Schedule:

Thursday, January 23,2025

7:00 Pm Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
Runtime: 104 Minutes + Qa Session

One Film Is Barely Enough To Encompass All The Facets Of Liza Minnelli’s Life And Career, But Director Klein Pulls It Off With Many A Humorously Bossy Aside From The Oscar-winning Cabaret Star Herself. This Portrait Puts The Emphasis On A Lifetime Of Meaningful Relationships With Mentors Including Kay Thompson, Bob Fosse, And Halston As Young Liza Emerges From The Shadow Of Her Famous Father, Film Director Vincente Minnelli, And Her Legendary Mother Judy Garland To Become One Of The Most Extraordinary Artists Of Our Time. Appearances By Friends And Collaborators Include Mia Farrow, The Late Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, George Hamilton, And More. Running Commentary By Musician Michael Feinstein Pulls It All Together With Flair.

Friday, January 24,2025

1:00 Pm Days Of Happiness
Runtime: 118 Minutes

The Privileged World Of Classical Music Is The Setting For Drama On And Off The Concert Stage As Emma (Desmarais), A Young Rising Star Conductor, Makes A Misstep That May Put Her Dream Of A Prestigious New Job In Peril.  Emma’s Controversial Program For The Final Concert Of Her Residency Triggers A Fraught Confrontation With Her Personal Demons, Including Her Relationships With Her Controlling Father/manager And Her Lesbian Lover. Actor Desmarais Was Coached By Conductors Yannick Nézet-séguin, Kensho Watanabe, And Nicolas Ellis To Master Her Conducting Movements. The Film’s Soaring Music Includes Pieces By Mozart, Schoenberg, And Mahler.  In French With English Subtitles.

4:00 Pm Pink Lady
Runtime: 106 Minutes

Jerusalem’s Ultra-orthodox Community Is The Setting For A Comedy/drama Of A Marriage In Crisis When The Husband’s Secret Desires Are Outed By Criminals Intent On Blackmail.  Bati (Fibak), A Mother Of Three Happily Married To Devout And Seriously Observant Lazer (Blufarb) Receives A Mysterious Envelope In The Mail One Day.  It Contains Graphic Photos Of Her Husband Kissing Another Man.  Amid Denials And Flimsy Claims Of Photoshopping, Bati Takes A New Look At Her Man.  An Unexpected Encounter With A Very Unusual Woman Causes Her To Take A Fresh Look At Herself.  Prolific Award-winning Director Bergman Entertainingly Opens A Pandora’s Box Of Issues — Orthodox Family Values, Homosexuality And Conversion Therapy.  In Hebrew With English Subtitles.

7:00 Pm Midas Man
Runtime: 112 Minutes

Often Called “the Fifth Beatle,” Manager/impresario Brian Epstein Burned Brightly As The Man Who Catapulted The Fab Four To International Fame Then Tragically Died At 32. This Brisk And Wonderfully Evocative Biopic Is A Fictionalized Capsule Of Early Beatles History From Liverpool’s Grungy Cavern Club To The Flower-power Years, Set Against The Background Of Epstein’s Short Life. Jewish, Closeted Gay, And Energized By The Rocking Tunes Of The Underground Culture, Epstein Talks His Way Into Managing The Band Of Four Scruffy Lads. Midas Man Brings One Beloved Chapter In The Rock ‘n’ Roll Story To Life With Color And Spirit And Underlines The Toll Success Takes On The Man Who Made It Happen.

Saturday, January 25,2025

1:00 Pm Housewife Of The Year
Runtime: 77 Minutes

From 1968 To 1995, Irish Television Annually Featured The “housewife Of The Year” Contest In Which Mostly-middle-aged Mothers Of Many Children Competed For The Crown And Sash And The Grand Prize Of A Gas Range After Demonstrating Their Skill In Household Arts Including Preparing A Simple Meal. Scenes From The Show’s History Range From Humorously Kitsch To Shockingly Sad, Revealing A Life With Parameters Strictly Proscribed By Society And The Catholic Church, And In Which Motherhood Was Not Optional. The Film’s Present-day Encounters With Surviving Winners Revive Mixed Memories While Delving Into Once-forbidden Subjects Including Virginity And Marriage, Unwed Motherhood, Contraception And Husbands Wedded To The Pub. Winner Of Best Irish Feature Documentary At The 2024 Galway Film Fleadh.

