Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo is delighted to announce the 38th annual Buffalo International Jewish Film Festival, taking place March 8-26, presenting films from all over the world that explore the Jewish Experience.

The 2023 edition will feature six film screenings at The Dipson Amherst Theatre and three virtual screenings. The Festival will include the usual eclectic mix of fine recent international feature films and documentaries from France, Italy, and Germany, as well as from the U.S. and Israel.

To kickoff the festival, join us for a special screening of “The Levys of Monticello” as part of the Buffalo History Museum’s Wednesday evening event series on March 8th. And for the closing event, there will be a screening of “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” at Temple Beth Zion on Sunday, March 26th.

Be sure to join us in person, or virtually, for another marvelous film festival!

Schedule:

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Opening Celebration

5:00pm - 6:00pm: Light Reception with cash bar

6:00pm - 7:00pm: Film Screening: The Levys Of Monticello

Director: Stephen Pressman
Origin: United States, 2021, Documentary (NR), 70 min.

When Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, he left behind a mountain of personal debt, which forced his heirs to sell his beloved Monticello home and all of its possessions. The Levys of Monticello is a documentary film that tells the little-known story of the Levy family, which owned and carefully preserved Monticello for nearly a century – far longer than Jefferson or his descendants. The remarkable story of the Levy family also intersects with the rise of antisemitism that runs throughout the course of American history.

7:00pm - 8:00pm – Talk back with Maxine Seller

Location: Buffalo History Museum

Virtual Screenings

Thursday, March 9 – Saturday, March 11, 2023

Reckonings

Director: Roberta Grossman
Origin: United States, 2022, Documentary (NR), 74 min.

Reckonings explores the impact of compensation on the survivors, Israel and on Germany itself. As one interviewee states: “In the last seventy years, we have discovered that reparations not only help the victims, but the perpetrators as well. An honest confrontation with your past is the best way to build a better future.”

(streaming available for 72 hours starting at 6:00 pm on first day)

Sunday, March 12 – Tuesday, March 14, 2023

On The Map

Director: Dani Menkin
Origin: United States, 2016, Documentary (NR), 85 min.

On The Map tells the against-all-odds story of Maccabi Tel Aviv's 1977 European Championship, crowned by a win over the highly favored Soviet Russia team, and how one team captured the heart of a nation amid domestic turmoil and the global machinations of the Cold War.

(streaming available for 72 hours starting at 6:00 pm on first day)

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

12:00pm: Zoom Talkback with Tal Brody

Join Tal Brody for a zoom discussion about the film “On The Map”. Brody was captain of the Israeli basketball team that upset the Soviet Union in the 1977 European championship, a victory that Brody said put Israel “On the Map” and provided the title for the 2017 documentary by Israeli-American filmmaker Dani Menkin.

In 1979, Brody became the first sportsman awarded the Israel Prize, Israel’s highest civilian honor, and he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and the US National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2010 he was appointed the first international Ambassador of Goodwill for Israel, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Maccabi World Union.

Wednesday, March 15 – Friday, March 17, 2023

Jews And The Blues

Director: Drew Stone and Evan Stone
Origin: United States, 2022, Documentary (NR), 67 min.

The Jews and The Blues is a musical journey that along the way becomes something much more. The directors follow their passion for music and adventure as they travel to Israel and discover how the blues ties into this mix of cultures. Arab, Ethiopian, Moroccan, all Jewish, all Israeli, united through the universal tie that binds us together…...Music.

(streaming available for 72 hours starting at 6:00 pm on first day)

In-Person Screenings

Friday, March 17, 2023

4:30pm: Tiger Within

Director: Rafal Zielinski
Origin: United States, 2020, Drama (PG-13), 98 min.

A story featuring an unlikely friendship between a homeless teen and a Holocaust survivor, sparking larger questions of anti-Semitism, forgiveness, and healing starring multiple Emmy Award-winning actor, Ed Asner.

Location: Dipson Amherst Theatre

Saturday, March 18, 2023

7:30pm: Farewell, Mr. Haffman

Director: Fred Cavaye
Origin: France, 2022, Drama (PG-13), 116 min.

Occupied Paris, 1941: all members of the Jewish community are instructed to come forward and identify themselves to authorities. Dedicated jeweler Joseph Haffmann, fearing the worst, arranges for his family to flee the city and offers his employee François Mercier the chance to take over his store until the situation improves. But his own attempts to escape are thwarted, and Haffmann is forced to seek his assistant’s protection. As Mercier and his wife move in to the Haffmann home, the agreement turns into a Faustian bargain.

Location: Dipson Amherst Theatre

Sunday, March 19, 2023

4:30pm: America

Director: Oref Graizer
Origin: Israel/Germany/Czech, 2022, Drama/Romance (PG), 127 min.

Eli, an Israeli swimming coach living in the United States, travels to Tel Aviv to deal with the estate of his late father. He visits his childhood friend, Yotam, who is running a flower shop in Jaffa, together with his fiancée Iris, a talented florist. Eli’s presence sets in motion a series of events that will affect everyone's lives. From the director of The Cakemaker.

7:30pm: Schachten 

Director: Thomas Roth
Origin: Austria, 2020, Drama (PG-13), 119 min.

