| Key | Imgs | Short Description |
|---|
 2019_MD_Forgotten_190512 | 99 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "Forgotten Soldier" (w/Lucile Smith and Lady Irene Hatter)
FORGOTTEN SOLDIER (2018)
Screenings followed by a conversation with filmmaker Lucile Smith and film subject Lady Irene Hatter, moderated by JxJ Council member Dina Gold.
When Lady Irene Hatter was a little girl, she remembers strangers running up to her father, Sally Noach, to thank him effusively for... |
| 2019_MD_Geniza_190512 | 56 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "From Cairo To The Cloud: The World Of The Cairo Geniza" (w/Michelle Paymar, in conversation with Franz Afraim Katzir)
FROM CAIRO TO THE CLOUD: THE WORLD OF THE CAIRO GENIZA
Q&A with filmmaker Michelle Paymar
In 1896, Solomon Schechter entered the sacred storeroom of an ancient synagogue in Cairo and discovered a vast treasure trove of manuscripts that revolutionized our understanding of Jewish history and illuminated... |
| 2019_DC_King_Bibi_190513 | 71 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "King Bibi" (w/Dan Shadur, in conversation with Jason Dick)
Spotlight
KING BIBI
Q&A with filmmaker Dan Shadur
Twenty years before the spectacle of Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu already understood the political benefits of fomenting an adversarial relationship with the media and taking his message directly to the public. KING BIBI explores Netanyahu's rise... |
| 2019_MD_Leona_190515 | 72 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "Leona" (w/Isaac Cherem, in conversation with Marion L. Usher)
LEONA (2018)
Q&A with filmmaker Isaac Cherem
A young Jewish woman from Mexico City finds herself torn between her conservative family and forbidden love with a non-Jewish man. He helps her discover the world outside her tight-knit community, but the transition is as fraught as it is exciting. Textured... |
| 2019_MD_Redemption_190508 | 139 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "Redemption" opening night (including performance by Jewlia Eisenberg and Jeremiah Lockwood)
Opening Night
REDEMPTION (2018) [GEULA]
One of the leading lights of contemporary Israeli cinema, Joseph Madmony (RESTORATION), returns for this spiritually rousing, emotionally intelligent story of despair, exhilaration and faith. Menachem is a middle-aged single father struggling to finance his... |
| 2019_MD_Sustainable_190522 | 80 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "Sustainable Nation" (w/Micah Smith)
SUSTAINABLE NATION
Q&A with filmmaker Micah Smith
SUSTAINABLE NATION follows three extraordinary individuals doing their part to bring sustainable water access to an increasingly thirsty planet. Using solutions developed in water-poor Israel, they are working to change the status quo of a world where... |
| 2019_MD_Accountant_190526 | 106 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "The Accountant Of Auschwitz" (w/Ric Esther Bienstock)
The Accountant Of Auschwitz
Q&A with producer Ric Esther Bienstock
In 2015, 94-year-old Oskar Gröning, known as the Accountant of Auschwitz, was finally prosecuted for the murder of 300,000 Jews. As survivors traveled to Germany to testify, the heinous acts of the Holocaust remained vivid and... |
| 2019_MD_Ancient_Law_190521 | 86 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "The Ancient Law" (w/Donald Sosin and Alicia Svigals)
THE ANCIENT LAW [DAS ALTE GESETZ]
Silent with live musical accompaniment by pianist Donald Sosin and violinist Alicia Svigals (founding member, The Klezmatics)
Directed by Ewald André Dupont (PICCADILLY, VARIETE), this 1923 film is a landmark representation of German-Jewish history. Set in the 1860s,... |
| 2019_MD_Mamboniks_190522 | 72 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "The Mamboniks" (w/Alexis Gillespie, in conversation with Bill Newcott)
THE MAMBONIKS
Q&A with filmmaker Alexis Gillespie
During the 1950s, free-spirited, mostly Jewish dancers from New York City fell head over heels for the mambo, a hot dance from Havana, Cuba. Their love for Latin rhythms earned them a nickname: the Mamboniks. DC-based filmmaker Alexis Gillespie tracks... |
