Jacek Raginis-Królikiewicz is a Polish film and television director, a screenwriter, and an author of radio plays. He has a degree in history from the Catholic University of Lublin and in film production from the Łódź Film School. In his work, he focuses on historical events and the related existential and moral dilemmas of an individual. He likes to work in the genre of psychological drama and thriller. He is the son of Polish film director Grzegorz Królikiewicz.
Q&A with introduction from filmmaker Asaf Galay and live Q&A with film subject Jean-Pierra Barda.
Asaf Galayis an acclaimed international film director,with a passion for storieson Jewish subjects that illuminate the human condition. His most recent documentaries include Army of Lovers in the Holy Land and The Adventures of Saul Bellow(for 2020 broadcast on American Masters). His film The Hebrew Superherowas described by Tablet magazine as “supremely entertaining,” on the subject of comics in Israel. The Muses of Bashevis Singer opened the New York Jewish Film Festival, and his feature film on the Israeli poet Nathan Alterman (Sentimentality Allowed), is used in schools throughout Israel. In addition to his acclaimed film and television career, Galay is a museum curator at Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum for the Jewish People located in Tel Aviv. He is head curator of exhibits on Bob Dylan (“Forever Young”), Jewish humor (“Laughing at History”), Jewish fashion designers (“Dream Weavers”), and Amy Winehouse (“Amy Winehouse – A Family Portrait”).
Jean-Pierre Barda is a Swedish and Israeli singer, actor, make up artist and hair dresser of French/Algerian Jewish descent. He is most notable for being one of the founding members of the pop group Army of Lovers. Barda was born in Paris, France. His father was of Algerian Jewish origin. When he was seven, he moved to Sweden with his family, settling in Stockholm. Barda immigrated to Israel in 2015 and currently lives in Tel Aviv.
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR Julia Newman was born and raised in Brooklyn, and worked in advertising as a producer of television commercials for over twenty years. As a travel writer, her pieces have appeared in the New York Daily News, Miami Herald, Metropolitan Home and Travel & Leisure. She served as Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives for five years.
Her previous, award-winning documentary, Into the Fire: American Women in the Spanish Civil War, portrayed the American medical workers and journalists who served in the first fight against Fascism. The film was broadcast on Public Television and Spanish Television and is distributed in the U. S. by First Run Features.
How does music affect our movie watching experience? What is the process for creating a movie sound track? Hear the answers to these questions and ask your own in a free Q&A session with award winning composers and musicians Ishai Adar from Israel, and British born Chistopher Gubisch from Los Angeles.
Ishai Adar is a self-educated musician, composer and multidisciplinary artist who uses uncommon methods and techniques, giving his work a uniquely atmospheric character. He started his career in the post-punk band The Top-Hat Carriers and later released several influential experimental electronic albums. A cinema enthusiast who enjoys exploring the pas de deux between image and sound, Ishai’s work includes 2008 Academy Award nominated Beaufort (dir: Joseph Cedar), Sundance 2010 winner A Film Unfinished (dir: Yael Hersonski), SXSW 2016 winner, Mr. Gaga (dir: Tomer Heymann) and HBO’s mini series Our Boys. Ishai is based in Tel Aviv and is the Head of the Sound & Music for Cinema department at Sapir College in Sderot, Israel.
Christopher Gubisch is a British-born composer and producer living in Los Angeles, California. He has produced, performed and toured with many Los Angeles bands. As a composer, his music has been featured on TV shows, commercials and film trailers throughout the world. Chicago-area natives will instantly recognize his earworm jingle for Luna Carpet, his first commercial gig. TV shows include FX Network’s critically-acclaimed drama Damages, as well as underscore for Dateline NBC, National Geographic Explorer, Ancient Aliens and Destination Truth among many others. He has also written the music for three of Dani Menkin’s documentaries, 39 Pounds of Love, Picture of His Life and most recently Aulcie.
Q and A with Laura Gabbert (Director), Steven Robillard (Producer), and some of the chefs of the new IFC Films’ movie OTTOLENGHI AND THE CAKES OF VERSAILLES.
Q&A with director Ram Loevy of the film THE DEAD OF JAFFA.
Film available to watch January 10-17. Q&A is included with film ticket.
