“We are committed to bringing our audiences the very best films with Jewish content from around the globe, both fiction and documentary,” says Amy Geller, BJFF Artistic Director. “BJFF 2014 has a stellar line-up of films and related events--guest speakers, moderated discussions, after-parties, and in-person visits from filmmakers, actors, and other artists.”
This year, there are 39 films from 14 countries including Cuba, Greece, Morocco, and the Philippines, and of course many from Israel and the United States.17 films are New England premieres.
Says Geller: “Our festival strives to bring together a passionate Jewish community as well as movie lovers of all faiths and walks of life. And of all ages. This year, we have several fun, edgy programs, the FRESHFLIX picks, curated by and for younger adults (20’s-40’s). With something for everyone, we anticipate breaking our record last year of over 10,000 tickets sold and 17 sold-out films.”
BJFF 2014 Special Highlights include:
• Fifth Commandment Series: Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother
In Exodus, Moses received the Ten Commandments. “Honor thy father and thy mother was the fifth, and sometimes, through the centuries, the hardest to live by. The 2014 BJFF explores the complicated relationships between Jewish parents and their children in nine thought-provoking and often humorous films.
• Sports!
This year, the BJFF presents two sports related films: Touchdown Israel and Havana Curveball
Touchdown Israel
Yes, there’s American football in the Holy Land, an eleven-team league of pigskin crazy amateurs, who play on too-short soccer fields while wives and parents look on anxiously. The players and coaches represent a cross-section of Israeli society, including Arabs, Christians, and religious settlers; their shared passion creates unexpected friendships. Includes an interview with New England Patriots owner, Bob Kraft, one of the supporters of the Israeli league. (Saturday, November 15, 6:30 p.m., Belmont Studio Cinema)
• Family Programming: Havana Curveball (recommended for ages 8 and up):
As part of his Bar Mitzvah project, “Thirteen-year-old Mica takes to heart his Rabbi’s dictate to help ‘heal the world,’ and launches a grand plane to send baseballs to Cuba—a country with a mysterious pull. He knows only that Cubans have few resources, love baseball, and gave refuge to his grandfather during the Holocaust. The filmmakers, also Mica’s proud parents, know a curveball is coming…” –Washington Jewish Film Festival (Sunday, November 9, 2:15 p.m., Coolidge Corner Theatre)
• FRESHFLIX, a new program targeting young adults 20’s-40’s, kicks off with two events:
The Hole Story with director, writer and actor Alex Karpovsky, a Newton native. Filmgoers will have the opportunity to meet Karpovsky, a star of HBO’s Girls, and listen to his stories about his friendship and work with Lena Dunham, acting for the Coen Brothers, and much, much more. (Saturday, November 8, 6:30 p.m., Coolidge Corner Theatre)
The 4th Annual Short Film Competition. The audience will meet and mingle with a new wave of young filmmakers, pick the winning shorts via text voting, and, afterward, clink glasses with Boston’s tastemakers at the Saloon in Somerville’s Davis Square. (Tuesday, November 11, 7:00 p.m., Somerville Theatre)
• Honoring a Great American Director: Paul Mazursky:
The BJFF mourns the death this year of Hollywood veteran director Paul Mazursky, best known for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, but who also made classic films about Jewish identity—Blume in Love; Enemies, A Love Story; and the film BJFF is screening on November 16 at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Next Stop Greenwich Village. Perhaps no other American film has so profoundly captured what it felt like to be young and enraptured by New York City. (Sunday, November 16, 4:00 p.m., Institute of Contemporary Art)
• Favorite Films from the Famous asks: which classic Jewish films have influenced local luminaries? Anita Diamant, the celebrated author of the best-selling The Red Tent, will present Joan Micklin Silver’s Hester Street. It’s a bracing comedy of Jewish immigration and assimilation, starring Carol Kane, an Academy Award nominee for Best Actress. (Thursday, November 13, 6:45 p.m., Coolidge Corner Theatre)
• BJFF Community Leadership Award: The BJFF is proud to honor Deborah Nathan with the 2nd Annual Community Leadership Award for her passionate commitment to social justice and to improving society. Nathan, an arts therapy specialist and professional artist, founded Artsbridge, an organization that uses art and dialogue to develop constructive partnerships between American, Israeli, and Palestinian youth. (Sunday, November 9, 5:00 p.m., Coolidge Corner Theatre)
• The Local Connection!
In addition to Touchdown Israel and the Alex Karpovsky event, the BJFF 2014 will screen three additional films with local ties:
Sweet Blues: A Film About Mike Bloomfield
The late Chicago guitarist stands in the pantheon of Jewish rock ’n’ rollers alongside Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, with whom he played on Highway 61 Revisited. This colorful musical biography Includes interviews with Carlos Santana, BB King, the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, and with Bloomfield’s friend, Al Kooper, formerly of Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Kooper, recently a Berklee professor, will be in person at the film screening along with director Bob Sarles. (Saturday, November 15, 9:00 p.m., Brattle Theatre)
Next Stop: Greenwich Village
In Paul Mazursky’s autobiographical comedy set in the 1950s, Larry Lapinsky crosses the bridge from Brooklyn and his larger-than-life Jewish mother (an astonishing Shelly Winters) to become an actor, a lover, and a Greenwich Village bohemian. With sublime supporting performances from Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Walken and a commanding lead from the late Lenny Baker, a Brookline native and a BU graduate. (Sunday, November 16, 4:00 p.m., Institute of Contemporary Art)
Watchers of the Sky
Juxtaposing four stories of courage and humanity, and journeying from Nuremburg to Bosnia to Rwanda to The Hague, Watchers of the Sky chronicles the extraordinary life of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish Jew who created the word “genocide.” Inspired by Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem from Hell, which praised Lemkin for his seminal contribution to international law. A discussion follows, moderated by Dean Martha Minow, Harvard Law School.
This screening is presented in partnership with The Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Law School Human Rights Program, the Visual and Environmental Studies Department at Harvard, Facing History & Ourselves and DocYard. The last is an award-winning film and discussion series of documentaries at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge. (Saturday, November 8, 6:30 p.m., Brattle Theatre)
Festival Locations, Tickets, and Sponsors
Locations: Venues include AMC Framingham, AMC Liberty Tree Mall 20, Arlington Capitol Theatre, Belmont Studio Cinema, Brattle Theatre, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Showcase Cinema de Lux Patriot Place, Somerville Theatre, Warwick Cinema, and West Newton Cinema.
Tickets: Film descriptions, schedule, and ticket information are available now at bjff.org. Tickets go on sale via the web site on September 22. All films, with the exception of Special Events, are $14 general admission; $12 for seniors, students and members of the BJFF, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Institute of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts and WGBH. Special Events: Opening Night (Nov. 6), Mid-Fest Film (Nov. 13) and Boston Closing Night (Nov. 17): $26 General Admission/$24 Discount. Sponsors:
Festival sponsors include: Adelson Family Foundation, Cambridge Trust Co., Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Consulate General of Israel to New England, The Cross Country Group, Franklin Sports, Israel Bonds, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Newbridge on the Charles, and Northern Trust.
The Boston Jewish Film Festival, a not-for-profit arts organization, celebrates the richness of the Jewish experience through film and media. Throughout the year, the Festival engages and inspires the community to explore the full spectrum of Jewish life and culture.