New York Jewish Film Festival 2022

The Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center are delighted to continue their partnership to bring you the 31st annual New York Jewish Film Festival, presenting films from around the world that explore the Jewish experience. This year’s Festival presents an engaging lineup of narratives, documentaries, and shorts in a hybrid format, with some screenings occurring in person at the Walter Reade Theater, and some presented virtually. Highlights include Mano Khalil’s drama Neighbours, which tells the story of a young Kurdish boy in a Syrian border village and his friendship with a Jewish family; Rose, by Aurélie Saada, focusing on a 78-year-old Parisian woman, played by iconic French actress Françoise Fabian, who rebels against ageist and sexist stereotypes to reinvent herself; and a tribute program, curated with filmmaker Lisa Collins, to film historian Pearl Bowser, who worked at the Jewish Museum in 1970 on a landmark film series called “The Black Film.”
For those interested in additional information about NYJFF titles, please refer to our Print Source guide.
Organized by Rachel Chanoff, Lisa Collins, Indigo Sparks, and Aviva Weintraub, with Dennis Lim and Dan Sullivan as advisors, and with assistance from Ana Maroto. Watch a preview from the programming team below.
The New York Jewish Film Festival is made possible by the Martin and Doris Payson Fund for Film and Media.
Generous support is also provided by Wendy Fisher and the Kirsh Foundation, Sara and Axel Schupf, Mimi and Barry Alperin, Louise and Frank Ring, the Ike, Molly and Steven Elias Foundation, The Carl Marks Foundation, Inc., Amy Rubenstein, and Steven and Sheira Schacter.
Additional support is provided by the Consulate General of Israel in New York, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, and the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Film at Lincoln Center receives additional support for the New York Jewish Film Festival from The Jack & Pearl Resnick Foundation.
Virtual
See more and save with the NYJFF Virtual Bundle! Discover 15 programs, including features, shorts, and a series, for just $85 (a more than 50% savings!).
The Death of Cinema and My Father Too
N.Y. Premiere | Get Virtual Tickets
Having abandoned a film project when his father, cast in the lead role, succumbed to cancer, director Dani Rosenberg returned to the material with a meta-narrative about a filmmaker collaborating with his ailing father in this playful statement on cinema’s power to freeze a moment but not stop the flow of time.The End of Love
From Where They Stood
N.Y. Premiere | Get Virtual Tickets
From Where They Stood details the heroic efforts of prisoners in Nazi concentration and death camps to photograph the realities of their existence. Director Christophe Cognet scrupulously considers the individuals who took the photos—their methods and motives—and the figures populating their images, rescuing them from historical anonymity and endowing them with human dimensions.Wet Dog
With No Land
Kaddish
World Premiere of 4K Restoration | Get Virtual Tickets & In-Person | Q&A with director Steve Brand
The son of a Hungarian Holocaust survivor, Yossi’s childhood was dominated by his father’s belief that the Shoah could recur at any time. Filmmaker Steve Brand spent five years chronicling the lives of the Klein family; the resulting film, Kaddish, shows us 1980s New York and activist Yossi Klein Halevi in his formative years.Short Films on Creativity
We Were the Others, preceded by Alone Together
Cinema Sabaya
Tiger Within
Xueta Island
Special Program: Tribute to Pearl Bowser
Grossman, preceded by The Last Chapter of A.B. Yehoshua
U.S. Premieres | Get Virtual Tickets & In-Person
In The Last Chapter of A.B. Yehoshua, A.B. Yehoshua, “the Israeli Faulkner,” shares his late-period reflections, emerging as a living testament to wholehearted engagement with the world. In Grossman, Israeli author and peace activist David Grossman speaks eloquently on the nexus of art and existence.Shtetlers
Labyrinth of Peace
In-Person
See more and save with the NYJFF In-Theater All-Access Pass for just $95 (approx. 40% savings!).
