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Filtered By: - Clear All

Gefilte

Each year, the Hermelin family of Detroit come together to celebrate Passover (pesach) - honoring the liberation of the Jews from slavery in ancient Egypt - by eating Gefilte fish, the meal that stars in New York-born director Rachel Fleit's new film. While simple on the surface, gefilte is filled with history and meaning (just like the recipe itself, which includes a stuffing of fish, salt, vegetables and egg). However, "the dish of gefilte isn't about the fish," says the Brooklyn-based writer and director. Instead, "it becomes a lightening rod, in which we project all of our feelings about family, identity, tradition, struggle, loss - and as always, love.""

Gilbert

If you think you know Gilbert Gottfried, the brash, shrill-voiced (“Aflac!”), boundary-pushing comic, think again. In this surprisingly candid documentary portrait, director Neil Berkeley reveals the foul-mouthed comedian in a whole new light as a loving husband and father of two young children. Featuring interviews with comics like Whoopi Goldberg and behind-the-scenes glimpses of Gottfried’s performances, Gilbert separates the man from the act, and what emerges is unexpectedly tender.

The Glorias

Journalist, fighter, and feminist Gloria Steinem is an indelible icon known for her world-shaping activism, her guidance of the revolutionary women’s movement, and her writing that has impacted generations. In this nontraditional biopic, against the backdrop of a lonely bus on an open highway, five Glorias trace Steinem’s influential journey to prominence.

Go for Zucker! - An Unorthodox Comedy

Jaeckie Zucker, a hard-drinking, pool-playing, lovable scoundrel in Berlin, is up to his ears in debt. When he learns that his long-estranged mother has willed him a sizeable inheritance, he thinks his ship has come in. But there’s a catch: Jaeckie--who gave up all things Jewish long ago--must first reconcile with his Orthodox Jewish brother, who is coming, family in tow, for the funeral. The madcap adventure that follows finds Jaeckie desperately trying to "pass" as observant, while trying to ditch the funeral so he can play in a high-stakes pool tournament.Politically incorrect, ironic and utterly contemporary, what makes Go for Zucker! such a standout is that, while in the irreverent mode of Mel Brooks and Larry David, this is a comedy from Germany--daring to present Jews in a guilt-free context beyond the Holocaust. Berlin-based writer/director Dani Levy has created a screwball comedy that breaks every taboo.

Harley

On the outside, Harley is a confident and brash criminal defense attorney, who relishes taking the side of the underdog . On the inside, this middle-aged Jewish man living with his mother is still deeply scarred by the bully who antagonized him in high school. Harley, despite his erraticness and eccentricity, remains a man with a generous heart in this unique portrait of a true larger-than-life character.

Henri Dauman: Looking Up

As one of the preeminent photographers of the 20th century, self-taught Henri Dauman took the international photojournalism scene by storm with his cinematic images that redefined the methods of capturing historical icons. Leaving behind his past as an orphaned Holocaust survivor, Dauman created a new life for himself in New York City, where his timeless style quickly gained momentum amidst high society and celebrity culture. Exploring both the photographer's traumatic past and the contrasting vibrancy of the city that would define his work, director Peter Jones's film is a testament to the resilience and perseverance of the man behind the camera.

Hitler's Children

Filmmaker Chanoch Ze'evi interviews relatives of high-ranking Nazi officials, who struggle with the guilt of their terrible family legacies.

Holy Silence

Holy Silence, a thought-provoking new documentary, examines the role of Vatican and US leaders in shaping the Church's response to the rising Nazi threat and antisemitism spreading across Europe.

How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire

Preceded by Woody Before AllenAfter discovering the journals of his mysterious grandmother Maroussia, amiable English director Daniel Edelstyn sets off to Ukraine where he makes a startling discovery. In his family’s impoverished Russian village, he comes upon his great-grandfather’s vodka factory. Edelstyn returns to the UK with the wide-eyed ambition of importing his own brand of spirits and finds his life forever altered by the woman he never met.[MINIGUIDE 65/70]

Humor Me

This heartfelt father-son comedy starring Elliott Gould, Jemaine Clement and Ingrid Michaelson follows a struggling playwright who is forced to move in with his joke-telling dad in a New Jersey retirement community and learns, as his father often says, "life's going to happen, whether you smile or not.”

Ida

Poland, 1962. On the eve of her vows, 18-year-old novice Anna meets her estranged aunt Wanda, a cynical Communist judge who shocks the naïve Anna with a stunning revelation

In Between

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.

In Search of Peace (Part One: 1948-1967)

About This Film

Incessant Visions- Letters From an Architect

This artful documentary illuminates the life and work of German Jewish Expessionist architect Erich Mendelsohn. Mendelsohn’s story unfolds through letters exchanged with his wife Luise, both German Jewish emigres fleeing Nazism. Director Dror deftly juxtaposes the architect’s original drawings with contemporary views of his buildings, weaving in interviews with architects and the people who use these unique structures—a testament to the integrity and timelessness of visionary design.

Inside Llewyn Davis

New York, 1962. The downtown folk scene. Solo singers, duos and trios are playing the Gaslight and cutting and releasing records. And the talented, abrasive Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is getting beaten to a pulp in the back alley... again. The picaresque and panoramic Inside Llewyn Davis, named after the protagonist's no-sell recording debut, ponders the question: how can someone be an angel when he's singing and playing and a miserable lout the instant the music stops?

Intent to Destroy

One hundred years after 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire, Academy Award–nominated documentarian and this year’s Freedom of Expression Award recipient Joe Berlinger reveals the disturbing truth behind Turkey’s well-funded campaign of genocide denial, suppression and intimidation. Berlinger utilizes the filming of The Promise, a $100 million Hollywood film production ambitiously billed as the Armenian Schindler’s List, to explore this historical tragedy and its relevance to the barbaric genocides that followed.

It Happened in Saint-Tropez

Unashamedly romantic, the comedy of manners It Happened in Saint-Tropez begins with a family wedding and funeral.

Joshy

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.

King of the Corner

Leo Spivak is drifting through life without a compass. His father is aging fast, his teenage daughter is rebelling, his protégé is after his job and his wife is losing her patience. A twist of fate and some bizarre wisdom from a "freelance rabbi" help Leo navigate the murky waters of his life and turn his crisis into a second-chance.

King of the Roaring 20's- The Story of Arnold Rothstein

King of the Roaring 20’s—The Story of Arnold Rothstein is a tale of ambition and the corruption of a nice Jewish boy. An Irish cop brings young Arnold home to his old-world father, who turns to mother Esther and says, “This boy has a dybbuk in him.” As Rothstein grows up, he strategically navigates New York’s Democratic politicians, the police, the Saratoga racetrack and the vicissitudes of love and luck.

A la vie (To Life)

Three women, Auschwitz survivors, are reunited 15 years after the war. They spend a holiday at a seaside resort in northern France. Set at the start of the ’60s, the era’s bright colors and cheerful music mark the end of one period in their lives and the start of another. Friendships forged in horror begin anew with tasty ice cream cones, stylish bikinis, a romantic adventure and basking in the sun.

The Last Suit

A cantankerous 88-year-old has waited to fulfill a promise to a friend who helped him escape the Holocaust.

Lebanon

The First Lebanon War - June, 1982. A lone tank is dispatched to search a hostile town that has already been bombarded by the Israeli Air Force. What seems to be a simple mission gradually spins out of control.

Leona

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

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