Virtual screening

At the beginning of the 20th century, an epidemic decimated the dwellers of a small Jewish village. Their healer, Absalom, cannot do anything about it, science is at a cul-de-sac. When the half-orphaned Rifka also catches the disease, the villagers suddenly feel they have to do something for the child and for themselves. They turn towards faith and God for help. Can faith help? Is it possible to deviate from dogmas, and bargain with the Creator, and is the Creator willing to bargain with them?
Brief nudity.

Length: 17 minutes

Cast: Dorka Merenyi, Mari Nagy, György Gazsó, Péter Scherer, Gábor Krausz, Kata Kuna

Director: David Bodrogi

Writer: David Bodrogi

The year 5781 is off to a rough start for Xander Hazlewood, as his mother and the family Rabbi have some news that won’t make Xander’s Shabbat challah go down very well.

Length: 6 minutes

Director: Billy Kent

Xander the Magnificent recently booked the Feldstein kid’s Zoom Bar mitzvah and is psyched to practice his virtual magic act for his mom, Sabrina. Unfortunately, she has her own sleight-of-hand trick to perform.

Director: Billy Kent

Few rights in Judaism are as important as the Brit Milah – the circumcision. James and his wife Lola, a recent convert, live in a community without any Mohel’s, and after celebrating the birth of their first son have to fly one in to perform the ceremony. Family expectations and financial strain force James to confront his ideology, and the realities of maintaining old traditions in a modern world.

Length: 14 minutes

Cast: Daniel Maslany, Kaelen Ohm, Sam Rosenthal, Sherry Smith, Bob Mann, Joanne Miller, Breton McKay

Director: Charles Wahl

Writer: Charles Wahl

The Mohel trailer.

A short, fiction film about a good-hearted boy in Washington, D.C. who has a life changing encounter with a homeless veteran. The film was inspired by the director”s own experiences while living in the nation’s capital, which has the highest homelessness rate in America, compared to the states.

Length: 11 minutes

Cast: Alexander Barnett, Alexander Fox, Katherine Caruso

Director: Bob Ahmed

Writer: Bob Ahmed

July 2014. Israel is at war in Gaza. Uri, an Israeli soldier, is shot and wounded. At the hospital, he is welcomed as a hero. Between treatments and visits from high-profile generals and celebrities, Uri and his family reckon with his new status. An insider’s look at how war as a state-of-mind is shaping Israeli society.

Adult language.

Length: 29 minutes

Director: Adi Mishnayot

Ladino, the old Sephardic Jewish language, is in great danger of being extinct. In Serbia, there are only two surviving native speakers: two old ladies. They fight to save their language.

Length:  8 minutes

Director: Laurent Rouy

Rachel is losing her sight to the point she can”t even manage doing the smallest daily functions, like dialing the phone. She opens her door to passing by strangers, on a tiny but significant journey, to reach out to her daughter, on the other side of the world.

Length: 20 minutes

Cast: Leora Rivlin, Uri Gavriel, Nir di-nur, Erez Kahana, Nathchayanit Elberg.

Director: Or Sinai

Writer: Or Sinai

Long Distance trailer.

At a banquet hall in Israel, at the height of a war, Adam Weizmann’s Bar Mitzvah party turns into a glorious catastrophe. On the cusp of manhood—and on the verge of a nervous breakdown—Adam takes a crucial step toward coming to terms with his sexuality.

Adult language, sexual content, mature themes.

Length: 25 minutes

Cast: Amit Rahav, Amir Khoury, Maya Dagan, Yaniv Biton, Ruby Porat Shoval, Peter Knoller, Maayan Selektar

Director: Eli Zuzovsky

Writer: Eli Zuzovsky

Mazel Tov trailer.

Presentation partner:

Photographer Olive returns from work to find her new flatmate, Nina rummaging through her room. Unbeknownst to Olive, Nina is about to miss the deadline to join a beauty pageant dedicated to Adolf Hitler and is in desperate need for photos for the application. She begs Olive to help her take them. Although Olive is bemused by her new flatmates erratic behaviour, she feels sorry for her and relents. As Nina’s behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre, Olive becomes suspicious. When the opportunity arises, Olive decides to investigate. Sneaking into Nina’s room, she discovers the truth behind the beauty pageant – discovering that the pageant is not your regular beauty pageant, but instead, something called Miss Hitler.

Adult language.

Length: 12 minutes

Cast: Gemma Barnett, Bebe Sanders

Director: Ella Marks & Yael Roth

Writer: Ella Marks