4:00 Pm Auction
Runtime: 91 Minutes

The Issue Of The Return Of Nazi-looted Art To Its Rightful Heirs Makes This High-stakes Art World Drama As Current As International Headlines. A Wily Paris Art Auctioneer Gets Wind Of An Alleged Egon Schiele Painting Stolen In 1939 But Now Come To Light In A Small Working-class Suburb. Writer/director Bonitzer Creates A Web Of Intrigue In Which Money Over Morals Threatens To Prevail.  Worth Millions If Authentic, The Painting Triggers Fevered Ambition On The Part Of The Auctioneer, His Ruthless Art Appraiser Ex-wife, And His Emotionally Unstable Assistant.  Between The Auction House And The American Heirs Of The Painting’s Original Owners Stands A Naïve And Earnest Young Factory Worker, The Painting’s Current Owner.  In French, English And German With English Subtitles.

7:00 Pm The Glory Of Life
Runtime: 98 Minutes

A Tender Love Story With Franz Kafka At The Center Would Seem To Run Counter To The Popular Image Of The Author Of Such Deeply Paranoid Works As The Metamorphosis And The Trial As A Solitary, Alienated Man.  For The Filmmakers Of The Glory Of Life, That Is Precisely The Point.  This Bittersweet Tragic Tale Unfolds The Loving And Life-affirming Relationship Between 40-year-old Kafka, Already In Poor Health With Tuberculosis, And Dora Diamant, The Young Children’s Caregiver He Meets In 1923.  From The Early Days Of Their Passionate Attraction Through A Forced Separation And A Final Reuniting In Wintry Berlin, Love, Faith And Humor Come To The Fore With A Lightness That Puts Kafka’s Personal Story In A New Perspective.  In German With English Subtitles.

Sunday, January 26,2025

1:00 Pm Yaniv
Runtime: 80 Minutes

Consider A Bronx High School Drama Teacher Getting Around Budget Cuts By Funding The School’s Spring Musical With Illegal Gambling Loot.  That’s The Wacky Plot Premise Cooked Up By Writer/director Carmi And Co-writer/actor Ducoff, Partners In Crime Since The Fourth Grade.  Desperate For Funding, Teacher Bernstein (Ducoff, A Real-life Nyc High School Teacher) Gets Tipped Off To A High-stakes Underground Gambling Ring Where Yaniv, “the Blackjack Of The Jewish People,” Is The Game Of Choice.  The Catch?  The Secret Basement Nightclub Is Run By And For A Tight-knit Group Of Hasidic Men, And Bernstein And His Pal Jonah Don’t Have A Ghost Of A Chance At Passing, Until…the Pair Don Orthodox Disguises Complete With Fake Beards, And It Is Game On.

4:00 Pm Julie Keeps Quiet
Runtime: 100 Minutes

A Scandal Rocks An Elite Tennis Academy Where A Popular Coach Is Suspended Under Suspicion Of Sexually Grooming His Teen Proteges.  News Of The Suicide Of One Of Them Breaks And All Eyes Are On Julie, The Young Rising Star Long Perceived To Be His Favorite.  While Not Primarily A Sports Film, The Vigorous And Beautifully Shot Match Sequences Provide An Apt Metaphor For A Conflict That Plays Out Wrenchingly In Julie’s Head.  First-time Actress And Real-life Tennis Champ Van Den Broeck Turns In A Remarkable Performance As Julie, A Talented But Isolated Young Woman Struggling With Conflicting Loyalties And A Guilty Secret As Her Future Hangs In The Balance.  The Official Belgian Submission For 2025 Oscar Consideration.  In Dutch And French With English Subtitles.