In the late 1960s, when the young Jewish businessman's son Victor Dessauer fails to secure just punishment for the Nazi concentration camp commandant who tortured his parents, he resolves to take the law into his own hands.

Location: Dipson Amherst Theatre

Monday, March 20, 2023

4:30pm: Our (Almost Completely True) Story

Director: Don Scardino
Origin: United States, 2022, Dramedy (R), 92 min.

Life in Hollywood has lost its luster for timeless actress, Mariette Hartley. Although her reputation precedes her from the peak of her acting career decades prior, meaningful work these days—and a decent date—are hard to find. Aging, divorced, and living alone, Mariette seeks a relationship with a Jewish man “because they make good husbands”. She meets Jerry Sroka, a voice-over comic who's also been wading through L.A.’s insufferable dating scene. Written by and starring Mariette Hartley and Jerry Sroka, OUR (ALMOST COMPLETELY TRUE) STORY shares the hilarious, vulnerable realities for aging actors and the search for love as seniors in Hollywood.     

7:30pm: Where Life Begins

Director: Stephane Freiss
Origin: Italy, 2022, Drama/Romance (PG), 101 min.

An ultra-orthodox Jewish family from Aix-les-Bains, France comes to a farm in Calabria, Italy for a brief stay every year to carry out a sacred mission: harvesting citrons. Here Elio, the farm owner, meets Esther, the rabbi’s daughter, who is tired of the constraints imposed by her religion. Through this relationship, Esther will understand the importance of freedom and find her path, and, in the same way, Elio will find the peace he had lost for a long time.

Location: Dipson Amherst Theatre

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

4:30pm: Schachten

Director: Thomas Roth
Origin: Austria, 2020, Drama (PG-13), 119 min.

In the late 1960s, when the young Jewish businessman's son Victor Dessauer fails to secure just punishment for the Nazi concentration camp commandant who tortured his parents, he resolves to take the law into his own hands.

7:30pm: America

Director: Oref Graizer
Origin: Israel/Germany/Czech, 2022, Drama/Romance (PG), 127 min.

Eli, an Israeli swimming coach living in the United States, travels to Tel Aviv to deal with the estate of his late father. He visits his childhood friend, Yotam, who is running a flower shop in Jaffa, together with his fiancée Iris, a talented florist. Eli’s presence sets in motion a series of events that will affect everyone's lives. From the director of The Cakemaker.

Location: Dipson Amherst Theatre

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

4:30pm: Farewell, Mr. Haffman

Director: Fred Cavaye
Origin: France, 2022, Drama (PG-13), 116 min.

Occupied Paris, 1941: all members of the Jewish community are instructed to come forward and identify themselves to authorities. Dedicated jeweler Joseph Haffmann, fearing the worst, arranges for his family to flee the city and offers his employee François Mercier the chance to take over his store until the situation improves. But his own attempts to escape are thwarted, and Haffmann is forced to seek his assistant’s protection. As Mercier and his wife move in to the Haffmann home, the agreement turns into a Faustian bargain.

7:30pm: Tiger Within

Director: Rafal Zielinski
Origin: United States, 2020, Drama (PG-13), 98 min.

A story featuring an unlikely friendship between a homeless teen and a Holocaust survivor, sparking larger questions of anti-Semitism, forgiveness, and healing starring multiple Emmy Award-winning actor, Ed Asner.

Location: Dipson Amherst Theatre

Thursday, March 23, 2023

4:30pm: Where Life Begins 

Director: Stephane Freiss
Origin: Italy, 2022, Drama/Romance (PG), 101 min.

An ultra-orthodox Jewish family from Aix-les-Bains, France comes to a farm in Calabria, Italy for a brief stay every year to carry out a sacred mission: harvesting citrons. Here Elio, the farm owner, meets Esther, the rabbi’s daughter, who is tired of the constraints imposed by her religion. Through this relationship, Esther will understand the importance of freedom and find her path, and, in the same way, Elio will find the peace he had lost for a long time.                        

7:30pm: Our (Almost Completely True) Story

Director: Don Scardino
Origin: United States, 2022, Dramedy (R), 92 min.

Life in Hollywood has lost its luster for timeless actress, Mariette Hartley. Although her reputation precedes her from the peak of her acting career decades prior, meaningful work these days—and a decent date—are hard to find. Aging, divorced, and living alone, Mariette seeks a relationship with a Jewish man “because they make good husbands”. She meets Jerry Sroka, a voice-over comic who's also been wading through L.A.’s insufferable dating scene. Written by and starring Mariette Hartley and Jerry Sroka, OUR (ALMOST COMPLETELY TRUE) STORY shares the hilarious, vulnerable realities for aging actors and the search for love as seniors in Hollywood.

Location: Dipson Amherst Theatre

Sunday, March 26, 2023

Closing Celebration

4:00pm - 5:00pm: Light Reception

5:00pm - 7:00pm: Film Screening: Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song

Director: Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine
Origin: United States, 2021, Documentary (PG), 113 min.

This feature-length documentary explores the life of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, Hallelujah.

7:00pm: Performance by the Buffalo Philharmonic Chamber Chorus

Location: Temple Beth Zion, 805 Delaware Ave

Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023 - Sunday, March 26, 2023

Locations: Various Venues in Buffalo, NY

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