BOSTON PREMIERE

Q&A following the screening with special guest:

Johanna Neumann, Survivor Rescued by Albanians & Employee, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Besa explores the little known history of Albanian Muslims who risked their lives to rescue Jews during WWII, following the lead of their exiled king who had granted asylum to Jewish refugees. A remarkable, personal story unfolds when Norman H. Gershman’s project to photograph these brave rescuers uncovers Muslim Albanian toyshop owner Rexhep Hoxha, who sets out to find the Jewish family his father sheltered 60 years before and to return the sacred Jewish books left in his care. The film features Gershman’s striking portraits, award-winning cinematography and an original score by Philip Glass.

“A lesson in interfaith cooperation.” –CNN

“A story like no other.” –Huffington Post

USA | 2012 | 86m | English, Albanian & Hebrew w/ English subtitles | Director: Rachel Goslins

SPONSORS: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Facing History and Ourselves; Jewish Genealogical Society of Boston; American Islamic Congress; Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Israel Campus Roundtable

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE

On a remote farm in the Black Forest during WWII, a German peasant couple Fritz (Hans-Jochen Wagner) and Emma (Brigitte Hobmeier) allow a young Jew named Albert (Christian Friedel) to hide and work on their farm despite their own anti-semitism and Nazi patrolmen amongst their peers. In this intimate, intense psychological drama, hidden motivations emerge and power dynamics tighten and shift. Charged with eroticism, emotional intrigue and unexpected twists, the film is bookended by poignant scenes set in 1970s Israel starring Rami Heuberger (Dear Mr. Waldman, JF2007). Please note: adult content.

Official Selection Berlin Film Festival

Winner Best Actress and Best Ecumenical Jury Prize, Montreal World Film Festival.

Germany/Israel | 2012 | 100m | German w/ English subtitles | Director: Franziska Schlotterer

CO-PRESENTED BY: Goethe-Institut Boston; Center for German & European Studies at Brandeis University

SPONSORS: Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Israel Campus Roundtable

MASSACHUSETTS PREMIERE

Sassy nine-year-old Rachel Gladstein (Juliette Gombert) lives with her adoring but overprotective Tunisian-Jewish, meatball fixated mother (Agnès Jaoui) and distracted Holocaust survivor father (Denis Podalydès) in 1980s provincial France. Rachel forms a bond with her eccentric child psychologist Madame Trebla (Isabella Rossellini) and a new best friend, wild-child classmate Valérie (Anna Lemarchand). Adapted from a novel by Raphaële Moussafir and featuring engaging performances by a cast of A-list actors, The Dandelions brims with quirky charm and humor, imaginative production design, and an unpredictable story suspended between realism, pathos, and flights of fancy.

Official Selection Palm Springs Int’l Film Festival

“Sweetly entertaining.” –Variety

France | 2012 | 89m | French w/ English subtitles | Director: Carine Tardieu

CO-PRESENTED BY: Boston French Film Festival presented by Museum of Fine Arts & French Consulate in Boston

SPONSORS: Combined Jewish Philanthropies

PLEASE NOTE: The trailer at left has no subtitles. Film will screen with English subtitles.

BOSTON PREMIERE

Eighteen-year-old Shira (Hadas Yaron in a mesmerizing performance), the youngest daughter of a deeply religious Hasidic family in Tel Aviv, is about to be engaged to a promising match when an unexpected death occurs, engulfing the family in grief and putting Shira’s future on hold. Caught between familial responsibility and unfamiliar romantic yearnings, Shira soon faces a perplexing marriage proposal. Filmmaker Rama Burshtein, who became ultra-Orthodox after film school, imbues this rare film with great authenticity. Cinematographer Asaf Sudry (Beaufort) keeps the camera intimately close to the actors, who include Yiftach Klein (The Policeman, JF2012 & Noodle, JF2008).