7:00 Pm Ex-husbands
Runtime: 98 Minutes

Griffin Dunne (After Hours, An American Werewolf In London) Leads A Predominantly Male Ensemble Cast In A Wryly Humorous Tale Revolving Around Questions Of Women And The Lack Thereof.  There’s A Straight Line Drawn Between Soon-to-be-married And Soon-to-be-ex For Three Generations Of Men In The Pearce Family.  Elderly Patriarch Simon (Benjamin) Has Recently Exited A 65-year Union; Grandson Nick Is Heading For The Altar With A Load Of Doubts, And The Marriage Of Father-of-the-groom Peter (Dunne) Is In The Rearview Mirror.  Nick And Pals Head For A Stag Weekend In A Mexican Resort, Where Peter Shows Up As The Uninvited Guest.  Soul-searching Starts At The Bottom Of A Glass For This Gang And Romance May Be On The Menu For Peter.

Monday, January 27,2025
 
4:00 Pm Of Dogs And Men
Runtime: 82 Minutes

Following The October 7 Attacks, Israeli Director Rosenberg (The Vanishing Soldier) Felt Compelled To Process The Emotions And The Pain By Making A Film.  Operating From A Fictional Framework But Within The Total Reality Of Place, 16-year-old Dar (Avinoam, The Production’s Only Professional Actor) Travels To The Ravaged Nir Oz Kibbutz Within Sight Of The Border In Search Of Her Lost Dog.  The Missing Dog Stands In For Many Things That Cannot Be Spoken Of, Including The Disappearance Of Dar’s Mother.  The Girl’s Many Encounters Include Soldiers, An Outspoken Taxi Driver, An 80-year-old Kibbutz Resident, And A Woman Who Rescues Abandoned Pets.  All Are Real Non-actors Whose Presence And Participation Put A Complex Human Face On The Tragedy.   In Hebrew With English Subtitles

7:00 Pm That They May Face The Rising Sun
Runtime: 111 Minutes

Seasoned Documentary Filmmaker Collins (Song Of Granite), Whose Earlier Work Has Explored Disappearing Aspects Of Irish Culture, Turns To Fiction With This Adaptation Of John Mcgahern’s Novel.  Joe (Ward) And Kate (Bederke) Abandon Trendy London Careers For A Quiet Life In The Irish Countryside Where Joe Was Born And Where The Seasons Rule The Rhythm Of Their Days.  The Locals Regard Them With Suspicion, Especially When They Aren’t Seen At The Village Church.  Collins Delves Deep For The Old Stories Of Belonging, Departure And Return.  The Cast Includes Veteran Actors Of The Irish Stage And Screen, Including Lalor Roddy, Ruth Mccabe, Brendan Conroy, Seán Mcginley, And More.  Best Film, 2024 Irish Film And Television Awards.

Tuesday, January 28,2025

4:00 Pm Wild Diamond
Runtime: 103 Minutes

Liane (Khébizi), A Working-class Teen In The South Of France, Lives For Social Media And Aspires To Kardashian Glitz Styled From Tawdry Shoplifted Booty.  Selected To Compete For The Palm D’or In The 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Wild Diamond Represents A Daring New Generation Of Go-for-broke French Female Directors.  Although Her Online Persona Is Brash And Cartoonishly Sexy, Liane Is Paradoxically An Innocent, Never More So Than When She Is Led On By The Scout For A Tv Reality Show In Search Of New Talent.  Writer/director Riedinger Poignantly Creates A Unique Portrait Of A Wannabe Influencer Hungry For The Endless Fame Of The Internet.  In French With English Subtitles.

