Q&A

Hummus! The Movie Q&A with director Oren Rosenfeld

Live Q&A with Oren Rosenfeld, director of HUMMUS! THE MOVIE

Oren Rosenfeld was born in Jerusalem on January 29, 1976. He started his career as a photojournalist covering the 2nd Palestinian Intifada. In 2010 Oren Founded his production company Holy-Land Productions. Rosenfeld directed and co-wrote Israel’s Arab Warriors for the BBC in October 2016, following the first unit of Israeli Arab soldiers to serve in the Israeli occupied West Bank.
His award-winning film Hummus The Movie stirred controversy when the Guinness Book of World records refused to send representatives to judge the world’s largest plate of hummus due to alleged security concerns. In 2017 Rosenfeld joined Jane Corbin to write and direct The Real Fauda, a BBC documentary about the real story behind the hit Netflix drama Fauda
In early 2018, Rosenfeld returned to India to continue production of Mumbai Jews a film about the long established Jewish community in Mumbai, and the significance of their cultural, social and political contributions to India. Mumbai Jews touches the story of Moshe Holtzberg, one of the survivors of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He was almost two years old when the attack orphaned him. Rosenfeld follows his return, 10 years later. The story focuses on Holtzberg’s nanny Sandra Samuel. 
Rosenfeld’s latest work Lost in Paradise Goa won the LIAFF award for Best Short Documentary.

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DYING DOESN’T FEEL LIKE WHAT I’M DOING Q&A PANEL

Join the Q&A panel (included free of charge with the free film ticket) on May 2nd at 2PM Central to discuss the film and learn about Jewish Family Service’s new Wise Aging program with filmmaker Paula Weiman-Kelman, along with Shalom Austin 60+ Program Director Rachel Wimberley and Shalom Austin JFS Clinical Psychologist Dr. Fabianna Laby, moderated by student in Spiritual Direction and AJFF Executive Director, Dr. David Goldblatt.

Paula Weiman-Kelman is a veteran documentary filmmaker known for moving portraits of inspiring women. Her happy connection to the Austin Jewish Film Festival began in 2004 with Blessings: Roommates in Jerusalem.  It continued in 2016 with  Torah Treasures and Curious Trash.  Her current film Dying Doesn’t Fell Like What I’m Doing premiered to a sold out, standing room only event at the Athena Women’s Festival in Manhattan in March, 2020. Days later the world shut down… She has been blessed to share the film this past year in an inspiring variety of virtual film festivals and gatherings.

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Syndrome K Q & A with director Stephen Edwards

Live Q&A with filmmaker Stephen Edwards, director of SYNDROME K

Stephen Edwards is a newly accomplished filmmaker and a seasoned and highly sought after film and television composer, scoring movies and TV shows for 20+ years. His first film which he directed and produced was Requiem for My Mother, which won 2 audience awards at US film festivals, and ran on PBS stations from 2016 to 2018. The CD of the soundtrack from the film peaked at #3 on the Billboard Classical Charts in 2017; Oscar-winning composer John Williams wrote him and said: “Your Requiem is a lovely work! Heart-felt and honest, it contains a delicate innocence… making it a touching tribute to a Mother from a loving Son.”

In 2021, Edwards’ second feature-length documentary Syndrome K will be released worldwide.  The film is the gripping story of 3 doctors in a Catholic hospital in Rome during the Nazi occupation of 1943-44 that made up a fake disease that saved Roman Jews from deportation to Auschwitz.  The score was performed by orchestras from around the world, including Moscow, Prague, Rome, Budapest, London and Los Angeles.

Edwards is an accomplished pianist who has played on many top Hollywood soundtracks, and has won acclaim for his orchestral and choral compositions. He has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Vatican. Edwards is a dual citizen of the United States and Italy, and first became emotionally riveted to the untold story of Syndrome K while he was in Italy. He resides in California with his two daughters. When not producing films or composing music, he enjoys golfing, hiking and sitting down at a Steinway piano.

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Broken Mirrors – Q&A

Q&A with filmmakers Imri Matalon and Aviad Givon

Imri Matalon graduated cum laude from the Sam Spiegel Film School. His short film Dead End won the Best Short Film Award at the Haifa Film Festival and many awards around the world. His first full-length film Broken Mirrors was nominated for the Best Screenplay Award at the Ophir Awards (Israeli Oscars). The film has played in many festivals around the world and won several awards for the film makers as well as the movie’s star, Shira Haas.
Matalon currently lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and two small children, and is working on his second film that will be shot soon. He is also writing a drama series for television and teaching writing and directing at various universities in Israel.

Aviad Givon graduated from the Sam Spiegel School Film School in Israel. He is the director of the short movies
Ha’Even and Letters to Popeye. Givon is also an author — his debut book The Picture Looks at Me was chosen to be the Novel of the year in Israel, and received commendable reviews. Broken Mirrors is his first feature length film.

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Happy Times – Q&A

Q&A with filmmaker Michael Mayer and cast members Iris Bahr (Hila), Alon Pdut (Avner), Ido Mor (Yossi), Mike Burstyn (Mati), Shani Atias (Noya) and Daniel Lavid (Maor). Moderated by Rebecca Fonte from The Other Worlds Film Festival.

