12th Annual International Jewish Film Festival will be held at Cinema Salem.

Schedule:

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

7:00 p.m: Ask Dr. Ruth - $20
A documentary portrait chronicling the incredible life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became the United States' most famous sex therapist. As her 90th birthday approaches, Dr. Ruth revisits her painful past and her career at the forefront of the sexual revolution.

Thursday, May 8, 2025

7:00 p.m: A Real Pain - $15
Two mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. Directed and written by Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Zombieland) the film stars Eisenberg alongside Emmy and Golden Globe winner Kieran Culkin (Succession, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World).

Saturday, May 10, 2025

1:00 p.m: Avenue of Giants - $15
The true story of Herbert Heller who kept his miraculous escape from the Auschwitz Birkenau death march a secret for 60 years, even from his family. That is, until he meets Abbey, a young teenager whose own brush with pain and death inspires him to open up as well, leading the two of them to exchange their stories as a meaningful and healing friendship is born.

Monday, May 12, 2025

1:00 p.m: Here Lived - $15
German conceptual artist Gunter Demnig’s Stolpersteine ("stumbling stones") project provides a pathway to heal one of the most egregious wrongs of history and foster reconciliation throughout Europe. Each of the 100,000 stones in 30 countries honors the story and location of individual victims and generational trauma. One artist’s singular vision for healing has become the world's largest decentralized memorial to Nazi atrocities.

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

7:00 p.m: Bad Shabbos - $15
Kyra Sedgwick and Cliff "Method Man" Smith lead a hilarious ensemble cast in the award-winning new comedy. When David and his fiance Meg gather for his family's traditional Shabbat dinner on New York's Upper West Side, things spiral faster than you can say "hamotzi" when an accidental death (or murder) derails the evening entirely. With Meg’s devoutly Catholic parents due any moment to meet David’s very Jewish family, soon Shabbat becomes a comedy of biblical proportions.

Thursday, May 15, 2025

7:00 p.m: Night of Shorts - $15

Fiddler on the Moon
This half-hour documentary short finally answers the question that has plagued scientists, theologians, and comedians for millennia: Will Judaism survive in space? Starring Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronauts Jeffrey Hoffman and Jessica Meir, and a quorum of rabbis and researchers.

Gary's Letter
Gary's Letter follows Gary Sternberg, a Holocaust survivor and Shanghai refugee, who, at 92, discovers memorial stones with his parents' names in front of his birthplace in Cuxhaven, Germany, leading him to reach out to the current residents and forge a new connection with the country he left behind.

How to Make Challah
How to Make Challah is a short documentary that explores the transmission of cultural and family traditions through the process of baking challah, a traditional Jewish bread, from one generation to the next, focusing on the director's family history and the significance of the ritual.

I See You
A poignant portrait of Danny Layani, who, after 25 years of total blindness, regains his sight and sees his wife and four children for the very first time. However, the newfound light in Danny’s life begins to dim, taking a sharp turn. Through intimate family archives and meticulous animated paintings, Danny shares his captivating story of resilience, self-discovery, and the profound power of perspective.

Mahjong and Mahashas
Mahjong & Mahashas explores the migration and heritage of an Australian Sephardic Jewish community and its Singaporean and Baghdadi roots. From the clatter of the mahjong tiles to the delicious aroma of middle eastern spices, the film captures some of the stories and traditions which reveal the rich melting pot of this diverse culture.

Friday, May 16, 2025

1:00 p.m: Soul of a Nation - $15
Written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz ("Resistance" with Jesse Eisenberg, "Hands Of Stone" with Robert De Niro). Soul Of a Nation is the first great documentary of 2025, inspiring and eye-opening, the film delves into Israel’s most perilous chapter in recent history, a time of profound internal conflict and external danger. Faced with deep divides, political unrest, and tremendous threats, the nation found itself shaken and on the brink of collapse. But amid this crisis, triggered by the horrific October 7 attack the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust a profound and inspiring transformation took place. What seemed like a breaking point ignited an extraordinary movement of solidarity, uniting Israelis in ways never before seen.

Saturday, May 17, 2025

1:00 p.m: Running on Sand - $15
Aumari, a young Eritrean refugee living in Israel, is about to be deported back to his home country. After a spontaneous escape attempt at the airport, he is mistaken for a Nigerian striker, who is supposed to arrive at the same time. Aumari seizes the opportunity and benefits for his change of identity as the new key acquisitions for the team of ‘Maccabi Netanya’. Despite the absence of any soccer talent, Aumari is able to cover-up and heal the divisions of his struggling team, while a tender romantic bond with charmingly unconventional daughter of the team owner is growing.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

7:00 p.m: Sabbath Queen - $15
Sabbath Queen, a feature documentary filmed over 21 years by the beloved filmmaker Sandi DuBowski (Trembling Before G-d), follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul - an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century.

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

1:00 p.m: The Blond Boy from the Casbah - $15
A celebrated filmmaker returns to Algiers with his young son in a bittersweet semi-autobiographical dramedy, reflecting on the loss of his multicultural community during the Algerian War of Independence. Having emigrated to France with his family years earlier, Antoine (Léo Campion) reconnects with his roots in a neighborhood of Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Nostalgic memories flood back - school, friends, his Sephardic upbringing, and his early fascination with cinema - as he presents his new film, an account of his childhood shaped by the unrest that ultimately forced them to flee. As father and son bond over shared history, this sentimental sojourn, adapted from Alexandre Arcady's memoir, is brought to life on the vibrant streets of Algiers, evoking a bygone time.

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

7:00 p.m: Midas Man, $25
Midas Man tells the "rip-roaring" true story of the "Fifth Beatle" - The Beatles' legendary manager Brian Epstein (in a star-making turn by Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, The Queen's Gambit), co-starring Emily Watson, Eddie Marsan, Eddie Izzard and Jay Leno. On a cold night in 1961, a young record store owner walked into Liverpool’s Cavern Club and discovered the greatest pop act the music world would ever see. So begins the story of Brian Epstein, the man who found The Beatles. Featuring a star-making performance this funny, thrilling and occasionally heartbreaking film charts Epstein’s life as he guides the scrappy four-piece band’s rise from dingy bars to the hallowed halls of The Ed Sullivan Show and beyond - a story of one man’s radical faith in talent and the sacrifices he made to champion it.

Date: May 6 - 21, 2025

Location:

Cinema Salem
1 East India Square Mall
Salem, MA 01970

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