three Oscars, three Golden Globes, a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize before his untimely death, making him one of only two PEGOT winners ever. Hit after hit — “The Way We Were,” “Nobody Does It Better” and scores for The Sting, Sophie’s Choice and the Broadway juggernaut A Chorus Line — made him the go-to composer and performer for film, Broadway shows, every U.S. President since Reagan and concert halls worldwide. With exclusive access to Hamlisch’s personal archives and complete cooperation from his family, this first film biography about Hamlisch presents a deeply personal, insider portrait of one of the greatest artists of our time. Candid new interviews with Hamlisch’s family and friends include wife Terre Blair Hamlisch, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Quincy Jones, Joe Torre, Woody Allen, John Lithgow, Ann-Margret, Carole Bayer Sager and many others.
A musical prodigy accepted to Juilliard at age six, Hamlisch defied expectations to create his own music, dedicating his talents to musical theatre and pop music composition. Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love reveals the events that led to his staggering success and an insider’s look into his creative process, struggles, inner turmoil and breakthroughs.
Director: Dori Berinstein
Languages: English
Run Time: 85 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2013
Press
“Marvin Hamlisch died more than a year ago, but he can still teach a fine master class.”
- New York Times
Above and Beyond
Date Passed
Producer Nancy Spielberg is scheduled to appear.
Dessert Reception to be sponsored by Patty, Bill, Stacey, Todd, Gabi, Rael & Marcelle Gorelick.
In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. They smuggled planes out of the U.S., trained behind the Iron Curtain and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. As members of Machal – “volunteers from abroad” – this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride.
Above and Beyond is their story.
The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the ’48 War, Above and Beyond brings together new interviews with the pilots and stunning aerial footage to present a fascinating, little-known tale filled with heart, heroism and high-flying chutzpah.
Director: Roberta Grossman
Languages: English
Run Time: 90 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Press
“…manages to offer the cloak-and-dagger elements of the weapons smuggling trade, the adventure of high-altitude combat and the machinations of international politics. Add to that mix a healthy dose of testosterone and schoolboy hijinks and you have a recipe for a Hollywood adventure film.” - The Jewish Week
Awards
Audience Award Winner, 2014 Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary, 2014 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary, 2014 Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema
Run Boy Run
Date Passed
A superb saga of courage and compassion, Run Boy Run tells the extraordinary true story of a Polish boy who seeks the kindness of others in his solitary struggle to outlast the Nazi occupation and keep alive his Jewish faith.
Escaping the Warsaw ghetto at the behest of his father, nine-year old Srulik (movingly portrayed by twin child actors Andrzej and Kamil Tkacz) flees to the woods. There, he learns to hide from SS patrols and scour for food, until loneliness and the harsh onset of winter drive him back to civilization. Taken in by a kindhearted farmer’s wife, he is given shelter and a new identity. Passing himself off as Jurek, a Christian war orphan, the intrepid boy traverses the countryside from village to village. Some will help him while others betray him.
An unforgettable cinematic experience featuring exceptional performances, arresting cinematography and transcendent musical score, Run Boy Run is directed by Oscar-winner Pepe Danquart and based on the bestselling Holocaust novel by Israeli author Uri Orlev.
Director: Pepe Danquart
Languages: Polish, Yiddish, German & Hebrew with English Subtitles
Run Time: 107 minutes
Drama
Germany & France • 2013
Awards
Audience Award winner at 2014 Jewish Film Festivals in Boston, Dallas and Los Angeles
Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front
Date Passed
Lieutenant Aviv Regev is scheduled to appear.
The tears, fears and cheers of the young defenders of the IDF.
Beneath The Helmet: From High School To The Home Front is a powerful coming of age story from the creators of the documentary film Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference. Beneath The Helmet follows five Israeli high school graduates, as they begin their army service. At the age of 18, away from their homes, families, and friends for the first time, these young people undergo a demanding eight month journey, revealing the core of who they are and who they have the potential to be. The filmmakers were granted unprecedented access to these young men and women, who are protecting not only their homes, but their shared values of peace, democracy and religious tolerance. The lessons they learn along the way can be adapted, understood and appreciated by everyone.
