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Abe | Film & Feast

Abe | Film & Feast

The Israeli-Jewish side of his family calls him Avram. The Palestinian-Muslim side Ibrahim. His first-generation American agnostic lawyer parents call him Abraham. But the 12-year-old kid from Brooklyn who loves food and cooking, prefers, well, Abe. Just Abe.

Directed by Transparent producer Rhys Ernst and adapted by Ariel Schrag from her novel of the same name, Adam drops us down in the hipster lesbian and trans culture of Brooklyn, 2006. It’s essentially a coming-of-age story about a 17-year-old straight, cisgender male who falls in love with a lesbian after she mistakes him for a transgender man. Adam decides to maintain this Shakespearean deception and a satirical and nuanced exploration of identity ensues.

An American Tail

An American Tail

This beautifully animated film, which will charm audiences of all ages, tells the story of Fievel Mouskewitz and his family of Jewish mice who escape from Russia in the late 1800s and immigrate to the United States. At the time of its release in 1986, it became the most successful non-Disney animated feature with a theme that is close to every American’s heart: immigrants trying to succeed despite the many hardships and obstacles.

Seventeen-year-old Naama is thoroughly bored with her overbearing family and uneventful suburban school days. That is until bleached-blonde bad girl Dana shows up with her flirtatious smile and a bag of weed. But while Naama is both partying hard and falling hard for Dana, her sister goes missing, and the whole family is deeply rattled. Blush is a portrait of modern Israel through the eyes of the youth who are pushing the boundaries. —Alexis Whitman

“I want to get to that place where I have no strength to hide anything.” After a decade of stardom in Israel as part of the illustrious Batsheva Dance Company, dancer/choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith at age 30 pursues a solo career in the U.S. Winner of the Best Documentary prize at the Tribeca Film Festival, Bobbi Jene is a portrait of a dancer which is as unflinching, wondrous and embarrassing as life itself.

The Boy Downstairs

The Boy Downstairs

Zosia Mamet of GIRLS fame stars in this twentysomething romantic comedy that borrows the aesthetic and location of the popular HBO show. Mamet plays Diana, an aspiring writer who moves back to New York City after living in London. Three years ago she left behind mensch and loving boyfriend Ben (Matthew Shear). Now she returns to discover that he lives in the apartment below hers. Things are about to get complicated.

Best Picture, 2004 Israeli Academy Awards. Rachel, a recently widowed mother of two rebellious teenage girls, hopes to start a new life by joining a religious settlement in the West Bank. But she must first win over the community’s leader, who is threatened by her independence. A nuanced, moving drama.

Dorfman in Love

Dorfman in Love

By all appearances, single 28-year-old accountant Deb Dorfman had embraced a life of suburban mediocrity. When a promise to house-sit for her long-time crush—a hunky war correspondent—uproots her from her sheltered San Fernando Valley home and thrusts her into the hub of a newly revitalized downtown LA, Deb’s world is poised to crack open. Transformation is inevitable, but is love? Elliot Gould co-stars in this delightfully quirky indie romantic comedy. [MINIGUIDE 70/70]

A Face in the Crowd

A Face in the Crowd

This 1957 satire about the corrosive influence of celebrity and media on public opinion finds a charming rogue (Andy Griffith) parlaying his local celebrity into a national bully pulpit and political influence. Sound familiar?

14 year old Jewish Mina, is trying to navigate between a surreal routine dictated by the civil war in Ethiopia and her last days of youth with her Christian boyfriend Eli. When she discovers that her family is planning to immigrate to Israel and escape the war, she weaves an alternate plan in order to save Eli. But in times of war, plans tend to go wrong. Marsha's coming of age film debut film is based on her childhood memories of a civil-war-torn Ethiopia.

In Samuel Maoz's award-winning, acclaimed narrative feature, Michael and Dafna are devastated when army officials show up at their home to announce the death of their son Jonathan. While his sedated wife rests, Michael spirals into a whirlwind of anger only to experience one of life's unfathomable twists, which rival the surreal military experiences of his son.

Give Me Liberty

Give Me Liberty

When a riot breaks out in Milwaukee, America's most segregated city, medical transport driver Vic is torn between his promise to get a group of elderly Russians to a funeral and his desire to help Tracy, a young black woman with ALS.

