New York Jewish Film Festival 2018

This year’s festival features an exciting lineup of documentary, narrative, and short films, including new work by fresh voices in international cinema as well as restored classics.

Main Slate

Razzia

Nabil Ayouch

Razzia

2017|

France / Morocco / Belgium|

120 minutes|

French/Arabic/Berber with English subtitles

Five Moroccans are pushed to the fringes in Casablanca by the extremist government in this kaleidoscopic drama, an honest and deeply humanistic portrait of contemporary Moroccans yearning for connection amidst political crisis.

The Cakemaker

Ofir Raul Graizer

The Cakemaker

2017|

Germany / Israel|

104 minutes|

English/Hebrew/German with English subtitles

A gay German baker and the Israeli widow of the man they both loved connect after his death by auto accident in this delicate and graceful exploration of the fluidity of desire and sexuality.

West of the Jordan River

2017|

Amos Gitai, Israel / France|

87 minutes|

Hebrew/Arabic/English with English subtitles

In this powerful and moving new documentary, Amos Gitai returns to the West Bank to better understand the efforts of Israeli and Palestinian citizens to try to overcome the consequences of the 50-year occupation.

Across the Waters

Nicolo Donato

Across the Waters

2016|

Denmark|

95 minutes|

Danish with English subtitles

A Jewish guitarist and his family barely escape Copenhagen after the Nazis seize control, and set off to a remote fishing village in the north of the country in this masterful suspense thriller.

An Act of Defiance

Jean van de Velde

An Act of Defiance

2017|

Netherlands / South Africa|

123 minutes|

English/Afrikaans with English subtitles

Based on the true story of the Rivonia Trial in apartheid South Africa, An Act of Defiance is the story of Bram Fischer, the lawyer who chose to put his life and freedom at risk to defend Nelson Mandela.

The Cousin

Tzahi Grad

The Cousin

2017|

Israel / USA|

92 minutes|

Hebrew/Arabic with English subtitles

A Palestinian handyman is accused of assaulting a young girl, and the progressive-minded Israeli actor who has hired him to do work on his house steps up as the lone voice in his defense in this morally complex, comic-tinged drama. Preceded by The Law of Averages.

The Dead Nation

2017|

Romania|

83 minutes|

Romanian with English subtitles

Radu Jude’s (Aferim!) hauntingly beautiful documentary consists entirely of photographs from photographer Costica Acsinte that present idyllic images of pastoral life and audio of diary excerpts from a Jewish doctor, which portray a surging wave of anti-Semitism.

The Impure

Daniel Najenson

The Impure

2017|

Israel / Argentina|

69 minutes|

Spanish/Hebrew/Yiddish with English subtitles

During the wave of Eastern European Jewish emigration, thousands of Jewish women were lured with promises of wealth to Argentinian brothels. This trenchant documentary investigates this history, and weaves in the filmmaker’s own personal revelations on the matter. Preceded by Compartments.

The Invisibles

Claus Raefle

The Invisibles

2017|

Germany|

116 minutes|

German with English subtitles

This extraordinary film tells the story of four of the 1,700 Jews who hid in plain sight in Berlin throughout the war, though the capital was famously declared Berlin “judenfrei”—free of Jews.

Iom Romì (A Day in Rome)

2017|

Italy / USA|

34 minutes|

Italian with English subtitles

An intoxicating short documentary chronicling a day in the life of the contemporary Roman Jewish community is accompanied by two shorts: one made up of a Jewish-Italian family’s heartwarming home movies, recently unearthed by the Centro Primo Levi, the other a hypnotic story of an archivist who becomes part of her own work. Followed by Della Seta Home Movies and Counterlight.

The Last Goldfish

2017|

Australia|

81 minutes

When director Su Goldfish discovers as an adult that she has siblings she’s never met, she burrows through her parents’ pasts to uncover the truth in this introspective autobiographical documentary.

Let Yourself Go

Francesco Amato

Let Yourself Go

2017|

Italy|

98 minutes|

Italian with English subtitles

A detached psychoanalyst finds his life recharged by the presence of a young, attractive, and undisciplined personal trainer in this comedy, which veers from the intellectual to the delightfully slapstick. Preceded by The Backseat.

Mr. and Mrs. Adelman

2017|

France|

120 minutes|

French with English subtitles

This hilarious and absurd take on the romantic comedy slyly toys with the cliché of writer and muse, following a man as he transforms from non-committal aspiring writer to fame-obsessed egotist.

Praise the Lard

Chen Shelach

Praise the Lard

2016|

Israel|

60 minutes|

Hebrew with English subtitles

This documentary explores one of the biggest taboos in Judaism—pork—and how the existence of Israel’s pork industry came to exemplify much of the tension inherent in Zionism. Preceded by The Red House.