Director: Wayne Kopping
Languages: Hebrew and English with English subtitles
Run Time: 80 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Awards
“The soldiers … jump around to the tunes of Macklemore. They roughhouse. They miss their moms. They are startlingly, strikingly young. For those who live outside of Israel, it can be easy to forget that the arduous task of defending the country rests on the shoulders of teenagers.” - Tablet Magazine.
Belle & Sebastian
Date Passed
Based on the novel of the same name, Belle and Sebastian is a French war-time family film set among the sweeping Alps in a village on the French-Swiss border. Director Nicolas Vanier has a background in nature photography, giving us glimpses of breathtaking scenery as resistance workers smuggle Jewish refugees across the border to Switzerland. As the Nazis invade the village, everyone seems to have a secret and a courageous boy, Sebastian, and the beautiful mountain dog he befriends seem to be involved with them all.
This was France’s second highest grossing film last year.
Director: Nicolas Vanier
Languages: French & German with English Subtitles
Run Time: 104 minutes
Family Adventure
France • 2013
Press
“A well-crafted outdoor action-adventure in the old school Disney tradition” – The Hollywood Reporter
“You don’t really see many films like this anymore, there’s no whiz bangery it’s just a very simple story beautifully filmed.” – Judith Lucy, At the Movies (Australia)
Awards
Youth Jury Award winner, Films4Families
Deli Man
Date Passed
Deli tasting to follow the film.
You are what you eat! The history of American Jews mirrors that of the Jewish deli: immigration, migration, assimilation and ultimate survival. Third generation Deli Man Ziggy Gruber (a Yiddish-speaking French trained chef) is our charming guide to those long loved delicacies – pastrami, kreplach and of course, chicken soup! Deli Man is a freshly made documentary that’s sure to please! He currently operates one of the country’s top delis, Kenny and Ziggy’s in Houston, Texas.
Of course the story of deli isn’t Ziggy’s alone. It’s the history, anecdotes and humor that once made one’s local delicatessen the virtual epicenter not only of food, but of family, laughter and community. Deli Man visits meccas like the Carnegie Deli, Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, and Canter’s, as well as interviews some of the great connoisseurs of deli, including Jerry Stiller, Alan Dershowitz, Fyvush Finkel, and Larry King.
Director: Eric Greenberg Anjou
Languages: English
Run Time: 90 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Date Passed
An Israeli woman seeking to finalize a divorce (gett) from her estranged husband finds herself effectively put on trial by her country’s religious marriage laws, in this powerhouse courtroom drama. In Israel, there is neither civil marriage nor civil divorce; only Orthodox rabbis can legalize a union or its dissolution, which is only possible with the husband’s full consent. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Viviane Amsalem has been applying for a divorce for three years but her religiously devout husband Elisha, continually refuses. His cold demeanor, Viviane’s determination to fight for her freedom, and the ambiguous role of the rabbinical judges shape a procedure where tragedy vies with absurdity and everything is brought out into the open for judgment.
Director: Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz
Languages: Hebrew, French & Arabic with English Subtitles
Run Time: 115 minutes
Drama
Israel, France & Germany • 2014
Press
“….a beautifully shot, stunningly acted, artistic work.” - The Huffington Post
Awards
2015 Golden Globe Nomination, Best Foreign Language Film
Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2014 – Directors’ Fortnight Feature Competition
Winner! Israeli Film Academy Ophir Award – Best Picture
Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 – Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Film
Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 – Audience Favorite Award
Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 – Best Actor, Menashe Noy
Winner! Hamptons Inter’l Film Festival 2014 – Golden Starfish Award for Best Narrative Feature
Winner! Chicago Internat’l Film Festival 2014 – Silver Hugo for Best Screenplay
24 Days: The True Story of the Ilan Halimi Affair
Date Passed
Advisory: Depiction of kidnapping and torture may be too intense for some viewers.
A gut-wrenching, politically charged film that retells the 2006 kidnapping and torture of 24-year-old Ilan Halimi. Based on a book co-written by Ilan’s mother, 24 Days offers a searing insight into the harrowing experience of his family; the police team whose efforts are increasingly stymied; and the nearly 700 ransom calls that are the detectives’ only clue to the kidnappers’ psychology. One other clue that authorities are too slow, to recognize: The kidnappers targeted Ilan as a Jew, on the assumption that “Jews have money”.
