The ”Taliban Women” is the nickname for a growing band of ultra-orthodox women in Israel who choose to wear a hooded garment similar to a Muslim burka. From behind her veil, Rachel defies accepted definitions of gender, religion, and freedom.
Length: 10 minutes
Cast: Rubi Blal Asfour, Yiftach Betsaleli Teltsch
Director: Yochay Rosenberg
Writer: Yochay Rosenberg
Norm, a Jewish immigrant boy growing up during the Great Depression in St. Louis, dreams of flying in an airplane. When an airfield near his home offers a 10-minute flight for two dollars, Norm gets hopeful about fulfilling his dream. His parents, survivors of pogroms – anti-Semitic attacks, are protective, and claim that a flight in an airplane is dangerous. Even so, Norm saves up his ice cream money, a nickel at a time, to pay for a short flight. But, when he discovers the truth about how his mother’s family was killed in the Old Country, he gets cold feet. Norm must decide whether to continue living in the shadow of family trauma or break free and fulfill his dream.
Length: 27 minutes
Cast: Grayson Taylor, Carole Forman, Te’ena Klien, Leo Grinberg, Catharine Ashmore Bradley
Director: Yasmin Gorenberg
Writer: Yasmin Gorenberg, Myra Noveck
Ofira (67), a recently retired teacher, refuses to become a victim of routine life and decides to revive an old dream – becoming a painter. With no support from her family, Ofira faces the white canvas, when in fact she is facing herself, to paint the rest of her life.
Length: 20 minutes
Cast: Dina Limon, Rami Baruch, Ofra Weingarten, Gal Aviv-Kalderon
Director: Shahar Shamay
Writer: Shahar Shamay, Osnat Friedman, Hadas Klein
Matt wants to find his late mother’s “Beefies” recipe for a pandemic Passover, but finds he must reconnect with his estranged brother to do so. Matt will have to figure out her fractured recipe, or burn down his kitchen trying.
Length: 9Minutes 41 Seconds
Cast: Salome Mergia, Goran Ivanovski, Molly Gray, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard
Director: Adam Lebowitz-Lockard
Writer: Adam Lebowitz-Lockard
Infamous New York City talent agent, Yvette Slosch, is determined to make a star out of her newest client, jazz violinist, Aaron Weinstein. She refuses to let Aaron”s lack of name recognition, jazz”s dwindling fan base, or the 2020 global pandemic get in her way. As the pandemic rages, Yvette”s schemes to keep Aaron”s career afloat become increasingly convoluted, testing her abilities as an agent and her friendship with Aaron.
Length: 20 minutes
Director: Aaron Weinstein
Call Me Back trailer.
Call Me Back: The Uncommon Wisdom of Yvette Slosch Read More »
Celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut with There are No Lions in Tel Aviv. The story of the chief Rabbi of Copenhagen’s Jewish community, who would come to be known as Rabbi Doolittle. In 1935, Max Shorenstein left his honorable position as chief Rabbi of Copenhagen, to fulfill a longtime dream: to build a zoo in Tel Aviv and teach the local children about the love of animals.
This film is offered in collaboration with the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC of Houston and is proudly supported by the Israel Engagement Fund: A JCC Association of North America Program Accelerator, made possible by the generosity of several committed donors.
AJFF co-presented this movie at the 2019 Austin Film Festival and we are delighted to share it with you again, for free!
Length: 63 minutes
Release: 2019
Director: Duki Dror
There Are No Lions in Tel Aviv Read More »
16 year old Jewish Mina is trying to navigate between a surreal routine dictated by the civil war in Ethiopia and her last days of youth with her Christian boyfriend Eli. When she discovers that her family is planning to immigrate to Israel and escape the war, she weaves an alternate plan in order to save Eli. But in times of war, plans tend to go wrong. Davidian’s coming of age film debut film is based on her childhood memories of a civil-war-torn Ethiopia.
Length: 93 minutes
Director: Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian
Writer: Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian
Tickets are FREE for AJFF365 subscribers – become a subscriber today.
Virtual Event Pass test
This summer, the Barshop JCC presents its first ever San Antonio Jewish Film Festival “Summer Series”. Starting May 24 and running through September 12, the Summer Series takes the place of previous iterations of the mini-fests that occurred throughout the year. Unlike the Barshop JCC’s prior film events that normally take place over a week or weekend, this experience will be different as each film will have a dedicated viewing window for at least two weeks
In this gentle, beautifully rendered historical family drama, a German- Jewish girl takes her first steps into adulthood, as world events intrude on her happy, carefree existence. Nine-year-old Anna is too busy with schoolwork and friends to notice Hitler’s face glaring from posters plastered all over 1933 Berlin. But when her father suddenly vanishes, and the family is secretly hurried out of Germany, Anna begins to understand life will never be the same. What follows is a courageous adventure full of fear and uncertainty, as Anna and her family navigate unfamiliar lands and cope with the challenges of being refugees. Oscar-winning filmmaker Caroline Link directs this adaptation of Judith Kerr’s semi-autobiographical bestselling children’s novel.
FAMILY FRIENDLY
Length: 119 minutes
Director: Caroline Link
AJFF played this movie in our 2020 festival and we are honored to present it now as part of its theatrical release.
Our presentation is limited to viewing from Texas only. For opportunities to view elsewhere, see https://www.pinkrabbitmovie.com/tickets/
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Read More »
Set in an alternate present where the state is brutally divided between the secular capital of Tel Aviv and a Jerusalem governed by an ultra-Orthodox “Haredi Autonomy,” this dystopian thriller tells the story of a wheeler-dealer who smuggles contraband between the two regions and a little girl at the center of a secular-Orthodox custody battle. Israel is experiencing a golden age of episodic television, turning out some of the finest narrative storytelling in any medium, and we’ll screen all five episodes for a proper binge. Autonomies shows why Israel is fertile ground for powerful fiction: the series is a boiling cauldron of the issues of identity, religion, politics, and personal freedom that define life in the country today.
Cast: Assi Cohen, Shuli Rand, Taly Sharon, Dana Ivgy, Yaakov Zada Daniel, and Rotem Sela.
Director: Yehonatan Indursky (co-creator of Shtisel.)
Writers: Yehonatan Indursky & Ori Elon
Format: Five episodes, 1 x 51 minutes, 4 x 45 minutes
Note: This event is only accessible in Texas (excluding Houston.)
Presentation partner:
This event is a co-presentation of the Austin Jewish Film Festival and Barshop JCC of San Antonio.
AJFF365 is AJFF’s year-round program, providing the quality films AJFF is known for all year long—no need to wait a whole year for the next festival!
AJFF365 is a partnership program with Shalom Austin and most AJFF365 physical events take place on the Dell Jewish Community Campus in Austin. Since the start of the pandemic, all AJFF365 events have been taking place online instead.
Audiences attend AJFF365 programs by purchasing tickets to specific events or by purchasing an AJFF365 Subscription which gives access to all AJFF365 events for 12 months from the date of purchase. Note that the AJFF365 Subscription does not include access to the annual festival.
To purchase a subscription, click on the logo above.
This summer, the Barshop JCC presents its first ever San Antonio Jewish Film Festival “Summer Series.”
Starting May 24 and running through September 12, the Summer Series takes the place of previous iterations of the mini-fests that occurred throughout the year.
Unlike the Barshop JCC’s prior film events that normally take place over a week or weekend, this experience will be different as each film will have a dedicated viewing window for at least two weeks.
For more information click on the adjacent Summer Series logo.