Join us for the 15th Annual Israeli and Jewish Film Festival!!

Schedule of Events:

January 7, 2025

6:30 pm: We Will Dance Again

Friendship, love, peace and freedom-these ideals drew young hearts from around the globe to Nova's EDM music festival in the South of Israel. But as the sun rose on October 7th, the fantasy shattered.

Rockets sliced through the sky, and the dancing stopped. Confusion morphed into fear as gunfire erupted amidst the chaos. Terror breached the border fence and unleashed violence on the unsuspecting people in its rawest form.

It is a stark portrayal of the experiences of those who survived and those who didn't. The film meticulously reconstructs the events, capturing the raw emotions and heroism that emerged.

Note: some images and content may be disturbing. Appropriate for ages 16+.

Post-screening discussion with Yuval Siman Tov, survivor of the Nova Music Festival, and Community Shlicha, Tal Bahar, to follow the film.

Note: Parking at the deck directly behind The Byrd Theatre off Colonial Avenue is highly recommended. The cost is $1 for 12 hours.

Tickets must be purchased in advance. Must present government-issued ID at check-in.

January 12, 2025

1:00 pm: Running On Sand

Nominated for four Israeli Oscars including Best Film

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.

January 19, 2025

2:00 pm: Moses Ezekiel: A Portrait of a Lost Artist

From the award-winning director of 50 Children and The Levys of Monticello, Steven Pressman's timely and provocative new documentary film tells the unknown story of artist Moses Ezekiel (1844-1917), a world-famous American sculptor who had been born and raised in a large Jewish family in Richmond, Virginia.

Before becoming an artist, he was the first Jewish cadet to be enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute and was among a class of cadets who fought for the Confederacy in the 1864 Battle of New Market during the U.S. Civil War.

This documentary film tells Ezekiel's story, while also focusing on the modern-day debate over the presence of Confederate statues and monuments in the United States, including those made by Ezekiel.

January 22, 2025

7:00 pm: All About The Levkoviches

Told with delightfully mordant humor and a genuine warmth, this appealing domestic story from Hungarian filmmaker Adam Breier follows a Jewish family on the winding path toward reconciliation.

Tamas is an aging boxing coach in present-day Budapest whose relationship with his son, Ivan, has frayed to the point of estrangement. After converting to Orthodox Judaism, Ivan moved to Israel, where he had a son, Ariel, whom Tamas has never met.

Now, Ivan and Ariel have come back to Budapest for the funeral of Tamas's wife, forcing father and son to face one another. Breier's film is masterfully acted and directed, maintaining a perfectly balanced tone between comedy and pathos.

January 26, 2025

2:00 pm: Israel Swings for Gold

In 2021, Israel's baseball team competed in the Olympics for the first time. With no media allowed in Tokyo's Olympic Village, the players record their own experiences.

Mostly newly minted Israelis, they log unexpected battles against anti – Semitism and anti – Zionism. Victory for Israel comes on the playing field, even if not on the podium.

Israel Swings for Gold follows the 2018 hit Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, about Israel's Cinderella run at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

7:00 pm: 999 - The Forgotten Girls

In March 1942, nearly 1,000 young Slovak Jewish women, mostly teenagers, told by their government that they were embarking on a volunteer work assignment, were instead illegally deported to Auschwitz on what was the first Jewish transport to the Nazi death camp.

Rather than strictly focus on the suffering and death experienced by most of the girls, Macadam tells stories of a small group who survived against all odds, even under unimaginable conditions that lasted more than three grueling years.

A film of deep research and vivid detail, 999: The Forgotten Girls ensures that these women will no longer be a historical footnote. Note: some images may be disturbing.

Date: January 7 - January 26, 2025

Location: Various Venues In Richmond, VA

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