Lights, Camera, Community! The 29th Seattle Jewish Film Festival runs March 2-17, 2024, in theaters and virtually. SJFF keeps us connected and in conversation. Community is what lifts us up and holds us together in the best and worst of times. Community amplifies joy, love, ruach (spirit), and hope.

Festival Schedule:

March 2, 2024

7:30 PM: One Life – Opening Night

Special Event: Serving truffle popcorn + mocktails

In this vivid, stirring portrait of an incredible true story, two-time Academy Award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins gives an intensely moving performance as Sir Nicholas Winton, a humble, mild-mannered British stockbroker who helped rescue hundreds of Jewish children from Europe on the verge of the Second World War, an act of compassion that was almost forgotten for 50 years. In 1938, Nicholas “Nicky” Winton (played in flashbacks by Johnny Flynn) became increasingly unsettled by news of what was happening. After a spur-of-the-moment decision to join friends in Prague to help growing numbers of refugees, his life changed forever—as did the lives of hundreds of Jewish children facing the threat of Hitler’s regime. Resolving to take whatever action he could, Winton returned to London to recruit his indefatigable mother (played by the wondrous Helena Bonham Carter) for what would become years of fundraising and fighting bureaucracy in order to transport children to safety in the UK. For this, he became known as the “British Schindler” and was later knighted by in 2003. Winner of the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2024 Audience Award.

Location: AMC Pacific Place

March 3, 2024

10:00 AM: Remembering Gene Wilder – Brunch + Film

Special Event: Sunday Brunch 10 am + Film 11 am (Doors open 10 am)

Brunch tickets include a delicious, spread of homemade Jewish comfort food including egg frittata, local bagels with fixings and shmear, fruit, and dessert to enjoy in the theater listing to The KlezKatz before the film (GF options available). Film-only tickets are also available. All tickets include coffee and tea.   

Guest: Music by The KlezKatz!

A heartfelt tribute to the beloved star of such movie classics as THE PRODUCERS, BLAZING SADDLES, YOUNG FRANKENSTIEN, and WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.?Intimate insights from friends and colleagues—including Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Kane, Harry Connick Jr., and Peter Ostrum?(who portrayed Charlie to Wilder’s Willy Wonka)—are augmented by never-before-seen home movies and photographs, as well as clips from many of Wilder’s films that attest to the man’s genius and humanity.?Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Wilder grew up to be fearless and fanciful both onscreen and off, and approached the uncertainties and struggles of his own life with the same wondrous, can-do spirit that was the hallmark of the most memorable characters he portrayed on the big screen. Be prepared to laugh out loud with hilarious outtakes from the set of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and get a glimpse into Wilder’s personal life with touching home movies from his marriage to Gilda Radner. REMEMBERING GENE WILDER is a joy from start to finish.

1:00 PM: The Secret Sabbath – Sephardic Spotlight
 
Special Event: Sephardic coffee klatch (echar lashon)
Reception: Sephardic coffee klatch (echar lashon) with coffee, tea, and biscochos  

As they disentangle the fibers of deeply hidden family secrets handed down by generations past, Mexicans and Americans converge toward the often-shunned junction where Hispanic and Jewish cultures intersect. Refusing to conform to hard-and-fast boundaries of identity while asserting who they are, they draw inspiration from the life and story of Luis de Carvajal the Younger, who was burned at the stake in 16th-century Mexico during the Inquisition for the crime of observing the law of Moses.

3:30 PM: Irena's Vow

Warsaw, 1939: When the Nazis invade Poland, nurse Irena Gut (Sophie Nélisse, THE BOOK THIEF, ”Yellowjackets”) is displaced and forced to work in support of the German war effort, eventually assigned to run the home of a Nazi commandant. Instead of following the path of least resistance and gambling on her status and ethnicity to keep her safe, Irena risks everything to save a dozen Jewish refugees from persecution and murder, sheltering them under her boss’s nose. IRENA’S VOW is, at its core, a story of simple, moral clarity, anchored by a powerful performance by the empathetic Nélisse, who has grown from a child actor in films like THE BOOK THIEF (2013) to a confident young star. She channels the alternating shock, disbelief, and horror of an innocent who is forced, over and over again, to negotiate an impossible situation: racing to ensure not just her friends’ survival but her own. Audience Award Winner, Vancouver International Film Festival 2023.