7:00 Pm Never Alone
Runtime: 85 Minutes

Many Heroes Of Jewish Resistance To The Nazis Are Still Relatively Unknown Decades After Wwii.  In The Hands Of Klaus Härö (The Fencer), The Story Of A Risky Maneuver By Jewish Helsinki Businessman Abraham Stiller To Save The Lives Of Eight Refugees Comes To The Screen With Immense Heart And Impressive Period Veracity.  Even As Finland Appeared To Be A Haven For Jews Fleeing The Nazis, The Government Forms An Alliance With Nazi Germany Against Russia.  Stiller, Wealthy, Respected, And Well-connected In Political Circles, Calls In Every Favor And Puts His Life, Reputation And Business On The Line To Mount A Clandestine Mission To Save The Eight Jewish Men Scheduled For Deportation To A Death Camp.  In Swedish, Yiddish, Russian, Hebrew, English, Finnish And German With English Subtitles.

Wednesday, January 29,2025

4:00 Pm Yasmeen’s Element
Runtime: 76 Minutes

The Beauty Of Northern Pakistan’s Mountainous Hunza Valley Region Is The Breathtaking Backdrop To A Colorful Tale Of An Earnest Child’s Pursuit Of Her Lost Homework Assignment, Unaware That The Taliban Is Enacting A Restrictive New Plan For Her Future In Her Very Own Village.  Loosely Adapted From Journalist Jeffrey E. Stern’s Non-fiction Book The Last Thousand, This Drama Follows Yasmeen, A Lively 12-year-old Eager Student In Search Of Her Teacher’s Home While Encountering Baffled Neighbors, Preoccupied Medical Workers, And Men Dismissive Of Her Mission.  The Film’s Allegorical Aspect Is Subtle Yet Ultimately Clear When The Next School Day Dawns For Yasmeen And Her Friends.  In Urdu With English Subtitles.

7:00 Pm Troll Storm
Runtime: 83 Minutes + Qa Session

A Montana Realtor’s Win In A Groundbreaking First Amendment Court Case That Struck A Blow To White Supremacy And Neo-nazism Is Charted In This Searing Documentary.  In Whitefish, Montana, Tanya Gersh, A Wife, Mom, And Successful Businesswoman, Becomes The Target Of A Smear Campaign Initially Launched By A Neighbor.  Outsider Far-right Extremists Jump Into The Act, Sensing An Opportunity For Grandstanding Their Antisemitic Agenda.  Gersh’s Contact Information And Location Is Released Nationally In A Hate Publication, Resulting In A Cyber Storm Of Death Threats And Harassment Cause The Family To Fear For Their Safety.  Steeled By A Knowledge Of History And A Sense Of Solidarity With Holocaust Survivors, Gersh Digs In And Chooses To Fight Back.

Thursday, January 30,2025

4:00 Pm The Kiss
Runtime: 116 Minutes

Director August (Oscar-awarded Pelle The Conquerer) Adapts Stefan Zweig’s Best-selling Novel Beware Of Pity As The Kiss.  In 1913 Denmark, As World War I Is Brewing, Anton (Smed), An Aristocratic But Penniless Cavalry Officer Helps Baron Lovenskjold (Mikkelsen) Out Of A Jam And Earns A Place As A Favored Guest At His Castle.  Attracted To The Baron’s Vivacious Niece But Showering Solicitous Attention On Edith, His Beautiful Wheelchair-bound Daughter, Anton Is Soon Caught In A Trap Of His Own Making When The Grateful Young Heiress Mistakes Kindness For Love.  Demonstrating His Signature Talent For Historical Drama, August Makes Superb Use Of Authentic Danish Locations Including The Ravnholt Estate And Lykkesholm Castle.  In Danish With English Subtitles

7:00 Pm Bad Shabbos
Runtime: 84 Minutes + Q&a Session

Winner Of The Audience Award At The 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, This Comedy Had New Yorkers In Stitches With Its Pointed Jabs At Family Dysfunction, Religious Disparity And Sibling Rivalry.  Meet The Parents Has Nothing On This Gem When The Upper West Side Gelflands Invite The Midwestern Catholic Family Of Their Eldest Son’s Fiancée To A Shabbos Dinner For A First Social Blending Of The Clans.  With Tensions Simmering, Kosher Klutziness And A Prank Gone Wrong Set The Scene For Chaos.  By The Time That There’s A Dead Body On The Bathroom Floor It Starts To Look Like Agatha Christie-meets-woody Allen.  Kyra Sedgwick Is A Quirky Standout As The Obsessive Gelfland Matriarch, And Cliff “method Man” Smith Of Wu Tang Clan Excels As The Doorman Who Goes The Extra Mile To Be Helpful.