According to Screen Daily, “It’s such an important story, with such unsettling implications, that the French Ministry of Education has decided to show 24 Days in schools.”
Director: Alexandre Arcady
Languages: French with English Subtitles
Run Time: 108 minutes
Thriller
France • 2014
Press
“24 Days can sometimes feel like a thrilling 2-hour episode of, well, 24, with twists and turns coming at you from every direction as the clock keeps ticking.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“What makes 24 Days especially powerful today is not so much its focus on the dangerous wave of anti-Semitism sweeping through a country that is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community. Rather, it is its ability to show how humans can descend into barbarity when driven by hate and prejudice.” – Haaretz
Awards
Lia Award Winner, 2014 Jerusalem Film Festival
Audience Award Winner, 2014 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival
God’s Slave
Date Passed
Motivated by personal tragedies, two obsessive characters on either side of the Arab-Israeli conflict are set on a collision course in God’s Slave, an adrenaline-rushing drama set against the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina.
Stationed in Caracas and operating undercover as a doctor and family man, Ahmed Al Hassama is a young Kuwaiti Muslim militant who is slated to execute a terrorist attack. Dispatched to Buenos Aires to diffuse the elusive but imminent threat, David Goldberg is a cold-blooded Israeli Mossad agent who will stop at nothing to terminate the terrorist sleeper cell. In the wake of the AMIA bombing that leaves scores dead, the race is on to prevent another attack in the name of radical Islam. Both men embark on parallel paths of martyrdom, blinded by hatred born of childhood trauma and prepared to sacrifice everything for their beliefs.
Walking a tightrope of sympathies, God’s Slave exposes the appalling cost of extremist acts carried out in the name of religious conviction.
Director: Joel Novoa
Languages: Spanish with English Subtitles
Run Time: 90 minutes
Thriller
Argentina • 2013
Press
“Riveting!” – Anath White, RogerEbert.com
Awards
Nueva Vision Award Winner, 2014 Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Special Jury Prize Winner, 2014 Palm Beach International Film Festival
The Art Dealer
Date Passed
There will be a talkback after the film.
Sometimes, family secrets are better left secret. A stylish Parisian mystery set in the murky world of Nazi-looted art. A young journalist, Esther Stegmann, finds herself caught up in a web of betrayal and complicity as she investigates stolen family paintings, and uncovers a story that has been carefully buried for decades by those closest to her. Renowned French director Francois Margolin (Flight of the Red Balloon) has crafted a terrific thriller.
Director: Francois Margolin
Languages: French with English Subtitles
Run Time: 95 minutes
Drama
France • 2014
Is That You?
Date Passed
Director Dani Menkin is scheduled to appear.
What would you do if you got a second chance at finding the love of your life? Ronnie, a 60 year old Israeli film projectionist, is fired from his job and decides to go to the US to search for Rachel, the love of his youth. A universal tale of looking for lost love is beautifully told in this new film from Israeli Academy award-winning director Dani Menkin (39 Pounds of Love, Dolphin Boy, Je T’aime: I Love You Terminal).
Director: Dani Menkin
Languages: English & Hebrew with English Subtitles
Run Time: 81 minutes
Romantic Comedy – Drama
Israel & USA • 2014
Quality Balls
Date Passed
There will be a Closing Night dessert reception to help celebrate the end of the CJFF’s amazing 11th season.
Americans have long depended on Canada for three things: oil, maple syrup and comedians. David Steinberg counts among Canada’s biggest comic exports. Born in Winnipeg, he attended Yeshiva in Chicago, abandoning his studies to join the legendary Second City. He never looked back. Quality Balls features priceless archival footage of his performances, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where he was second only to Bob Hope in the number of appearances and the standup shows that put him the ranks of George Carlin and Richard Pryor. His directing credits are no less outstanding, including Seinfeld, Mad About You, Golden Girls and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Steinberg’s incredible career has influenced a generation.