6:00 PM: The Monkey House

Who doesn’t want their legacy to live on when they are gone? Set in the 1980s, a once-successful novelist tries to revive his fading career by launching a highly inventive plan. When a graduate student expresses interest in writing her dissertation on his work, he discovers a way for his work to survive him. Legendary Israeli director Avi Nesher’s latest movie is a delightful, sophisticated mixture of literary mystery, witty comedy, and moving character study a la Almodóvar melodrama, as two lost souls make a connection that alters their lives forever. This epic tale is both funny and thought-provoking, with an unpredictability that keeps viewers in suspense. Nominated for 11 Ophirs (Israeli Academy Awards).

Location: AMC Pacific Place

March 6, 2024

7:00 PM: Shorts Program: Safe Travels

ARAVA
Sarah Meital Benjamin | Narrative Short | Israel | 2023 | Hebrew w/English subtitles | 27m | PG-13

In 2000s Jerusalem, Arava reluctantly goes on a trip with her unpredictable best friend, Tzipi. Along the way, they’re confronted with the intricacies of their individual identities, hopes, losses, and their relationship to one another.
 
DEADLINE  

Idan Gilboa | Stop-Motion Comedy Short | Israel | 2023 | Hebrew w/English subtitles | 13m | PG-13
Two elderly women, offended by the disrespect they experience at the hands of society, become friends and revolt in this dark comedy.

STILL WATERS (??? ??????)
Tsivia Barkai Yacov | Narrative Short | Israel | 2023 | Hebrew w/English subtitles | 17m | R

Desperate to flee an abusive relationship, Rona sneaks out during lockdown and enters a women’s mikvah (ritual bath). Naked and exposed, she faces the truth.
 
SULAM  
Noam Argov | Narrative Short | USA | 2023 | Hebrew w/English subtitles | 11m | G

When an immigrant teen in Central Florida must help her mother before a school exam, tensions about belonging in and ease adapting to a new country bubble to the surface.  

PLUS IN MEMORIAM: THE BOY (
Yahav Winner | Short Drama | Israel |2023 | Hebrew w/English subtitles | 25m | PG

To honor the memory of Israeli filmmaker Yahav Winnerz”l, SJFF is one of many film festivals around the world presenting a special premiere of his final film. Winner was murdered on October 7 while bravely stalling Hamas terrorists so his wife and their one-month-old daughter could escape to safety. We find solace in celebrating his life and work.  Completed just a few months before, THE BOY tells the story of a father and son dealing with rocket fire while living in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz bordering the Gaza strip. Winner’s prescient film won best cinematography at this year’s Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival.

March 7, 2024

7:00 PM: All About the Levkoviches

After his wife dies, a retired Hungarian Jewish boxer must sit shiva (mourning period) with their estranged Orthodox son from Israel. The father is charming but fiercely stubborn and anti-religious, while the son, who brought his young child to meet his gruff grandpa for the first time, harbors long-held resentments. The two must face their old grievances in this touching and often humorous bittersweet dramedy that celebrates the commonalities that bring us together, as opposed to the divisions that set us apart.

