The PJFM monthly resource for upcoming news! The PJFM monthly resource for upcoming news!
A REAL PAIN (Pre-Fest Sneak Preview)
Tuesday, November 12
7 PM at Film Society East
A REAL PAIN, the latest from director and THE SOCIAL NETWORK star Jesse Eisenberg, is a delightful mix of humor and heartbreak that showcases his talent as a writer, director, and actor. Inspired by his own experiences, the film takes audiences on a poignant road trip to Poland, tackling heavy themes like the Holocaust and mental health while keeping the tone lively and engaging.
Eisenberg plays David, a structured tech worker, whose chaotic cousin Benji, brilliantly portrayed by Kieran Culkin, turns their journey into a whirlwind of laughs and reflections on their Jewish heritage. With a diverse supporting cast, including Jennifer Grey, the film deepens its exploration of identity and family dynamics.
What truly sets A REAL PAIN apart is its ability to balance comedy with profound moments. Culkin's standout performance adds a unique charm, ensuring the film resonates with audiences long after the credits roll. This isn’t just a comedy; it’s a heartfelt journey that speaks to the complexities of life and survival.
BAD SHABBOS
Saturday, November 16
7:30 PM at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
When two couples, Abby and Benjamin and David and recently-converted-to-Judaism Meg, return home for Shabbat dinner, an unexpected shadow looms over their night — an accidental death (or is it murder?) threatens to unravel the whole evening. Over the course of one night during this anything-but-typical New York City shabbos, their family gettogether takes a turn for the worse… BAD SHABBOS, directed by Daniel Robbins, takes the one-night-in-New-York story and spins from it a cast of characters, each more hilarious and specific than the next. Kyra Sedgwick kills (not literally) as the neurotic matriarch, and unexpected performances by Method Man, Catherine Curtin, and other familiar faces forge a brilliant ensemble that hits on pure comedic gold.
SHOSHANA Sunday, November 17
7 PM at Ambler Theater
Known for his dramatized true stories, Winterbottom delves into the complex and often fraught lead-up to Israel’s founding through the eyes of Shoshana Borochov, a strong-willed and independent figure navigating a tumultuous historical landscape.
Irina Starshenbaum delivers a powerful performance as Shoshana, a journalist and skilled marksman in 1930s Palestine. The film intricately portrays the escalating tensions between Jewish settlers and Arab residents, highlighting Shoshana’s entanglements with both the Haganah and the radical Irgun. Her relationship with British officer Tom Wilkin, played by Douglas Booth, adds depth to the narrative as they grapple with conflicting loyalties amid a backdrop of political unrest. With a combination of historical context and personal drama, SHOSHANA offers a nuanced exploration of the societal upheaval of the time. The film incorporates vintage newsreels and subtitled text to provide essential background, enriching its depiction of a critical period in Jewish history.
VISHNIAC
Monday, November 18
7 PM at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel
Though his pioneering microscopy transformed the nature of science photography, Roman Vishniac is best known for his iconic images of Jewish life in Eastern Europe from 1935 through 1938. Few predicted that less than a decade later, these communities would be wiped out, and Vishniac’s photographs would provide the last visual records of an entire world. VISHNIAC, directed by Laurel Bialis, follows the artist from his early years in tsarist Russia to his emergence as a modernist photographer in Weimar Berlin, his journeys across Eastern Europe before the war, and his family’s dramatic escape to America in 1940.
THE SECRET SABBATH
Tuesday, November 19
2
PM at
Gratz College (Mandell Education Campus)
THE SECRET SABBATH (directed by Daniel Goldberg Lerner) explores the journeys undertaken by diverse Jewish people in Mexico and America to uncover long-hidden family secrets passed down through generations. As they delve deeper, they discover a compelling fusion of their Hispanic and Jewish cultural heritage, a less explored and often marginalized facet of their identities. Rejecting strict identity categories, they embrace who they are instead, drawing inspiration from the life and experiences of Luis de Carvajal the Younger, a historical figure who met a tragic end in 16th-century Inquisitorial Mexico. He was condemned to be burned at the stake due to his commitment to adhering to the Law of Moses, exemplifying the profound struggles faced by those who dared to challenge societal norms and religious authorities during that era.
LIBERTY HEIGHTS
Friday, November 22 11 AM at Kaiserman JCC
Acclaimed filmmaker Barry Levinson (RAIN MAN) returns to his hometown of Baltimore, the setting of his DINER, AVALON, TIN MEN, and HOMICIDE films. The result is 1999's LIBERTY HEIGHTS, a warmly funny, semi-autobiographical tale told with an uncompromising eye for period detail and eye-filling scale that includes 4,000 extras. The year is 1954, a season of dramatic social flux that Levinson explores through the eyes of a Jewish family, the Kurtzmans (Adrien Brody, Ben Foster, Joe Mantegna, Bebe Neuwirth). Friendship, romance, rock-n- roll, courage, racism, Cadillacs, Halloween (should a nice Jewish boy dress up as Hitler?): the times are indeed changing. The Kurtzmans and America will never be the same. Join PJFM for a revisiting of this stellar, poignant film
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