Director: Barry Avrich
Languages: English
Run Time: 75 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2013
Press
“Comedy Gold” - The National Post
“Reason to applaud” - Variety
The Last Mentsch
Date Passed
After surviving the atrocities of Auschwitz, Mena’hem Teitelbaum returned to Germany, changed his name to Marcus Schwarz, and forgot his Jewish identity. Faced with his own mortality, he decides he wants to be buried in a Jewish cemetery but has no proof of his Judaism other than his word, which is not sufficient for the rabbis. Marcus enlists the help of a young Turkish woman and together they set out on a road trip to prove his identity. Together, this unlikely pair find themselves on a poignant journey that will forever change them both.
Director: Pierre-Henri Salfati
Languages: German, Hungarian, English, Hebrew & Yiddish with English Subtitles
Run Time: 90 minutes
Drama
Germany • 2014
My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes
Date Passed
Narrated by Isabella Rossellini
Would you risk your life to save a stranger? And never talk about it? My Italian Secret tells the story of Italian sports idol Gino Bartali and other Italians who saved Jews and refugees fleeing the Nazis in WWII. Bartali, the Tour de France champion, risked his life hundreds of times, transporting documents for a secret underground organization. This is one of many stories of thousands of Italians who risked their lives to save others from capture and death. As an entire continent was engulfed in a genocide which took the lives of most Jews in Nazi occupied Europe (nearly 6 million people), more than 80 percent of Italy’s Jews survived.
Bartali, like most of the rescuers, never sought recognition or reward. Few of those he helped knew his name or what role he played in their rescue. Gino Bartali was honored this year by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, seventy years after his courageous activities and thirteen years after his death.
Director: Oren Jacoby
Languages: English
Run Time: 92 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Mondays at Lake Norman
Presented in collaboration with the Jewish Council of Lake Norman
Deli Man
Date Passed
You are what you eat! The history of American Jews mirrors that of the Jewish deli: immigration, migration, assimilation and ultimate survival. Third generation Deli Man Ziggy Gruber (a Yiddish-speaking French trained chef) is our charming guide to those long loved delicacies – pastrami, kreplach and of course, chicken soup! Deli Man is a freshly made documentary that’s sure to please! He currently operates one of the country’s top delis, Kenny and Ziggy’s in Houston, Texas.
Of course the story of deli isn’t Ziggy’s alone. It’s the history, anecdotes and humor that once made one’s local delicatessen the virtual epicenter not only of food, but of family, laughter and community. Deli Man visits meccas like the Carnegie Deli, Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, and Canter’s, as well as interviews some of the great connoisseurs of deli, including Jerry Stiller, Alan Dershowitz, Fyvush Finkel, and Larry King.
Director: Eric Greenberg Anjou
Languages: English
Run Time: 90 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Presented in collaboration with the Jewish Council of Lake Norman
Run Boy Run
Date Passed
A superb saga of courage and compassion, Run Boy Run tells the extraordinary true story of a Polish boy who seeks the kindness of others in his solitary struggle to outlast the Nazi occupation and keep alive his Jewish faith.
Escaping the Warsaw ghetto at the behest of his father, nine-year old Srulik (movingly portrayed by twin child actors Andrzej and Kamil Tkacz) flees to the woods. There, he learns to hide from SS patrols and scour for food, until loneliness and the harsh onset of winter drive him back to civilization. Taken in by a kindhearted farmer’s wife, he is given shelter and a new identity. Passing himself off as Jurek, a Christian war orphan, the intrepid boy traverses the countryside from village to village. Some will help him while others betray him.
An unforgettable cinematic experience featuring exceptional performances, arresting cinematography and transcendent musical score, Run Boy Run is directed by Oscar-winner Pepe Danquart and based on the bestselling Holocaust novel by Israeli author Uri Orlev.
Director: Pepe Danquart
Languages: Polish, Yiddish, German & Hebrew with English Subtitles
Run Time: 107 minutes
Drama
Germany & France • 2013
Awards
Audience Award winner at 2014 Jewish Film Festivals in Boston, Dallas and Los Angeles
Presented in collaboration with the Jewish Council of Lake Norman
Above and Beyond
Date Passed
Dessert Reception to be sponsored by Arlene and Milton Berkman
In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. They smuggled planes out of the U.S., trained behind the Iron Curtain and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. As members of Machal – “volunteers from abroad” – this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride.
Above and Beyond is their story.
The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the ’48 War, Above and Beyond brings together new interviews with the pilots and stunning aerial footage to present a fascinating, little-known tale filled with heart, heroism and high-flying chutzpah.