Location: Stroum Jewish Community Center

March 8, 2024

1:00 PM: The Catskills – Midday Matinee (Half-Price 65+)

THE CATSKILLS is a humorous and nostalgic tribute to the rise and fall of what was affectionately known as the “Borscht Belt” or “Jewish Alps.” Director Lex Gillespie maps the development of the vacation destination, from a refuge for working-class Jews seeking a respite from poverty in overcrowded New York City tenements to a lavish summer playground for the affluent dating back to the early 20th century. The numerous resorts attracted Holocaust survivors as well as celebrities. Hostesses such as Jennie Grossinger of the famed Grossinger’s Hotel entertained politicians and athletes. Nightclubs featured musicians and comics, often fostering new talent and supporting blacklisted artists during the height of McCarthyism. Perhaps most importantly, “the Sour Cream Sierras” became a place of resistance against antisemitic exclusion and a flourishing haven for Yiddishkeit (Yiddish for Jewish peoplehood). In the film, standup comedians share their best shtick while former waiters, entertainers, and dance instructors recount tales of the family-run resorts and bungalow colonies that inspired TV Shows like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and the film DIRTY DANCING. A treasure trove of home movies, publicity photos, postcards, and menus reveal a bygone world of Jewish immigrant leisure culture New York in the early 20th century.

March 9, 2024

6:00 PM: Call Me Dancer

Overcoming impossible odds, a talented and impoverished break dancer from the streets of Mumbai chases his dreams of becoming a professional against the wishes of his struggling parents. A stern, 70-year-old Israeli ballet master gives him the determination to keep going and train in Israel. But when he is pitted against another boy who has captured the attention of the top school in the world, he must push himself to his physical limits for any chance of succeeding. An astonishing, classic underdog story of hope, heartache, and hard work.

8:00 PM: Seven Blessings (??? ?????) – Israeli Cinema Spotlight

Special Event Description Happy Hour before the film in the J Café  

In early ‘90s Jerusalem, Marie, a Moroccan Jewish bride, returns to Israel after 40 years to marry Dan, the son of French Ashkenazi parents. The wedding is preceded by a traditional week of celebratory meals with her large, boisterous family tribe, whose strong opinions?and ancient customs put secrets and lies on the menu. As the joyful façade slowly breaks down, a painful wound from the past and ignored grief is exposed. No one can walk away unscathed, but is it possible?to find the love and strength required to forgive? Winner, 10 Ophirs (Israeli Academy Awards) and Israel’s official entry to the Oscars.   

Location: Stroum Jewish Community Center

March 10, 2024

12:00 PM: Vishniac – Midday Matinee Cinenosh

Special Event: Cinenosh – serving bagels + Dancing Goats Coffee

This breathtaking and exceptionally well-crafted documentary about Russian Jewish photographer Roman Vishniac (1897–1990) captures his transformation from a free-spirited scientist in Berlin to one of the world’s greatest photographers as his early style of Russian pictorialism morphs into more modern photography. When Vishniac loses work because of being Jewish and is hired by the Joint Distribution Committee to document the shtetls of Eastern Europe, his images mature into a visceral chronicle of Eastern European Jews, in whom this self-identified Western Jew discovers a deep spirituality and essential Jewishness. His shots of daily life in Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Lithuania brim with vitality. His book, “A Vanished World,” is often compared to the work of documentary photographers Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange. The film is superbly narrated by his daughter, Mara Kohn Vishniac, born in Berlin in 1926. Her clear-eyed view of her father adds to the complexity of a man who was a microbiologist, top-notch photographer, and sometimes unreliable narrator of his own life story. She was his helper in the darkroom and his “alibi” for photographing Nazi propaganda, often posing innocently in front of it. Ultimately, she took responsibility for his legacy by preserving his oeuvre, a haunting eulogy to a world on the brink of destruction.

3:00 PM: Red Carpet Oscars Party

Get dressed in your red carpet best or come as your favorite nominee or film character and join us for an Oscars party! Watch the stars walk the red carpet and the Oscars ceremony on the big screen in the J's theater; cast your ballot and win prizes; and enjoy appetizers, a gourmet popcorn bar, and champagne and drinks as we gather for the 96th annual Academy Awards to celebrate an amazing year of cinema together. Fill out your award predictions for the evening—get it right and win prizes! Ballots must be cast before the opening monologue.