Neighbours
Opening Film | Q&A with director Mano Khalil and actor Jay Abdo
Six-year-old Sero and his family live in a Kurdish community near the Syrian/Turkish border in the early 1980s. He’s extremely fond of his Jewish neighbors, but perplexed when a new teacher propagates fiery nationalism and anti-Semitism. Director Mano Khalil mines childhood experiences with a welcome sense of humor, while drawing tragic parallels with the plight of contemporary Syria.The Lost Film of Nuremberg
U.S. Premiere | Q&As with director Jean-Christophe Klotz and producer Sandra Schulberg
Adapted from a monograph by Sandra Schulberg, The Lost Film of Nuremberg retraces the hunt by brothers Budd and Stuart Schulberg for film evidence that could convict the Nazis at the Nuremberg Trial. Seventy-five years later, Jean-Christophe Klotz uncovers never-before-seen footage and interviews key figures to unravel why the resulting film about the trial was intentionally buried by the U.S. government. Screens with Jane Wells's A Kaddish for Selim.Kaddish
World Premiere of 4K Restoration | Get Virtual Tickets & In-Person | Q&A with director Steve Brand
The son of a Hungarian Holocaust survivor, Yossi’s childhood was dominated by his father’s belief that the Shoah could recur at any time. Filmmaker Steve Brand spent five years chronicling the lives of the Klein family; the resulting film, Kaddish, shows us 1980s New York and activist Yossi Klein Halevi in his formative years.Sin La Habana
Centerpiece Film | Q&As with director Kaveh Nabatian
A salsa dance instructor and his girlfriend, a lawyer, who seek to escape Cuba by any means, ensnare an Iranian-Jewish woman in their plot. Writer/director/composer Kaveh Nabatian, himself Iranian-Canadian, offers a lyrical and deeply felt meditation on cross-cultural relationships, with their attendant gulfs of religion and background, further complicated by the hidden agendas of all concerned parties.Persian Lessons
Q&As with director Vadim Perelman
A Belgian Jew in a Nazi concentration camp escapes execution by claiming to be Persian, but his ruse grows complicated when he’s ordered to teach the language (which he does not speak) to an SS officer. He must somehow fabricate a language, complete with rules and extensive vocabulary, knowing that exposure will cost him his life in this suspenseful, performance-driven film.The Will to See
Q&A with director Bernard-Henri Lévy
This eye-opening essay film grew out of philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy’s journalistic coverage of places where human suffering predominates. Journeying from Mogadishu, Somalia, “a ghost town abandoned to the warlords,” to Nigeria, where Christians are massacred with impunity, Lévy spotlights locations the world cannot afford to keep ignoring.A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff
Q&As with director Alicia J. Rose and others
Set on Wall Street in 2008, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff offers a singular perspective on devastating financial fraud. Musician/poet Alicia Jo Rabins plays herself in New York’s financial district, obsessing over Madoff and the capitalist system that enabled him, in this head-spinning hybrid of fantasy, music, and personal memoir.Raymonde El Bidaouia
Grossman, preceded by The Last Chapter of A.B. Yehoshua
U.S. Premieres | Get Virtual Tickets & In-Person
In The Last Chapter of A.B. Yehoshua, A.B. Yehoshua, “the Israeli Faulkner,” shares his late-period reflections, emerging as a living testament to wholehearted engagement with the world. In Grossman, Israeli author and peace activist David Grossman speaks eloquently on the nexus of art and existence.Rose
Closing Night Film | U.S. Premiere
Suddenly widowed at 78, family matriarch Rose learns to pursue her desires, rejecting the societal pressure to “act her age” and fade into benign oblivion. A career-crowning turn from screen legend Françoise Fabian (onetime star of My Night at Maud’s) highlights this life-affirming reminder that it’s never too late to seek fulfillment.In-Theater
In-Theater ticket prices are $15 for the general public; $12 for students, seniors, and persons with disabilities; and $10 for FLC and JM members. In-person tickets can be purchased by clicking the showtimes on the “Schedule” or “Films” tabs above.
NYJFF In-Theater All-Access Pass – See more and save with the NYJFF In-Theater All-Access Pass for just $95 (approx. 40% savings!).
Virtual
Virtual Cinema prices are $12 for the general public; $9.60 for FLC and JM members.
NYJFF Virtual All-Access Bundle – See more and save with the NYJFF Virtual Bundle for just $85 (approx. 50% savings!).
One rental per account. For ticketing assistance or questions about the virtual cinema, please email [email protected].
New York Jewish Film Festival 2022
The Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center are delighted to continue their partnership to bring you the 31st annual New York Jewish Film Festival, presenting films from around the world that explore the Jewish experience. Read More
New York Jewish Film Festival 2020
The Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center are delighted to continue their partnership to bring you the 29th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, presenting films from around the world that explore the Jewish experience. Read More
New York Jewish Film Festival 2019
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. Read More
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. Read More
New York Jewish Film Festival 2017
The 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival features a wide-ranging and exciting lineup of films and shorts from the iconic to the iconoclastic. Including global, U.S., and New York premieres, a tribute to actress and cabaret artist Valeska Gert, a 50th anniversary screening of Mel Brooks’s The Producers, and a related poster exhibition honoring the life and work of Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, this year’s NYJFF will entertain film lovers from all backgrounds. Read More
New York Jewish Film Festival 2016
The 25th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, co-presented by the Jewish Museum, features world, U.S., and New York premieres of films from around the globe, a retrospective of highlights from the past 25 years, plus other special programming in honor of our silver jubilee. Read More
New York Jewish Film Festival 2015
The 24th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, co-presented by the Jewish Museum, features world, U.S., and New York premieres of films from around the globe, plus special “beyond the screen” programs, including a poster exhibition and panel discussions. Read More
New York Jewish Film Festival 2014
Join us for the 23rd annual New York Jewish Film Festival, a preeminent showcase for world cinema exploring the Jewish experience. This year’s edition includes premieres of films from around the globe, plus a number of “beyond the screen” programs including a symposium, a master class, and exhibitions of the posters and title sequences of the great Saul Bass. Read More
New York Jewish Film Festival 2013
Join us for the 22nd annual New York Jewish Film Festival, a preeminent showcase for world cinema exploring the Jewish experience. Dramatic features, fascinating documentaries, enjoyable comedies and a wide variety of shorts are presented by The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The Festival includes world, U.S. and New York premieres. Read More