JFI On Demand | Jewish Film Institute

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Film Type

Animation
Documentary
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Television Series

Program Type

Cinegogue Sessions
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Festival
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Filtered By: Jo Clear All

Blues by the Beach

When Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem chose to make a documentary about Mike’s Place, an Anglo-American blues club on a Tel Aviv beach, they figured the boozy international hangout would show a side of Israel different from the all-too-familiar images of terrorism and conflict. But when Mike’s Place is bombed in a suicide attack, their film turns into an unexpectedly vivid account of coping with daily life in the wake of violence.

Blush

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

Born in Auschwitz

This is the story of a Jewish baby who was born in the death camp before the liberation and survived. An extraordinary journey of the second and third generation, breaking the cycle of trauma to free themselves from Auschwitz - forever.

Born in Auschwitz

The untold story of the only Jewish baby who was born in the death camp before the liberation an survived. An extraordinary journey of the second and third generation, breaking the cycle of trauma to free themselves from Auschwitz – forever.

Bye Bye Germany

“After World War II approximately 4,000 Jews stayed in Germany. Later, none of them could explain to their children why,” we learn in Sam Gabarski’s Bye Bye Germany. This stylized, humor-laced drama devotes itself to answering this question by portraying the lives of a sundry group of survivors who remain in Germany immediately after liberation and are led by a charismatic, top hat–wearing jokester (Run Lola Run’s masterfully expressive Moritz Bleibtreu).

Campfire

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.

City of Joel

50 miles north of New York City lies the town of Monroe, where one of the fastest-growing Hasidic communities in the country thrives deep within the Hudson Valley. As the 25,000+ population within the village of Kiryas Joel looks to expand their city, the neighboring villages of non-Hasids see the encroaching community as a burgeoning power grab, leading to an increasingly tense standoff between locals. Shot over several years with seemingly boundless access, Emmy-winning director Jesse Sweet's documentary observes the simmering tensions that have come to define the community of Monroe, and the myriad ways in which the town's divide echoes the country's as well.

Closed Season

In this quiet but intense psychological drama, director Franziska Schlotterer crafts an erotically charged story set in the remote mountains of the Black Forest during WWII. A young Jew fleeing the Nazis is saved by a German peasant couple, but soon discovers that there is an unexpected price to pay for his salvation. The spare but sumptuous cinematography captures the passion, desire and jealousy waiting to explode.

Comedy Warriors

Five disabled Iraq/Afghanistan vets bring their painful life-altering experiences onstage, transforming tragedy into brutally fierce comedy gold, mentored by mirth masters Bob Saget, Zach Galifinakis and Lewis Black. With only days to prepare, the five are flown to Hollywood for a gig at LA’s famous Punch Line club. The big night finds the comedy warriors comprehending the healing power of humor and discovering that their lives are about to take an unexpected direction. Followed by live standup comedy by subject Joe Kashnow.

The Conductor - Centerpiece Documentary

A joyful tribute to perseverance, resiliency, and most of all the music, The Conductor is a profile of one groundbreaking woman who believes in the transformational power of art.

Crossing Delancey

A contemporary romantic comedy in which single, sophisticated Isabelle confronts family tradition when her grandmother hires a matchmaker to find her a marriage prospect.

Dancing Dogs of Dombrova, The

On a cold winter night, estranged siblings Sarah and Aaron Cotler arrive at an empty train station in Dombrova, Poland. With their only available ride being a determinedly silent driver, they embark on a quest to fulfill their dying grandmother's wish-to find, dig up, and bring home the bones of her favorite childhood dog, Peter. While navigating the many obstacles and colorful characters they encounter on their journey, Sarah and Aaron must come to terms with their own demons and differences, while also contending with a soicety seemingly content to let its past lay buried for good.

Deli Man

Laugh your way through hilarious stories of American delicatessens while drooling over the wonderful Jewish food being prepared before your eyes.

The Devil We Know

Victims take on Dupont when they discover it has knowingly been using a toxic chemical.

(Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies

Lying gets easier the more you do it—that is, until you get caught. And it turns out we all lie a lot more than we think, as Duke University professor and “dishonesty guru” Dan Ariely has discovered through his behavioural research, which also suggests that lying to ourselves and others can have major consequences for society at large.

Dogs: The Rise and Fall Of An All-girl Bookie Joint

About This Film

Dough

After 100 years in business, Nat’s (Jonathan Pryce) third generation Kosher Bakery is in a downward spiral. His customers are moving or dying, and his son has no interest in the family business. Nat reluctantly hires a young Muslim immigrant, Ayyash, a fast learner who accidentally creates a batch of cannabis-infused challah. Soon, business is booming, and things begin to look up for both men, while a new friendship sprouts despite the gulfs of age, race and religion.

Eight Men Out

The Chicago White Sox, who are set to play the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series of 1919, are at odds with their team's owner, Charles Comiskey (Clifton James), who pays his players unsatisfactory wages despite the team's popularity.

Everything is Illuminated

A young Jewish-American man obsessed with his family history, Jonathan Safran Foer (Elijah Wood) decides to journey to the Ukraine to find out more about the life of his grandfather.

Fanny's Journey

Riveting from the first frame to the last, Fanny’s Journey is the true and absorbing story of a 13-year-old girl who is separated from her parents in Nazi-occupied France. Fanny is brave and determined and leads her younger sisters and a group of Jewish children towards sanctuary in Switzerland. Expertly directed and well acted, the film emphasizes the resilience of these young heroes and is especially relevant in the present moment.

Feels Good Man

In November 2016, a nasty election cycle had exposed a seismic cultural rift, and the country suddenly felt like a much different place. For underground cartoonist Matt Furie, that sensation was even more surreal. Furie’s comic creation Pepe the Frog, conceived more than a decade earlier as a laid-back humanoid amphibian, had unwittingly become a grotesque political pawn.FEELS GOOD MAN is a Frankenstein-meets-Alice in Wonderland journey of an artist battling to regain control of his creation, while confronting a disturbing cast of characters who have their own peculiar attachments to Pepe. Now, as Pepe continues to morph around the world – FEELS GOOD MAN offers a vivid, moving portrait of one man, one frog, and the very strange reality we’ve all found ourselves living in.

Five Weddings and A Felony

Twentysomething Chicago filmmaker Josh Freed’s comic essay documents his real-life inability to commit to a serious relationship even after meeting the incredibly adorable and wise second-grade school teacher Paulina. When five close friends get married and his dad develops a life-threatening illness, Josh begins to question his own life choices in this freewheeling self-portrait that manages to be charming, galling, funny, cringe-inducing, and always compelling.

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story

Take a riveting journey into the intrepid exploits of the leader of Operation Entebbe. On July 4, 1976, 30-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu led the daring operation to rescue the 103 Israelis who were held hostage in Uganda. Filmmakers Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot delicately weave the epic with the intimate in this personal story of a young man who dedicated his life to the service of his people. [MINIGUIDE 71/70]

For the Love of Spock

“Live long and prosper.” It’s impossible not to cherish those famous words spoken by the beloved half-human Vulcan. Leonard Nimoy, the man behind the pointy ears, left an indelible mark as an artist and as a mensch. Featuring clips from Nimoy’s career and inspiring interviews with the Star Trek cast, director Adam Nimoy has crafted a loving tribute to not only his father, but also to the man we know as Mr. Spock. —Joshua Moore

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