Friday, January 31,2025

1:00 Pm First Case
Runtime: 98 Minutes

With This First Feature, Writer/director Musiedlak Constructs A Thrillingly Tangled Web Of Ethical Dilemmas And Necessary Lies, All Held Together By The Glue Of Eroticism And The Dark Lure Of The Forbidden.  Nora, A Newly Minted Lawyer Straight Out Of Law School, Is Assigned To Defend A 19-year-old Accused Of Kidnapping And Murder.  Running Interference With The Brutally Aggressive Cop Who Is Handling The Interrogation, She Soon Finds Herself As Frighteningly Stranded In Unknown Territory As The Boy She Is Representing.  Nora’s Vulnerability Leaves Her Wide Open To The Bold Sexual Advances Of Her Nemesis, Who Sees Her Inexperience As His Advantage.  In French With English Subtitles.

4:00 Pm Eternal You
Runtime: 87 Minutes

Eternal You Takes An Incisive Look At The Ways Artificial Intelligence Technology Is Transforming The Ways Humans Deal With Death.  A New Industry Offers The Tempting Opportunity To Allegedly Communicate With Deceased Loved Ones By Way Of An Avatar That Appears To Channel Their Voices, Current Thoughts, Emotions And Memories.  In Uncanny And Increasingly Unsettling Encounters, Including With The Mom Who Would Go To Any Lengths To Again Hug Her Dead Child, The Filmmakers Survey The Startling And Sometimes Shocking Experiences Of Users.  Interviews With Multiple Developers Of The Technology Skirt Around The Ethical Implications While Eagerly Plunging Into The Future.  In English And Korean With English Subtitles.

7:00 Pm There’s Still Tomorrow
Runtime: 118 Minutes

Italy’s Biggest Box Office Hit In Years Is A Canny Comedy/drama Shot In Black-and-white With A Look That Mimics The Style Of Italian Neorealism.  Director Cortellesi, A Multitalented Popular Star, Casts Herself As Delia, A Longsuffering Working-class Wife And Mother In Mid-1940s Rome.  This Dark Comedy Riffs On The Stereotypical Image Of A Family Under The Thumb Of A Tyrannical Father And Irascible Grandfather, With Domestic Violence Staged For Rueful Laughs, But Delia Just May Have The Last Laugh.  One Day She Receives A Mysterious Letter That Holds The Earth-shaking Promise Of Change.  Special Jury Award, Audience Award, 2024 Rome Film Festival.  In Italian With English Subtitles.

Saturday, February 1,2025

1:00 Pm My Sunshine
Runtime: 100 Minutes

The Enduring Appeal Of Ice-dancing Casts A Spell Over A Film Steeped In The Bittersweet Nostalgia Of First Love.  Set At A Small-town Skating Rink In Picturesquely Wintry Hokkaido, Japan, My Sunshine Sets Up A Delicate Triangle Of Association Between Two Young Skaters And Their Coach, With Emotional Fallout For All Three.  For Takuya, A Bullied Loner, It’s Love At First Sight When He Spies Sakura, A Girl His Own Age Gliding And Twirling To The Strains Of Claire De Lune.  The Coach Senses The Chance To Recruit An Ice-dancing Partner For His Most Talented Protege.  Unrequited Adolescent Crushes Have Unforeseen Consequences When Sakura Begins To Understand That The Handsome Coach She Dreams Of Is Gay.  In Japanese With English Subtitles.