The Prince and the Dybbuk

Piotr Rosolowski & Elwira Niewiera

The Prince and the Dybbuk

2017|

Poland / Germany|

82 minutes|

English, Italian, Spanish, Polish, German with English subtitles

Michał Waszyński is remembered as a Polish aristocrat, Hollywood producer, a reprobate and liar, an open homosexual and husband to an Italian countess, and director of one of the most important Jewish films of all time, The Dybbuk. But who was he really? Preceded by A Hunger Artist.

Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me

2017|

USA|

100 minutes

In this exhilarating documentary, long-time Spike Lee collaborator Sam Pollard pays tribute to multi-talented, multi-racial entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. by scrutinizing the political complexities and contradictions that defined his career.

Tracking Edith

Peter Stephan Jungk

Tracking Edith

2016|

Austria / Germany / Russia / UK|

91 minutes|

English/German/Russian/French with English subtitles

This documentary follows filmmaker Peter Stephan Jungk’s journey to understand his great aunt, the Austro-British photographer Edith Tudor-Hart, who lived a double life as a spy for the KGB and created the Cambridge Five, the Soviet Union’s most successful spy ring in the United Kingdom.

Shorts Program

2017|

Various|

106 minutes|

Various languages

Six shorts from around the world run the gamut from documentary artist portraits to character dramas to experimental narratives.

From the Vaults

Avanti Popolo

Rafi Bukai

Avanti Popolo

1986|

Israel|

84 minutes|

Hebrew/Arabic/ English with English subtitles

Two Egyptian soldiers stranded in the Sinai Desert in the aftermath of the Six-Day War try to make their way back to safety across the Suez Canal in this absurd comedy that paints a humanistic, antiwar picture of Middle Eastern politics.

The Dybbuk

Michał Waszyński

The Dybbuk

1937|

Poland|

125 minutes|

Yiddish with English subtitles

A rich, ethnographic tapestry of Jewish legend, The Dybbuk is one of the finest films ever produced in the Yiddish language, filmed just before the outbreak of WWII and presented here in a brand-new restoration.

Late Summer Blues

Renen Schorr

Late Summer Blues

1988|

Israel|

103 minutes|

Hebrew with English subtitles

Late Summer Blues follows a group of high school graduates during the summer before they’re conscripted into the army. Restored after thirty years, this Israeli classic portrays the paradox of Israeli adolescence in raw, deeply human terms.

The Mission of Raoul Wallenberg

Alexander Rodnyanskiy

The Mission of Raoul Wallenberg

1990|

Soviet Union|

72 minutes|

Russian/English/German/Swedish with English subtitles

The Mission of Raoul Wallenberg investigates the mysterious circumstances surrounding the disappearance and death of Raoul Wallenberg—who had saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust in Budapest—following the end of WWII.

Siege

Gilberto Tofano

Siege

1969|

Israel|

89 minutes|

Hebrew with English subtitles

Siege is the story of a widow whose husband was killed in the Six-Day War and who wants to begin to put her grief behind her. But her late husband’s friends and family have other ideas—they expect her to remain in mourning for the rest of her life.

Tribute Screening

One Day You’ll Understand

2008|

France / Germany / Israel|

89 minutes|

French/German with English subtitles

When a middle-aged French businessman, discovers a trove of wartime letters from his late father, he discovers that his mother, Rivka (Jeanne Moreau), is a Jew. Moreau is splendid in this film, directed by Amos Gitai, screening in tribute to the legendary late actress.

Drawing the Iron Curtain: Maya Balakirsky Katz with J. Hoberman

90 minutes

This selection features shorts from the Soviet Union’s animation studio Soyuzmultfilm, which was as pervasive and influential in the Soviet imagination as Disney was in America’s. Art history professor Maya Balakirsky Katz and film critic J. Hoberman will discuss how the studio brought together Jewish artists from all over the USSR and served as a haven for dissident artists.

Talking Movies: Master Class with Sam Pollard

60 minutes

Join Sam Pollard, director of NYJFF Main Slate selection Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me, for a behind-the-scenes master class on documentary filmmaking. An Emmy and Peabody award-winning director, Sam Pollard has directed and produced numerous documentary films.

Opening Night - General Public
$25
Opening Night - Members
$20
General Public
$15
Students and Seniors
$12
Members
$10

The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center are delighted to continue their partnership to bring you the 27th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, presenting films from around the world that explore the diversity of Jewish experience.

This year’s festival features an exciting lineup of documentary, narrative, and short films, including new work by fresh voices in international cinema as well as restored classics.

Download our official brochure. For those interested in additional information about NYJFF titles, please refer to our Print Source guide.

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