Director: Roberta Grossman
Languages: English
Run Time: 90 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Press
“…manages to offer the cloak-and-dagger elements of the weapons smuggling trade, the adventure of high-altitude combat and the machinations of international politics. Add to that mix a healthy dose of testosterone and schoolboy hijinks and you have a recipe for a Hollywood adventure film.” - The Jewish Week
Awards
Audience Award Winner, 2014 Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary, 2014 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary, 2014 Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema
CJFF Extras
Presented in collaboration with Charlotte Film Society
The Green Prince
Date Passed
THE GREEN PRINCE retraces the details of a highly unprecedented partnership that developed between sworn enemies. In the style of a tense psychological thriller, this extraordinary documentary recounts the true story of the son of a Hamas leader who emerged as one of Israel’s prized informants, and the Shin Bet agent who risked his career to protect him.
Director: Nadav Schirman
Languages: English
Run Time: 101 minutes
Documentary
Germany • 2014
Presented in collaboration with the UNC Charlotte’s International Film Series
Visit filmfest.uncc.edu for more info and parking details.
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
Date Passed
A message in a bottle leads to an engrossing e-mail exchange between a 17-year-old Israeli girl and a 20-year-old Palestinian boy. Eventually, they challenge each other’s views about life, war and relationships. Based on a popular novel of the same name, this thought-provoking and hopeful drama shows an age-old conflict in human terms.
Director: Thierry Binisti
Languages: Arabic, French and Hebrew with English Subtitles
Run Time: 99 minutes
Drama
Canada, France, Israel • 2011
Presented in collaboration with the CPCC’s Sensoria
Please visit sensoria.cpcc.edu for more details.
AKA Doc Pomus
Date Passed
Jerome Felder (a.k.a. Doc Pomus) was a self-described “fat Jewish boy with polio” who became one of the most prolific songwriters in history (Viva Las Vegas, Save the Last Dance For Me and This Magic Moment to name just a few). AKA DOC POMUS brings to life Doc’s romantic, heartbreaking, and extraordinarily eventful journey to rock legend.
Director: Peter Miller and Will Hechter
Languages: English
Run Time: 97 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2012
Fan Appreciation Day
Deli Man
Date Passed
The deli man himself, Ziggy Gruber (a Yiddish-speaking, French trained chef who operates one of the country’s top delis in Houston, Texas) and director Erik Greenberg Anjou are scheduled to appear and be our guides to those long loved delicacies – pastrami, kreplach and of course, chicken soup.
Deli Man shares the history, anecdotes and humor that once made one’s local delicatessen the virtual epicenter not only of food, but of family and community. Deli Man visits meccas like Carnegie Deli, Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, and Canter’s, as well as interviews some of the great connoisseurs of deli, including Jerry Stiller, Alan Dershowitz, Fyvush Finkel, and Larry King.
Ziggy & Erik will be featured in an audience Q&A and be judges in the Inaugural CJFF Chicken Soup Contest that will take place after the film. The contest is open to everyone – if you’d like to put your soup to the test, please scroll down and check out all the details.
Director: Eric Greenberg Anjou
Languages: English
Run Time: 90 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Date Passed
Put your chicken soup to the test…
Our judges will decide which one is best!
Include Matzo balls, noodles, kreplach, veggies or whatever you’d like … cook’s choice!
Prizes and/or Recognition to Everyone Who Participates
- Each entrant must bring at least 4 gallons of soup and serving utensils. 2 oz cups, spoons and napkins will be provided. We are expecting around 200+ guests.
- Each entrant must bring their own equipment to keep soup hot (non-electric heating or chafing dishes preferred).
- Set-Up starts promptly at 11:30 AM – contest will take place in the upstairs reception area of Regal Ballantyne Village Stadium Theaters
- Entrants must remain with their soup during the event to pass out samples and answer questions (recommend that you have 2 people available to serve)
- SPACE IS LIMITED – Please return entry form by Wednesday, July 1
- Questions? Please email contact@charlottejewishfilm.com
Above and Beyond
Date Passed
Co-winner of the 2015 CJFF Audience Award
In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. They smuggled planes out of the U.S., trained behind the Iron Curtain and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. As members of Machal – “volunteers from abroad” – this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride.
