Jewishfilm.2004 presents 10 Boston
area premieres including special programs for Holocaust Remembrance
Day (Yom Ha Shoah), Israel Memorial Day (Yom Hazikaron) and Israel Independence
Day (Yom HaAztmaut)
The opening program – which coincides with the Brandeis Spring
Arts Festival - features Dziga and his Brothers,
a new Russian film tribute to the famous Kaufman brothers who revolutionized
cinematography preceded by one of the restored gems Jewish
Life In Bialystok from the archives of the National
Center for Jewish Film.
Highlights of the festival include Anouk Aimee’s marvelous performance
in Marceline Loridan-Ivens feature film A Birch-Tree
Meadow (the literal translation of Birkenau) about her experiences
at Auschwitz Birkenau. Winner of the best Jewish film in Jerusalem in
July, Mark Jenkins of The Village Voice voted this film the best-undistributed
feature of 2003. It will screen at 7 pm on Holocaust Remembrance day
preceded at 4 PM by Hiding and Seeking: Faith
and Tolerance After the Holocaust a poignant new documentary that
opened commercially in NYC in February to rave reviews.
In
commemoration of Israel Memorial Day a special screening of The
First Israeli in Space: Ilan Ramon (pictured left, below) who was a soldier as well as
an astronaut will be held on Saturday evening April 24th. Filmmaker
Neil Weisbord, (a former WGBH-TV director) followed Ilan Ramon and his
family for four years as he trained for this historic flight The screening
will provide a proper tribute to this fallen hero. At 4:30 pm on Sunday
the 25th, David Ofek’s documentary, No. 17
is Anonymous provides an appropriate tribute to those who have been
killed and injured in the numerous terrorists’ incidents. This
simple yet poignant film won DocAviv in April 2003 and was invited to
New Directors in NYC and Hotdocs in Montreal
In celebration of Israel Independence Day, The
Barbeque People (pictured left, above) provides some mystery, levity and ethnic flavor.
This feature opens and closes on a hill in Ashdod overlooking the Mediterranean
Sea the site of an annual Independence Day BBQ of the Iraqi community.
The festival covers a wide range of Jewish experiences – many
focusing on immigration (Exodus to Berlin)
and identity (Black Israel) before closing
on a lighter note with a new German film about post-Communist adolescence, When Grandpa Loved Rita Hayworth.
All screenings will take place in the Edie
and Lew Wasserman Cinematheque in the Sachar International Center
located on the Brandeis campus in Waltham, MA
Tickets are $8, Seniors $6, groups of 20
or more $5, festival passes $60, senior festival passes $50 Brandeis
University faculty and students free with ID. |