Short Listed for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar

Nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature & Best Screenplay

Israel | 2012 | 90m | Hebrew w/ English subtitles | Director/Writer: Rama Burshtein

Click here to read Haaretz interview with filmmaker Rama Burshtein

CO-PRESENTED BY: Boston Jewish Film Festival

SPONSOR: Hebrew Language & Literature Program at Brandeis University; Consulate General of Israel to New England; Israel Campus Roundtable

MASSACHUSETTS PREMIERE

In Meni Yaesh’s provocative drama, Avi (Roy Assaf) and his testosterone-fueled gang of Orthodox extremists terrorize Tel Aviv’s Bat Yam neighborhood, berating immodestly clothed women, harassing store owners who do not observe Shabbat, and bloodying Arabs who stray onto their turf. Avi begins to question his behavior when beautiful, independent Miri (Rotem Zisman-Cohen) moves into the neighborhood. Winner of major prizes at the Cannes and Jerusalem film festivals and two Israeli Academy Awards for acting.

“As forceful as a kick in the jaw, God's Neighbors represents a sharp rebuke of bigotry and male aggression perpetrated under the banner of religious orthodoxy.” –Variety

“Tarantino-esque.” –New York Times

Israel | 2012 | 98m | Hebrew w/ English subtitles | Director/Writer: Meni Yaesh

SPONSORS: Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Israel Campus Roundtable; Consulate General of Israel to New England

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE - Opening Night Film

The great Barbara Sukowa fully inhabits the role of Hannah Arendt in Margarethe von Trotta's fascinating biography of the influential philosopher and political theorist, whose reporting on the 1961 trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann led to her famous concept of the "banality of evil." Arendt’s controversial coverage for The New Yorker provokes an immediate scandal and Arendt, a beguiling blend of arrogance and vulnerability, finds herself attacked by both friends and foes. Co-stars include Janet McTeer as Mary McCarthy. NCJF previously screened von Trotta’s Rosenstrasse (2004) and Rosa Luxemburg (1986).

Presented in conjunction with The Trial of Adolf Eichmann.

Germany/Israel | 2012 | 109m | English & German w/ English subtitles | Director: Margarethe von Trotta

CO-PRESENTED BY: Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis University; Center for German & European Studies at Brandeis University; Goethe-Institut Boston

SPONSORS: Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Israel Campus Roundtable; Consulate General of Israel to New England

SPECIAL SCREENING WITH DIRECTOR

Special Guest: Director Jeanine Meerapfel

Born to German Jewish émigrés fleeing Hitler, Jeanine Meerapfel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1943. She “returned” to Germany in 1964 to attend film school and much of her work reflects her family’s experience of displacement. Meerapfel directly addresses her own Jewish identity and the implications of her decision to move to Germany in her groundbreaking 1981 documentary In the Country of My Parents, which offers revealing interviews with Jews living in post war Germany.

Presented in conjunction with Meerapfel’s new film My German Friend.

Germany | 1981| 88m | German w/ English subtitles | Director/Writer: Jeanine Meerapfel

CO-PRESENTED BY: Goethe-Institut Boston; Center for German & European Studies at Brandeis University

SPONSORS: Argentinean Jewish Relief Committee; Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis University

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE

Special Guest at MFA: Igor Lukes, Honorary Consul of Czech Republic in Boston & Professor of International Relations & History, Boston University

A noir thriller set behind the Iron Curtain in 1950s Prague, this suspenseful crime drama follows police captain Hakl (Ivan Trojan, four time Czech Lion winner) as he investigates a seemingly mundane robbery. Hakl defiantly continues his investigation even after his superiors bring in Major Zenke (Sebastian Koch, The Lives of Others) a “specialist” from East Germany, who turns his attention to the Jewish community. Handsomely photographed by cinematographer Adam Skiora (My Australia, JF2012), the film was the Czech entry for Best Foreign Film Oscar.

"A sleek, gorgeously old-fashioned noir that is stylish, yet clean and controlled... recalls the Coen Brothers' masterful Miller's Crossing." –Indiewire

"A scathing, expertly directed political commentary." –Hollywood Reporter

Czech Republic/Poland/Israel | 2012 | 106m | Czech w/ English subtitles | Director/Writer: David Ondricek

CO-PRESENTED BY: Sarnat Center for the Study of Anti-Jewishness at Brandeis University

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE

London based Israeli restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi, author of the mouthwatering cookbook Jerusalem, takes an immersive, tantalizing culinary journey through his hometown in Jerusalem On A Plate. Starting in the Old City, where food and politics are ever present, Israelis and Palestinians each lay claim to traditional treats like hummus and falafel. Elsewhere in the city, from humble street vendors and Arab and Jewish home cooks to the culinary arts of fusion chefs, Ottolenghi discovers how immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North Africa contribute distinctive flavors and techniques to Israel’s ever-evolving, diverse food culture.