Above and Beyond is their story.
The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the ’48 War, Above and Beyond brings together new interviews with the pilots and stunning aerial footage to present a fascinating, little-known tale filled with heart, heroism and high-flying chutzpah.
The film was produced by Nancy Spielberg and has received additional Audience Awards from festival goers in Atlanta, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and Miami.
Director: Roberta Grossman
Languages: English
Run Time: 90 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Touchdown Israel
Date Passed
Before the film, the CJFF will hold a special Tailgating Party (food and beverages provided). Touchdown Israel’s director Paul Hirschberger is scheduled to appear and talk with the audience after the film.
Packed with gridiron action and irreverent humor, Touchdown Israel goes inside the improbable rise of the pigskin sport in the Holy Land.
American-style, full-contact tackle football was first imported in the late 1980s by foreign-born Israelis who missed the scrimmages of their youth. Hampered by woefully inadequate playing fields and an indifferent public, the Israeli Football League received a boost from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who funded a stadium.
Today, the Israeli Football League is thriving, with 10 teams and nearly 500 players from a cross-section of Israeli society, including Arabs, Christians, secular and Orthodox Jews. In a country where off-the-field rivalries run deep, Touchdown Israel celebrates the unifying power of sports amidst the broad religious and cultural diversity of Israel.
Director: Paul Hirschberger
Languages: English
Run Time: 85 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
FallFlicks
FallFlicks Series Pass
No Longer Available
Don’t miss out on your chance for a great deal – 3 films for $25.00 ($30.00 value).
The Outrageous Sophie Tucker
Date Passed
Producers Susan and Lloyd Ecker are scheduled to appear for a Q&A with the audience after the film.
The Outrageous Sophie Tucker is the rags to riches story of an iconic superstar who ruled the worlds of vaudeville, Broadway, radio, television, and Hollywood throughout the 20th century. From 1906 until her death in 1966, Sophie Tucker and her bawdy, brash, and risqué songs paved the way for performers such as Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Midler, Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé.
Director: William Gazecki
Languages: English
Run Time: 96 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2014
Press
“A must see for anybody looking for the secret to getting ahead in life. The music is outstanding, but it’s the way that Sophie Tucker lived her life that is the most fascinating aspect. A shrewd business person, a caring individual, and a talent that continues to inspire.” – Toronto Film Scene
“Hugely enjoyable. Will prompt an outburst of Sophiemania.” – The Toronto Star
The Farewell Party
Date Passed
The Farewell Party is a unique, compassionate and unlikely funny story of a group of friends at a Jerusalem retirement home who decide to help their terminally ill friend. When rumors of their assistance begin to spread, more and more people ask for their help, and the friends are faced with a life and death dilemma.
Director: Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon
Languages: Hebrew
Run Time: 95 minutes
Drama/Comedy
Israel, Germany • 2015
Press
“Boasting a dream cast of septuagenarian talent, a finely honed visual sense and superbly ironic comic timing and dialogue, the pic pits the ethics of assisted suicide against the right to die.”- Variety
“The Farewell Party steers a careful course between humor and pathos while playing down overtly political and religious arguments for and against assisted suicide.” – NY Times
Awards
Winner of 4 Ophirs (Israeli Academy Awards)
Winner of the Venice Days’ People’s Choice Award
LOOK AT US NOW, MOTHER!
Date Passed
Mildred and Gayle Kirschenbaum are scheduled to appear and talk about their relationship following the film.
LOOK AT US NOW, MOTHER! is an unflinching look at the complex bond between Mildred Kirschenbaum and her daughter, Gayle. Told through biting humor and raw honesty, this is an intimate story about family dysfunctions and forgiveness. It reveals insights into family behaviors/patterns and generational, societal, cultural and individual histories. The film takes the audience on a journey spanning decades and continents, filled with conflict and emotional land mines.
Director: Gayle Kirschenbaum
Languages: English
Run Time: 86 minutes
Documentary
USA • 2015
Press
“Delightful. Heartbreaking and real.” – AP News
“An earthy, intense, tangy look at one mother-daughter relationship. Kind of like a Jewish-American Joy-luck Club. It’s even got Mah Johng. Only with matzoh balls instead of wontons.” – C.R. Zwolinski