Michael Mayer’s “gripping feature debut”, Out in the Dark had it’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, sold to over 40 countries and went on to play in more than 130 film festivals, winning 27 awards.

His new feature, Happy Times, due for release in 2021 has already been dubbed the “Israeli Get Out” and won the Best Screenplay Award at the Haifa International Film Festival. Currently, Mayer is developing a feature adaptation of Erri De Luca’s best seller Tu, mio as well as a one-hour thriller series for US and Israeli Television.

Born and raised in Haifa, Israel, Mayer lives and works in Los Angeles.

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Thou Shalt Not Hate – Q&A

Q&A with Filmmaker Mauro Mancini.

Award-winning director and screenwriter, Mauro Mancini began his career in 2005 with the short film Our Secret. Over the years he has shot commercials, music videos, documentary and short movies.

His first feature film Thou Shalt Not Hate was presented in the Film Critic’s Week competition at 77th Venice International Film Festival.

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An Irrepressible Woman – Q&A

Q&A with producer Nelly Kafsky.

Nelly Kaksky is a French producer who was elected to the Bureau of Independent Producers, and to the Council of the Union of Cinema Producers.  She is a Knight in the Order of Merit.
Nelly Kafsky studied literature. After various jobs in the cinema such as assistant director of short films, press officer, casting director, stage manager, production administrator, and several years as a TV producer in advertising agencies, she joined TELFRANCE in 1991 as Director of Creation and Production, producing more than fifty TV films.  
In 1996, Nelly created her own film companies and, true to her convictions, they continue to produce prestigious films for television and the cinema. 
Nelly produced An Irrepressible Woman based on the work Je Vous Promets de Revenir by Dominique Missika, with the film directed by Laurent Heynemann. The movie was shot in the city of Arras and its surroundings in Northern France in August 2018, and had its National release in early 2020. Nelly’s next project, The Forgotten Pianist is already in pre-preparation, and she has more projects in development.

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Portrayal – Q&A

Q&A with filmmaker Billie Mintz and film subject Roman Lapshin.

Billie Mintz is an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker. His passion is to find good stories (or have them find him).  A long-time advocate for social justice, with an emphasis on exposing corruption, Billie believes in the power of story to raise consciousness and inspire policy change.  His previous film, The Guardians, uncovers systemic corruption of family courts in the USA. It made its world premiere at Hot Docs, was officially selected in over 30 international festivals, and won 9 awards for best documentary feature. His feature documentary, Jesus Town USA,  was executive produced by Sky Atlantic, aired on Showtime, and Netflix and was distributed globally. 

Roman Lapshin is an award winning director and cinematographer. His versatility and great attitude makes him a heavily sought after crew member. Born in Israel with Russian heritage,  Roman immigrated to Toronto, Canada where he began his journey to create cinema. 

PORTRAYAL follows Roman across three continents and five nations as he puts together the pieces of a mysterious puzzle and come to terms with a family legacy and his own personal journey of restoration, growth and healing.

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Stranger/Sister – Q&A

Q&A with: Atiya Aftab, co-founder of the Sisterhood of the Salaam Shalom organization; Kirsten Kelly, Senior Producer of the film; Amanda Quraishi, a Muslim member of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom Austin chapter who is featured in the film; and Ellen Sable, a Jewish member of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom Austin chapter. 

Atiya Aftab currently maintains her own practice providing representation to non-profit corporations.   Atiya is an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University where she is also Chair of the Center for Islamic Life, and a memberof the Board of Overseers. She is the co-founder and current Chair of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom and Muslim-Jewish interfaith organization. She has been a member of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey’s (ISCJ) Board of Trustees and Overseers for almost 20 years.  She co-founded the New Jersey Muslim Lawyer’s Association. Atiya is a Fellow with the Arianne de Rothschild Fellowship and completed a certificate program with KARAMAH, Muslim women’s human rights organization.

Ellen Sable is a religious educator and lay leader at Congregation Beth Israel in Austin where she teaches youth and adult Bar and Bat Mitzvah students. She is active on several nonprofit organization boards, focusing on services to the elders in the community, interfaith relations, and advocacy on public policy and social justice issues such as immigration, health care and education. She also enjoys cycling, quilting and tutoring math at Garza High School in Austin ISD.

Kirsten Kelly is an Emmy-Award winning documentary filmmaker and Senior Producer at Transform Films, the production company that created “Stranger/Sister.” Her work has been supported by ITVS, CPB, AmDoc, MacArthur Foundation, the Sundance Institute, Fledgling Fund, Chicken and Egg, Good Pitch, and Bertha Foundation/Brit Docs. She has a diverse background in developing new content which focuses on social justice issues. Kirsten is a Fellow at the Sundance Documentary Institute and a graduate of the Master’s Directing program at The Juilliard School.

Amanda Quraishi is a Muslim by choice. She is the Digital & Social Media Director at the Texas Association of School Boards where she leads the organization’s digital legislative advocacy efforts and co-hosts their podcast.
Amanda is the founder/director of the Institute for Digital Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, a program designed to elevate online culture and empower leadership in digital spaces. She is on the Community Advisory Board for Austin PBS, and an Advisory Committee Member for the Muslim Space. Amanda is an advocate for women’s rights, public education, digital privacy, and the free press.

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