4:00 Pm Universal Language
Runtime: 89 Minutes

Winner Of The First-ever Directors Fortnight Audience Award At The 2024 Cannes Film Festival, And Canada’s Official Submission For The Upcoming Oscar Competition, Universal Language Casts A Strange Comic Spell In A Lovingly Bizarre Tribute To Iranian Cinema.  In The Surreal Alternative Universe Of Director Rankin, Set In A Time Warp That Weirdly Resembles 1980s Canada, Persian Is Now The National Language.  A Dweeby Bureaucrat Quits His Government Job And Heads Home To Winnipeg, Bastion Of Prize-winning Turkeys, Abandoned Monuments And Tim Horton’s Shops Serving Tea From Samovars.  Asides, Subplots And Scores Of Delightful Sight Gags Make This One Of The Most Original And Unforgettable Films Of The Year.  In Persian And French With English Subtitles.

7:00 Pm Holy Cow
Runtime: 90 Minutes

Winner Of The Youth Prize At The 2024 Cannes International Film Festival, Holy Cow Is A Rough-and-ready Coming Of Age Film With A Foodie Angle, Set In The Jura Region Of France, Renowned For Its Famed Comté Cheese And Hearty Cuisine.  Totone (Faveau), A Rude Red-haired Rascal, Is Forced By A Tragedy To Become Guardian Of His Little Sister And The Failing Family Farm.  The Making And Maturation Of The Cheese Serves As An Apt Metaphor For The Trajectory Of The Story And Its Zesty Romance.  A Competition For Best Comté Cheese Is A Crafty Strategy For Giving Viewers A Fascinating Glimpse Of A Little-known Aspect Of French Country Culture.  In French With English Subtitles.

Sunday, February 2,2025

1:00 Pm Broken Dolls
Runtime: 90 Minutes

A Mother’s Obscured Past Become A Daughter’s Call To Action In Reconstructing A History Altered  By The Holocaust.  In 1939, A Mysterious Benefactor Enables A Seven-year-old Jewish Girl And Her Mother To Escape Nazi Germany On A Ship For Shanghai, Where They Face Deprivation And An Uncertain Future. In The Jewish Ghetto Of The International Chinese City, The Child Spends A Decade Reinventing Herself As A Non-german Non-jew.  Decades Later, Now Herself A Mother With An Established Life In Florida, She Comes Full Circle, Seeking To Lay Claim To Her Past.  In The Complex Quest To Reclaim Her German Citizenship, The Discovery Of A Shocking Secret Adds A New Perspective To Her Life Story.

4:00 Pm Bushido
Runtime: 129 Minutes

This Reinvented Samurai Tale Set In Feudal Japan Is Steeped In History And The Samurai Code, And Offers Wrenching Family Sacrifice, Dastardly Betrayal, Thrilling Swordplay, And A Look At The Strategies Of The Chess-like Japanese Board Game Of Go.  A Widower Samurai Unjustly Disgraced And Ejected From His Clan Through The Betrayal Of A Jealous Rival Lives In Obscurity.  While Eking Out A Living As A Humble Craftsman, His Masterful Skill At The Game Of Go Brings Him Unwanted Attention.  Once More The Target Of A False Accusation, He Is Forced To Defend His Honor And Save His Daughter.  In Japanese With English Subtitles.

7:00 Pm The French Italian
Runtime: 92 Minutes + Qa Session

A White Lie About A Plate Of Cookies Is The First Tipoff To The Flexible Ethics Of 30-something Manhattan Hipsters Valerie (Cohen) And Doug (Athari).  Trouble Brews In The Haven Of Their Upper West Side Rent-controlled Apartment When Horrendous Noise From Below Begins To Punctuate Their Days.  Rather Than Confronting The Couple Downstairs, The Pair Plan To Trap Their Neighbor’s Actress Girlfriend With A Complex Revenge Scheme Involving Auditions And Rehearsals For A Non-existent Play.  Spinning A Comic Clash Of New York Types And Lifestyles, Director/co-writer Wolther Escalates The Action To The Tipping Point With A Fake Opening Night, Where Emmy-nominated Comedian Ikechukwu Ufomadu Manages To Steal The Show In A Tour De Force Performance.

Date: January 23-february 2,2025

Location: Kravis Center    - 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, Fl 33401

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