Event Schedule:

3pm Doors/photo booth/hors d'oeuvres and drinks (two drink tickets per person)

3:30pm Red carpet coverage

4:30pm Opening monologue, Oscars ceremony + popcorn bar

7:30pm Ballot winners announced

Location: Stroum Jewish Community Center

March 16, 2024

8:15 PM: June Zero

Shot in lush Super 16mm in Israel and Ukraine, this stunning and thought-provoking historical drama captures a profound event in the history of the young state—a moment that dramatically changed the way in which the Holocaust is now understood and remembered, both inside and outside of Israel. Inspired by true events, JUNE ZERO is set in 1962 Israel, where, after an emotional public trial, Adolf Eichmann—one of the key architects of the Holocaust—has been tried and sentenced to death for crimes against humanity and the Jewish people. The film explores the experiences of three characters involved in this nation-defining event: David, a 13-year-old Libyan immigrant, who works in the factory where Eichmann’s corpse is incinerated; Hayim (Yoav Levi, ZERO DARK THIRTY), a Moroccan guard assigned to Eichmann’s jail cell to protect him from vigilante justice; and Micha, a Polish survivor of Auschwitz who became the chief interrogator at the trial. Though seemingly disparate characters, these three are inexorably connected through the parts they played in this seminal moment of Jewish history.

6:15 PM: Stay With Us

A delicate topic often unexplored on screen is treated with humor, irreverence, and complexity in STAY WITH US. Renowned Moroccan-born, French Jewish comedian and filmmaker Gad Elmaleh, stars as a version of himself, returning home to Paris to see his parents (portrayed by his real mother and father) after living for years in the United States. His journey comes with some shocking news: he has decided to convert to Catholicism and wants his parents’ blessing for his forthcoming baptism. Both a tale of spiritual self-discovery and an entertaining depiction of the ideological culture clash that ensues as Gad’s dumbstruck parents try to reckon with this turn of events,?STAY WITH US?is a delightful film about challenging matters, and a reminder that sometimes our paths aren’t always easily laid out for us or our loved ones.

Location: Stroum Jewish Community Center

March 17, 2024

4:00 PM: The Man Without A World – Closing Night Film + Live Score

A live, original music score composed and performed by world-renowned klezmer violinist violinist Alicia Svigals (a founding member of Grammy-winning The Klezmatics) and celebrated silent film  pianist Donald Sosin. Their performance is made possible by the Sunrise Foundation for Education and the Arts. Join us for Q&A and a champagne toast and dessert reception after the program.

THE MAN WITHOUT A WORLD is an unusual silent drama credited to an imaginary 1920s Soviet film director named Yevgeny Antinov. Although it looks like a rediscovered “lost” film from the archive, it is the creation of contemporary filmmaker Eleanor Antin, a world-renowned artist, author, and performer, who made this silent film as a love letter to her mother, a Yiddish theater actress in Poland. It is a moving, comic melodrama and cinematic masterpiece set in a typical Polish shtetl, where the villagers struggle with both antisemitism in the wider world and political infighting. Against this backdrop, two star-crossed lovers—the merchant’s daughter, Rukheleh, and an impoverished Yiddish poet, Zevi—seek happiness defying many obstacles: Rukheleh’s disapproving parents, Zevi’s dalliance with a seductive gypsy dancer (played by Antin), and the sufferings of Zevi’s younger sister.

Location: Stroum Jewish Community Center

Fest Date: March 2 - 17, 2024

Locations:
AMC Pacific Place, 600 Pine St #400, Seattle WA 98101
Hillel at University of Washington, 4745 17th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98105
Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 East Mercer Way, Mercer Island WA 98040

Tickets:
Adult - $15.00
Senior 65+ - $13.00
Student - $13.00
Youth - $13.00

Click here for more information.