Three children from the West Bank are smuggled into Israel, arriving at the doorstep of George and Rita’s house in Jaffa. Their mother is dead, and their father has been sentenced to life imprisonment. As Israeli Palestinians, George is afraid that hiding illegal aliens will endanger Rita and himself, while Rita believes the arrival of these children could give meaning to her life. Nearby, a foreign film is being shot. Jerry, an English director, is making a movie about his parents’ love affair in 1947, when they served in the British army in Palestine. George is invited to play a part in the film. When the two stories intertwine, tensions erupt.
MATURE LANGUAGE, DRUG USE
Q&A with director, screenwriter, and producer Irena Pavlásková and producer Michal Kráčmer live from Prague.
Director Irena Pavlásková is one of the most acclaimed Czech directors of all times. Her films have screened at the most prestigious festivals around the globe. Her film Time of Servants was awarded Special Mention Camera d’Or at the Cannes IFF and received many other awards around the world as well as being voted the best film of the decade by the Czech Society of Film Critics. Her film Time of Debts was the most attended film of the year in Czech cinemas. Her other films, like Bestiary and Photographer, were big successes both in domestic cinemas and abroad. Her film Earthy Paradise to the Eyes won three main awards at the Moscow IFF.
Michal Kráčmer is a film producer known for creating edgy movies. His filmography includes, among others, the experimental film My Unknown Soldier by Anna Kryvenko, as well as the documentary Kiruna – Brand New World by Greta Stocklassa. Both films earned extraordinary success on the global festival circuit. He was recognized as a Promising Producer at Tallinn IFF (2014, EST) and awarded the Promotion Prize of the GWFF at Cottbus IFF (2015, DE). Michal has attended international workshops such as MIDPOINT, MAIA, SOFA, ARCHIDOC, Producers Network and Workshop at Cannes IFF, Berlinale Talents, and Trans Atlantic Partners.
Q&A with writer and film narrator Martin Goldsmith.
Martin Goldsmith is the author of Alex’s Wake: A Voyage of Betrayal and A Journey of Remembrance, the story of his grandfather and uncle, who were two of the more than 900 passengers on the ill-fated Jewish refugee ship St. Louis in 1939, and his own six-week journey in their footsteps in 2011.
His first book, The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany, told the riveting story of the Jewish Kulturbund, an all-Jewish performing arts ensemble maintained by the Nazis between 1933 and 1941, an ensemble that included Mr. Goldsmith’s parents. The Inextinguishable Symphony is the basis of the acclaimed 2019 film Winter Journey, directed by Anders Ostergaard and starring Bruno Ganz.
Martin Goldsmith has been a classical music radio programmer and presenter for forty-nine years. For ten years, from 1989 to 1999, he served as the host of “Performance Today,” National Public Radio’s daily classical music program. which won the coveted Peabody Award for broadcasting. Before that he worked at NPR member station WETA-FM in Washington, DC, for a dozen years, serving as producer, announcer, music director and, eventually, program director.
Goldsmith began his radio career at commercial classical station WCLV in Cleveland, where his mother was a violist in the Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Goldsmith was born in St. Louis, where his mother spent 21 years as a member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, he has sung in the chorus of the Baltimore Opera Company and made a guest appearance with the Washington Opera. He has also acted in many roles in Washington-area theaters, including Arena Stage.
Tal Michael born in 1974 is a film & TV director and content editor. Michael is a graduate with honors of the film and Television dept. at Tel Aviv University, and a former PhD student in Comparative Literature. Among her works are the films Hunger (2020); Bukra fil Mish-Mish (2019 – award winner in the Jerusalem JFF); Israeli Hero (2018); Call Me Ovadya (2018); Around the bed of a Dying Collaborator” (co-director with David Ofek; best medium length film in Krakow Film Festival 2019); Israel is not waiting…“; Pitbulls: Flesh&Blood (2014) ; the documentary series: My Little Empire” (2006); Candidates (2018), The Israeli Connection (2011, 2013); Vacum (2011, 2015); The Story and MABAT Sheni” (2012-2016) ; Bench Player (best Drama film, Haifa film Festival 2002) ; andNo Rain (best script, best actor- America Israel prizes);
Her works have been included in international festivals and acquired by various channels in Israel and abroad.
Q and A with ‘Breaking Bread’ film director Beth Elise Hawk and Rabbi Alan Freedman of Temple Beth Shalom. This program will introduce some “pre-Selichot” themes for those that observe the Jewish High Holidays to consider heading into the season.
