Virtual screening

Hidden Face

“A unique journey about a rabbi who experienced personal desolation and succeeded in rehabilitating his and his community’s life.”
The Admor of Sanz-Klausenburg was a rabbi who experienced personal devastation, and despite this succeeded in rehabilitating his own life and that of his Chassidic community. Through his heroic story, the film presents the narratives of the Holocaust as told by different members of the ultra-Orthodox community. HIDDEN FACE presents the complex relationship between ultra-Orthodox Jews and the memory of the Holocaust. Through rare archival footage and interviews with Sanz Chassidim, it reveals the ways they experience the revival and spiritual victory over the Nazis and pass it on to the ensuing generations, while dealing with the biggest question of all—where was God during the Holocaust?
FAMILY FRIENDLY

Film:  54 minutes

Director: Eyal Datz

Production country: Israel

Year: 2018

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‘Dough’ (FREE!)

Curmudgeonly widower Nat Dayan (Jonathan Pryce) clings to his way of life as a Kosher bakery shop owner in London’s East End. Understaffed, Nat
reluctantly enlists the help of teenager Ayyash (Jerome Holder), who has a secret side gig selling marijuana to help his immigrant mother make ends meet. When Ayyash accidentally drops his stash into the mixing dough, the challah starts flying off the shelves and an unlikely friendship forms between the old Jewish baker and his young Muslim apprentice. Dough is a warmhearted and humorous story about overcoming prejudice and finding redemption in unexpected places.

Film available to watch Sept. 10-12 in the USA only.

Note: This presentation is supported by Congregation Beth Israel and is a part of CBI’s Selichot program. The film is available to all.

Cast: Jonathan Pryce

Director: John Goldschmidt

Writer: Jonathan Benson

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A Cantor’s Head/A Cantor’s Tale screening (FREE)

Two great films and a panel discussion in one program:

A CANTOR’S HEAD (2020) – One of the world’s leading cantorial masters departs the bema, prompting questions about the dwindling tradition of Jewish sacred music. Cantor Jack Mendelson has been dubbed the Michael Jordan of Hazzanut. He has inspired legions of admirers worldwide, combining spiritual exploration, communal bonding and dazzling showmanship. But after years of service, his operatic voice is no longer wanted by his congregation. Running the gamut of emotions, Cantor Mendelson, his protégés, and other musical luminaries explain the magic of this centuries-long art form, and what its loss represents.

A CANTOR’S TALE (2005) Explores chazzanut past, present and future through the prism of Chazzan Jack Mendelson”s career. In addition to heavenly singing, the film visits a bar-mitzvah at the legendary Beth El Synagogue in Borough Park and interviews luminaries such as Ben-Zion Miller, Mati Lazar, Alberto Mizrahi, Alan Dershowitz, Neil Shicoff, Dr. Larry Hoffman, and Debbie Friedman.

A Cantor’s Tale Panel Program: The Past Present, and Future of Jewish Cantorial Music on Sunday October 18 at 2:00PM Central.

Co-presented by AJFF, Congregation Agudas Achim, and Temple Beth Shalom.

Cast: Cantor Jack Mendelson

Director: Erik Greenberg Anjou

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15 Years

Yoav, a successful architect, has everything he’s ever wanted. His lover of 15 years, Dan, is a younger lawyer who adores him. Alma is a successful artist and Yoav’s best friend—she is like a mother and a sister to him.
However, when Alma announces she is pregnant, it ignites Dan’s desire to become a father himself. But Dan’s parental urges have the opposite effect on Yoav, who is haunted by long-buried demons. Yoav’s tight grasp on his life begins to come apart, leading to self-destructive behavior that threatens to destroy his relationship with Dan, unravel his friendship with Alma, and cost him everything.
MATURE THEMES, STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT

Film: 90 minutes

Director: Yuval Hadadi

Production country: Israel

Year: 2019

Community Partner:

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100 Faces

Composer Benjamin Till explores what it means to be British and Jewish in this quirky and heartwarming musical film. Till set about finding 100 British Jews, one born in every year between 1918 and 2017. Each scene features a person who is a year older than in the prior scene, reflecting the true celebration of the diversity of Jewish people. A ”musical postcard from British Jewry to the rest of the world.”