| 2019_MD_Moe_Berg_190511 | 97 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "The Spy Behind Home Plate" (w/Aviva Kempner, in conversation with Franklin Foer)
Spotlight
THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE
Q&A with filmmaker Aviva Kempner and Franklin Foer, national correspondent for The Atlantic
Moe Berg led two lives: one was of public accomplishment, easy grace and dazzling intellect. Hidden from view was his career as an OSS operative, whose daring deeds helped... |
| 2019_MD_Tobacconist_190526 | 95 | JxJ (2019) @ AFI/Silver -- "The Tobacconist" and Closing Reception (plus Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird)
Closing Night
The Tobacconist [Der Trafikant]
Starring the recently passed Bruno Ganz (DOWNFALL, WINGS OF DESIRE) as Sigmund Freud and based on the international bestseller by Robert Seethaler, THE TOBACCONIST is a tender, heartbreaking story about one young man and his friendship with Sigmund Freud... |
| 2009_MD_Marcel_091209 | 81 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2009) @ AFI -- "Marcel Reich-Ranicki -- Author of Himself" (w/Dror Zahavi and Katharina Trebitsch)
Speakers in sequence:
-- Susan Barocas (Director of WJFF),
-- Klaus Scharioth (German ambassador to the United States)
-- Marc Pachter interviewing Dror Zahavi and Katharina Trebitsch
North American Premiere! MARCEL REICH-RANICKI--AUTHOR OF HIMSELF [Marcel Reich-Ranicki - Mein Leben]
In... |
| 2009_MD_MandM_091207 | 15 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2009) @ AFI -- "Mary and Max"
Speakers in sequence:
-- Brandon Wall (Australian Embassy)
-- Josh Gardner (AFI)
DC Premiere! MARY AND MAX
Crystal Bear, Berlin International Film Festival 2009
Meet Mary Daisy Dinkle and Max Horowitz, two lonely souls reaching out for a friend in this quirky claymation tale. One day, Mary,a... |
| 2009_MD_Eisner_091206 | 34 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2009) @ AFI -- "Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artrist" (w/Andrew D. Cooke)
Speakers is sequence:
-- Josh Gardner (Washington Jewish Film Festival)
-- Andrew Cooke
DC Premiere! WILL EISNER: PORTRAIT OF A SEQUENTIAL ARTIST: In person: Director Andrew D. Cooke
Will Eisner began drawing comics in the 1930s, just as the art form was exploding in popularity and cultural... |
| 2014_MD_Turturro_140308 | 85 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2014) @ AFI -- "Fading Gigolo" (w/John Turturro)
WJFF Centerpiece Evening: FADING GIGOLO -- DC Premiere!
John Turturro will participate in an extended Q&A with TV and movie critic Arch Campbell after the screening.
Facing the imminent closure of his business, a New York City bookstore owner (Woody Allen) teams up with his florist friend (John... |
| 2016_DC_WJFF_Slides_160301 | 54 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2016) -- Festival Slide Show
The slide show of credits etc before the movies. |
| 2016_MD_Tale_Of_Love_160306 | 71 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2016) @ AFI -- "A Tale of Love and Darkness" (w/Natalie Portman)
CLOSING NIGHT
Sponsored by The Melvin and Estelle Gelman Foundation – Elise and Marc Lefkowitz
A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS
Dir. Natalie Portman
Academy Award®-winning actress Natalie Portman debuts as a director (and screenwriter) with this hauntingly beautiful adaptation of Amos Oz’s best-selling... |
| 2016_MD_Avalon_160303 | 56 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2016) @ AFI -- "Avalon" (w/Peter Beicken)
WJFF Visionary Award | Avalon
PRESENTED TO ARMIN MUELLER-STAHL (who, for health reasons, could not attend the event)
Evening sponsored by The Dweck Family
Dir. Barry Levinson
(128 min, USA, 1990)
An evocative, nostalgic film that celebrates the virtues of family life, Avalon begins with Jewish... |
| 2016_MD_Baba_Joon_160224 | 146 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2016) @ AFI -- "Baba Joon" (w/Yuval Delshad)
Opening Night | Baba Joon
BABA JOON
Dir. Yuval Delshad
(91 min, Israel, 2015)
Hebrew and Farsi, with English subtitles
Israel’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award® is a tender tale of a generational divide and immigrant experience.