Sex, drugs, techno, and . . . Arab traditions? What sounds like an unlikely combination exerts a strong emotional attraction in this female dramedy about friendship, love and the search for independence by three young, hip, Palestinian women. When the Muslim—and religious—Nour moves in with hard-partying Laila and Salma, all three begin their own journeys of self-discovery and gain an understanding of the male-dominated society in which they live but refuse to reconcile themselves to.

It Kinda Scares Me

It Kinda Scares Me

a drama teacher documents his at-risk youth project and everything gets personal.

After his engagement falls apart on the evening of his birthday, Joshy’s (Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley) best buddies rally together to pull off a much-needed guys-only weekend for their grieving friend. As the partying heats up, Joshy and company continue to distract themselves from their troubles until they finally have to confront the elephant in the room: their feelings. Male bonding has never been more complex . . . and comically awkward.

A young Jewish woman from Mexico City finds herself torn between her family and her forbidden love with a non-Jewish man.

Little White Lie

Little White Lie

Daring to ask questions about her true identity, around which her parents had kept a careful silence throughout her entire childhood, filmmaker Lacey Schwartz gently but firmly pulls back the curtain on matters of race and family secrets in her deeply personal and riveting documentary. Schwartz raises larger questions for us all: What factors—race, religion, family, upbringing—make us who we are? And what happens when we are forced to redefine ourselves?

Prolific young actor Anton Yelchin was wise beyond his years and influenced everyone around him to strive for more. Love, Antosha tells the story of Yelchin's creative persistence. His devoted Russian parents nurtured his love of acting, exposing him to works of the masters. Filming himself became a tool for his transformation; reflecting on his own performance, he pushed himself to find depth in every role. Often the youngest actor on set, Yelchin's intense focus inspired many actors around him - Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pine, and John Cho share revealing insights into his character. Though he kept it a secret, Yelchin lived with a dangerous health condition, but he never became discouraged. As he grew into his craft, he continually enriched his understanding of the world, embodying an incredible authenticity. As a vivid part of the Sundance Film Festival community, Yelchin premiered in numerous independent features at the Festival: Alpha Dog (2006), Like Crazy (Grand Jury Prize in 2011), and Thoroughbreds (2017). Filmmaker Garret Price crafts a heartwarming and profound coming-of-age story of a singular young artist taken from us too early.

My Polish Honeymoon | Palo Alto Opening Night

My Polish Honeymoon | Palo Alto Opening Night

Anna and Adam, a young Parisian couple with Jewish origins, are about to travel to Poland for the first time. They are just married and technically speaking this will be their honeymoon. They will attend a ceremony in memory of the Jewish community in the village of Adam's grandfather, which was destroyed 75 years ago.

Tight, edgy Israeli film noir sets off a ring of betrayal and deception after a radiant young Haifa artist has an affair behind the back of her much older science professor husband. An homage to the thrillers of Hitchcock past, the story features a heaping dose of repressed Jewish guilt and builds to an unexpected twist with the professor and his mother forming an unlikely alliance. [MINIGUIDE 66/70]

Jewish Canadian writer David Bezmozgis directs his acclaimed short story of forbidden teenage love between Mark, a Toronto slacker and his troubled Russian cousin by marriage. Bezmozgis’s highly provocative and deeply poignant coming-of-age drama features the extraordinarily measured performances of Alex Ozerov as Mark and newcomer Sasha K. Gordon as the sexually precocious Natasha, the dark star who forever alters Mark’s staid, suburban existence. —Thomas Logoreci

Off and Running

Off and Running

Avery, an African American teenager and the adopted daughter of two Jewish lesbian moms in Brooklyn, goes on a journey to uncover her roots.

SNEAK PREVIEWBethlehem is revered as one of the world’s holiest places by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Yet for a Palestinian teenager growing up in the 1980s, the city felt small and stifling. To her proud father’s chagrin, Leila Sansour left Bethlehem for Europe at age 17. Open Bethlehem chronicles return to her homeland, and charts how Israeli settlements and military restrictions haves affected the political and cultural landscape of this ancient city.

Still image from the film Oriented

A striking new documentary from Israel, ORIENTED examines life for gay Israelis and Palestinians in Tel Aviv.

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