Film: 12 minutes

Director: Benjamin Till

Production country: UK

Year: 2018

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1945

“This is not a Holocaust film but rather a drama that looks at life beneath the simple surface in a quaint Hungarian village after WWII.”

Two orthodox Jewish men, dressed in black, arrive at the train station of a small Hungarian village on a hot August day in 1945, one year after the German troops have left.  Their homecoming disrupts the established rhythm of life in the village, where preparations are underway for the wedding of the town clerk’s son. The clerk fears the men may be heirs of the village’s’ deported Jews and expects them to demand the return of their illegally seized property. Their reappearance forces the local residents to confront and come to terms with the horrific events of the previous year. Based on the acclaimed short story HOMECOMING by Gábor T. Szántó.
MATURE LANGUAGE, MATURE THEMES

Film: 91 minutes

Director: Ferenc Török

Production country: Hungary

Year: 2017

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A Borrowed Identity

A Palestinian-Israeli boy named Eyad is sent to a prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem, where he struggles with issues of language, culture, and identity. Gifted Eyad (Tawfeek Barhom) is given the chance to go to a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem. As he desperately tries to fit in with his Jewish schoolmates and within Israeli society, Eyad develops a friendship with another outsider, Jonathan (Michael Moshonov), a boy suffering from muscular dystrophy, and gradually becomes part of the home Jonathan shares with his mother, Edna (Yael Abecassis). After falling in love with Naomi (Daniel Kitsis), a Jewish girl, Eyed leaves school when their relationship is uncovered, and he discovers that he will have to sacrifice his identity in order to be accepted. Faced with a choice, Eyad will have to make a decision that will change his life forever.

Film:  104 minutes

Director: Eran Riklis

Production country:  Israel

Year:  2014

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A Matter of Size

Four overweight friends from the Israeli city of Ramle are fed up of dieting and the dieting club they belong to. When Herzl (342 lbs.), the main protagonist, loses his job as a cook and starts working as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant in Ramle, he discovers the world of Sumo where large people like him are honored and appreciated. Through Kitano (132 lbs.), the restaurant owner, a former Sumo coach in Japan (who is supposedly hiding from the Yakuza in Israel), he falls in love with a sport involving ”two fatsos in diapers and girly hairdos”. Herzl wants Kitano to be their coach, but Kitano is reluctant—they first have to earn their spurs. A MATTER OF SIZE is a comedy about a ‘coming out’ of a different kind – overweight people learning to accept themselves.

Film: 94 minutes

Director: Erez Tadmor, Sharon Maymon

Production country: Israel

Year: 2010

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Abulele

“A boy forms a secret friendship with a mythical creature in a universal and heartwarming tale of friendship and familial bonds.”
Since the sudden loss of his older brother in a car crash, ten-year-old Adam (Yoav Sadian) has been struggling at home and failing at school. Neglected by his grief-stricken parents, he is overcome with his own sorrow and guilt, while also confronting the daily torment of class bullies. Everything changes the day Adam meets Abulele, an oversized furry monster of legend that is feared by many but proves to be a friendly companion to children in need. As Adam and his new best friend outsmart his tormentors at school, the boy’s parents start to suspect their son is harboring a secret. Meantime, an elite special forces team closes in, tasked with capturing or killing the
beast.
FAMILY FRIENDLY

Film: 90 minutes

Cast: Yoav Sadian, Bar Paly, Idan Barkai, Makram Khoury, Yehuda Mor, Oded Leopold

Director: Jonathan Geva

Production country:  Israel

Year: 2015

Community partner:

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Africa

When retired 68 year-old Meir discovers that his thirty years of planning the annual village celebration have been summarily discarded, and the job has been given to inexperienced local teens instead, the ground beneath his feet begins to give way. In his effort to restore a sense of meaning and vitality, Meir begins to rebel against the inevitable: the betrayal of his physical body, the growing distance from his children, and the loss of relevance.
MATURE LANGUAGE, MATURE THEMES

Film:  82 minutes

Director: Oren Gerner

Production country: Israel

Year: 2019

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