UK/Israel | 2012 | 60m | English | Director: James Nutt

SPONSORS: Department of Near Eastern & Judaic Studies at Brandeis University; Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Israel Campus Roundtable; Consulate General of Israel to New England

Yotam Ottolenghi's delicious cookbook Jerusalem will be available for purchase at the screenings. Jerusalem recently named "Cookbook of the Year" by IACP Listen to Yotam Ottolenghi on NPR's All Things Considered

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE

Special Guests: Sharon Pucker Rivo & Lisa Rivo,
Co-Directors of NCJF

Event Screening of The National Center for Jewish Film�s
New Film Restoration

A bissel of this, a bissel of that, Kol Nidre has a little bit of everything, combining family melodrama and romance with popular songs, cantorial music and comic bits in an inventive pastiche of themes and styles. The film stars Lili Liliana & Leon Liebgold, the husband and wife Polish actors from The Dybbuk, comedienne Yetta Zwerling, Motl the Operator star Chaim Tauber, and entertainer Cantor Leibele Waldman, with music by Sholem Secunda. Long lost, Kol Nidre has been restored with new English subtitles, using the sole surviving 35mm nitrate print.

“The most bizarre film you will see all year.” –Jewish Week

USA | 1939 | 88m | Yiddish w/ new English subtitles | Director: Joseph Seiden

For more about Kol Nidre click here

CO-PRESENTED BY: Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis University

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE - WITH DIRECTOR

Special Guest at ICA: Director Jeanine Meerapfel

In her remarkable new film, Jeanine Meerapfel (Malou, La Amiga) distills the momentous sweep of post-war Argentinean history into an intimate, humane love story that ricochets between Germany and Argentina, love and guilt, the political and the personal. In late 1950s Buenos Aires, young Sulamit Löwenstein (Celeste Cid), the daughter of German-Jewish immigrants, becomes friends with her neighbor Friedrich (Max Riemelt), the son of a senior SS officer. This oppressive legacy overshadows the couple for the next three decades as Celeste becomes a professor in Germany and Friedrich joins radical political movements in Germany and Argentina.

“Brilliant.” –Argentina Independent

Presented in conjunction with Meerapfel’s film In the Country of My Parents.

Germany/Argentina | 2012 | 100m | Spanish & German w/ English subtitles | Director/Writer: Jeanine Meerapfel

CO-PRESENTED BY: Goethe-Institut Boston; Center for German & European Studies at Brandeis University

SPONSOR: Argentinean Jewish Relief Committee

PLEASE NOTE: The trailer at left has no subtitles. Film will screen with English subtitles.

SNEAK PREVIEW

While mapping caves in the Ukraine, ex-NYC cop and explorer Chris Nicola discovered signs of human habitation: a house key, dishware, names scrawled on a cave wall. He spent a decade verifying impossible-to-believe rumors, that yes, “maybe some Jews lived down there.” This heart stopping tale of survival and ingenuity tells the remarkable story of 38 Ukrainian Jews who survived the Holocaust by living for 511 days in deep underground caves.

“Let those who think they’ve heard every inspiring tale of survival see this film.”- The Hollywood Reporter

Winner Audience Award Hamptons Int’l FF.

USA/UK/Germany | 2012 | 83m | Director: Janet Tobias

For more on the making of No Place on Earth click here.

BOSTON PREMIERE

This powerful film examines the complex relationships Auschwitz survivors—and their descendents—have with the numbers tattooed on their arms. Interviews with more than 30 survivors reveal a variety of attitudes and plenty of stories about how other people react to the inescapable past writ large on their skin. “To me, this is not a scar,” Leo Luster, 82, says. “It is a medal.” Anshel Sharezky, 81, one of three men with almost consecutive numbers (B14594, B14595, B14597), explains, “We were strangers standing in line in Auschwitz. We all survived different paths of hell, and we met in Israel. We stand here together now after 65 years. Do you realize the magnitude of the miracle?” Numbered was recently featured on Page One of The New York Times.