Yitzhak runs the turkey farm his father... |
| 2016_MD_Fleischerei_160305 | 206 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2016) @ AFI -- "Gary Lucas' Fleischerei" (Music from Max Fleischer Cartoons)
GARY LUCAS’ FLEISCHEREI:
Music From Max Fleischer Cartoons
And now, for something different! Celebrating the release of the titular album–on Silver Spring based label Cuneiform–legendary guitarist Gary Lucas joins forces with Tony®- nominated singer and actress Sarah Stiles (Avenue Q, Hand to God) for... |
| 2016_DC_Compared_160301 | 95 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2016) @ Avalon Theatre -- "Compared to What?" (w/Sheila Canavan, Michael Chandler, Barney Frank, and Jim Ready)
SPOTLIGHT EVENING | COMPARED TO WHAT?
The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank
Dir. Sheila Canavan and Michael Chandler
Followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Michael Chandler and Sheila Canavan as well as Barney Frank and his husband Jim Ready. The moderator for the event was Bob Cusack (Executive Editor... |
| 2016_DC_Aviva_Party_160302 | 111 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2016) @ Party at Aviva Kempner's |
| 2017_MD_WJFF_Slides | 38 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) -- Festival Slide Show
The slide show of credits etc before the movies. |
| 2017_MD_Wagenstein_170518 | 43 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) @ AFI -- "Angel Wagenstein: Art Is A Weapon" (w/Andrea Simon)
ANGEL WAGENSTEIN: ART IS A WEAPON
Dir. Andrea Simon
(84 min, BulgariaUnited States, 2017)
As a teenager in wartime Bulgaria, Wagenstein commanded a daredevil Jewish partisan brigade, surviving capture and torture by fascist police. When post-war dreams of a socialist utopia turned to dust, his... |
| 2017_MD_Levinson_170518 | 79 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) @ AFI -- "Liberty Heights" and Visionary Award to Barry Levinson (w/Susan Wloszczyna)
WJFF VISIONARY AWARD - LIBERTY HEIGHTS
Dir. Barry Levinson (126 min, United States, 1999)
Barry Levinson dips back into his youth with the final edition of the semi-autobiographical Baltimore Quartet (Diner, Tin Men, Avalon).
In 1954, Ben Kurtzman (Ben Foster), a Jewish teen from Baltimore, is... |
| 2017_MD_Womens_Balcony_170517 | 121 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) @ AFI -- "Women's Balcony" opening night
OPENING NIGHT
Sponsored by the Jacob & Charlotte Lehrman Foundation
THE WOMEN’S BALCONY
Dir. Emil Ben-Shimon
(96 min, Israel, 2016)
DC Premiere
An accident during a bar mitzvah celebration leads to a gender rift in a devout Orthodox community in Jerusalem in this rousing, gold-hearted tale about... |
| 2017_MD_Holland_170527 | 82 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) @ AFI - "Angry Harvest" (w/Agnieszka Holland)
WJFF VISIONARY AWARD: Sponsored by the Dweck Family
ANGRY HARVEST
Dir. Agnieszka Holland
This remarkable Academy Award-nominated film tells a compelling story of love and desire during World War II. Middle-aged, lonely farmer Leon (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Avalon) rescues Rosa, a young upper-class... |
| 2017_DC_77Steps_170521 | 112 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) @ DCJCC -- "77 Steps" (w/panel)
77 STEPS
Dir. Ibtisam Mara'ana (56 min, Israel, 2010)
The personal journey of the director Ibtisam Mara’ana, who leaves her Arab-Muslim village and moves to Tel-Aviv. In an attempt to find an apartment in the city, she encounters discrimination and refusal by most landlords because of her Arab... |
| 2017_DC_Heckerling_170525 | 148 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) @ DCJCC -- "Clueless" (w/Amy Heckerling)
CLUELESS (Spotlight) Dir. Amy Heckerling
(97 min, United States, 1995)
Pampered Beverly Hills do-gooder Cher Horowitz plays matchmaker to her fellow high schoolers in Amy Heckerling’s iconic 90s teen comedy starring Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd.