"A straightforward but inescapably emotional item." -Variety

"A triumphant affirmation of human desire in the face of incalculable cruelty." -The Jewish Week

Israel/USA | 2012 | 55m | Hebrew w/ English subtitles | Directors: Uriel Sinai & Dana Doron

SPONSORS: Facing History and Ourselves; Boston 3G; Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Israel Campus Roundtable; Consulate General of Israel to New England

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE

Kamel Nadjer (Adnan Abu Wadi) is a Bedouin and an Israeli military veteran who works as a bus station security guard near Be’er Sheva. Tensions rise when authorities deliver a demolition order for his makeshift home that sits on isolated land his family has lived on since the Ottoman Empire but that remains unrecognized by the Israeli government. Wadi gives an exquisite performance as a dignified man who yearns to be fully accepted by the country he lives in.

Filmed in the Negev Desert, Sharqiya was an official selection at the Berlin Film Festival and Cannes Film Festivals.

Winner Best Feature Film & Best Editing at the Jerusalem Film Festival.

“Poignant, low-key drama.” –Variety

"Excellent film…has a rhythm of its own…Livne has a great cinematic vision.” –Haaretz

Israel/France/Germany | 2012 | 82m | Arabic & Hebrew w/ English subtitles | Director: Ami Livne

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE

The 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann held in an Israeli courtroom and broadcast around the globe, was a benchmark event in the historiography of the Holocaust, especially in Israel where the trial proved a watershed experience for survivors and citizens of the new Jewish state. Employing new video and broadcast technologies, the trial was also a milestone in media and journalism coverage. From the producers of Being Jewish in France (JF2008) and Einsatzgruppen (JF2010), this absorbing, comprehensive new documentary features detailed accounts of Eichmann’s capture, the drama in the courtroom and behind the scenes, and reactions to the trial around the world.

Presented in conjunction with Hannah Arendt.

France | 2011 | 90m | English narration, Hebrew, German & French w/ English subtitles | Director: Michael Prazan

CO-PRESENTED BY: Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis University

SPONSORS: Facing History and Ourselves; Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Israel Campus Roundtable; Consulate General of Israel to New England

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE

The world is wondrously strange in this tender new drama from Israeli fabulist Shemi Zarhin (Aviva My Love, Noodle). This ambitious multi-strand tale about storytelling—and a fractured family—unfolds in a friendly Tiberias, where reality and fantasy intertwine. Told with precision, the connections between the characters and their stories grow in richness and complexity as the film progresses. A sharp sense of humor enriches this melancholy yet inspiring film that is a gigantic box office hit in Israel.

Featuring an all star, ensemble cast lead by Asi Levi, Eli Finish, Danny Shteg, Yehezkel Lazarov, and Moshe Ivgy, the film earned a record-setting 15 Israeli Academy Awards nominations.

"Shemi Zarhin's follow-up to the hugely successful Aviva My Love is his best film to date, returning to his hometown of Tiberias, here transformed into a city of dreams and fables. It's a funny, moving and sexy masterpiece that deals with the redeeming power of stories. This brilliantly written film is superbly shot by DP Yaron Sharf (Footnote), and, in this reviewer's eyes, is the best Israeli film of 2012." -Cinemascope

Israel | 2012 | 127m | Hebrew w/ English subtitles | Director: Shemi Zarhin

SPONSORS: Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Israel Campus Roundtable; Consulate General of Israel to New England

@ Boston Independent Film Festival
Sunday, April 28, 12:30pm at Brattle Theater, Cambridge

Garden of Eden
EAST COAST PREMIERE

Director Ran Tal (Children of the Sun, JF2008) reveals the unique beauty, humor, pain and compassion at the heart of Israeli life through stories of visitors to Israel’s famous park, Gan HaShlosha, known as the Sakhne. Best Documentary Director, Jerusalem Film Festival Israel | 2012 | 74m | Hebrew w/ English subtitles | Director: Ran Tal

Visit iffboston.org for details & tickets

@ Boston LGBT Film Festival
Wednesday, May 8, 9:00pm at Brattle Theater, Cambridge

Out in the Dark
BOSTON PREMIERE

A gay romance thriller centering on an Israeli lawyer (Michael Aloni, The Policeman, JF2012) and a Palestinian student (Nicholas Jacob). Winner Best Film, Haifa Int’l Film Festival. Israel | 2012 | 96m | Hebrew & Arabic w/ English subtitles | Director: Michael Mayer

Visit bostonlgbtfilmfest.org for details & tickets