As If, A Clueless Night!
Dress to the nine(ties),... |
| 2017_DC_Fannys_Journey_170528 | 75 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) @ DCJCC -- "Fanny's Journey" and Closing Night Reception
CLOSING NIGHT
Sponsored by Elise and Marc Lefkowitz
FANNY’S JOURNEY
Dir. Lola Doillon
Based on a true story, Fanny’s Journey is an incredible tale of bravery, strength, and survival, centered on a daring young girl who will stop at nothing and fears no one.
In 1943, 13-year-old Fanny and her... |
| 2017_DC_Bar_Crawl_170528 | 53 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2017) @ On Rye and Bar Deco -- "Walk a Mile in My Shoes (Shorts Program)" (w/Lindsey Sitz)
WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES (SHORTS PROGRAM)
(98 min, CanadaIsraelSwitzerlandUnited KingdomUnited States, 2015-17)
Have you ever woken up and found that you’re living someone else’s life? That you’ve traded places, for good or for ill? This collection of comedic short films centers on this key moment of... |
| 2018_DC_WJFF_Slides | 53 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2018) -- Festival Slide Show |
| 2018_MD_Grossman_180505 | 85 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2018) @ AFI -- Visionary Award to Roberta Grossman
WJFF Visionary Award: Roberta Grossman
Sponsored by the Dweck Family.
The WJFF’s Annual Visionary Award recognizes creativity and insight in presenting the full diversity of the Jewish experience through moving image. The 2018 honoree is Roberta Grossman, who will join us for a special extended Q&A... |
| 2018_DC_GI_Jews_180506 | 60 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2018) @ DCJCC-- "GI Jews" (w/Lisa Ades, Amanda Bonavita and James E. Young)
GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II
550,000 Jewish American men and women served in World War II. Lisa Ades’ GI Jews: Jewish Americans in WWII is a loving ode to their memory.
Like all American soldiers, they fought against fascism, but also waged a more personal fight—to save their brethren in... |
| 2018_DC_Rich_180513 | 117 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2018) @ DCJCC -- "Life is Rich" (w/Bonnie Rich) and "Under the Bar" (w/Craig Shattner and Inna Korpel)
Life Is Rich
Dir. Bonnie Rich | 46 min
A real-life comedy about Bonnie Rich, a filmmaker and Jewish mom on a mission—to persuade her millennial daughters to raise her unborn grandchildren Jewish.
While her daughters see little need for Jewish ritual that doesn’t involve food, Bonnie wants them to see... |
| 2018_DC_Davis_180502 | 101 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2018) @ DCJCC -- "Sammy Davis Jr." opening night
Opening Night Sponsored by The Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me
Dir. Sam Pollard | 100 min
Documentary United States 2017 English DC Premiere
Sammy Davis, Jr.’s career was indisputably legendary; so vast and multi-faceted that it was dizzying in its scope... |
| 2018_DC_Museum_180506 | 12 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2018) @ DCJCC -- "The Museum" (w/Ran Tal)
The Museum
A striking account of Israel’s most important cultural institution that explores the Israeli soul through the galleries, storerooms, and visitors of the Israel Museum. The documentary eschews the dry formula one might expect for such an undertaking however— managing to unpack the mysteries... |
| 2018_DC_GI_Jews3_180506 | 47 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2018) @ NMAJMH-- "GI Jews" Meet and Greet (w/Lisa Ades, Amanda Bonavita and James E. Young)
GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II
550,000 Jewish American men and women served in World War II. Lisa Ades’ GI Jews: Jewish Americans in WWII is a loving ode to their memory.
Like all American soldiers, they fought against fascism, but also waged a more personal fight—to save their brethren in... |
| 2018_DC_Two_Jews_180510 | 22 | Washington Jewish Film Festival (2018) @ Reliable Tavern and Union Drinkery -- Two Jews Walk Into a Bar
Two Jews Walk Into A Bar
WJFF’s popular program Two Jews Walk into a Bar is back by popular demand! Join us for a cinematic pub crawl – $30 gets you 3 drinks and admission to the shorts film program.
How many disparate identities can co-exist within a person? How many do they let out into the public... |