PJFM Fall-Winter '23-'24 Brochure (Digital)

FALL & WINTER 2023/24 SCHEDULE

Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media (PJFM) creates connection and community through Jewish cinema and digital storytelling . PJFM welcomes everyone to engage with Jewish culture and values through its educational and entertaining yearround programs .

WHO WE ARE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Debbie Fleischman

VICE PRESIDENT

Larry Rappoport

CO-CHAIR

Phyllis Fischer

CHAIR EMERITA

Judy Golden

CHAIR EMERITA

Ruth Perlmutter

CHAIR EMERITA

Jacob Cohen TREASURER

Cathy Kaufman SECRETARY

Barbara Black

Elaine Culbertson

Betsy Filton

Seth Goldstein

Libby S . Harwitz

Edward Hoffman

Julie Jaffe

Nadine Liez-Weiner

Elaine Lindy

Nathan Relles

Jordan Rosenberg

Francyn Sacks

Francine Tabas

SCREENING COMMITTEE

Sidney Amster

Adrienne Berger

Randi Boyette

Elaine Culbertson

Iris Drechsler

Bob Epstein

Tammy Forstater

Elaine Gelb

Abby Gilbert

Marc Goldberg

Darcy Grabenstein

Beverly Haas

Libby S . Harwitz

Edward Hoffman

Caren Hosansky

Mary Kahn

Cathy Kaufman

Kate Kelsen

Eva Kernis

Florence Golum Klein

Ronald H . Levine

Joseph W . Moser

Nathan Relles

Michael Riccardi

Jill Rosen

Patricia Saddier-Dana

Robert Schloss

Tali Segal

Kara Wexler

STAFF

Kristen Arter

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Matthew Bussy

PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Yae Straxkson

DEVELOPMENT & DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

Nikai Morales

DIGITAL MEDIA MARKETER

Elizabeth Russell

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

PJFM43 SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSORS

Elaine Lindy

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

CHAI SOCIETY SPONSORS

The Horace W . Goldsmith Foundation

The Lindy Family

PLATINUM SPONSORS

Phyllis and Howard Fischer

DIAMOND SPONSORS

Jack and Cindy Bienenfeld, The Henry and Helen Bienenfeld Foundation

Mickey and Barbara Black

Jacob Cohen and Sarah Waxman

Steve and Betsy Filton

Edward and Susan Hoffman

Lisa Kabnick and John McFadden

Amy and Richard Oller

Seed the Dream Foundation

Harriet and Larry Weiss

GOLD SPONSORS

Susanna Lachs Adler and Dean Adler

David and Nancy Colman

Debbie and Bob Fleischman

Judith and Joel Golden

Libby S . Harwitz and Burton Blender

Cathy and Dan Kaufman

Ellyn and Seth Lehr

Larry and Cindy Rappoport

Pam and Tony Schneider

SILVER SPONSORS

David and Hallee Adelman

Mr . and Ms . Glenn Blumenfeld

Michael Coleman and Ellen Singer Coleman

Elaine and Jim Culbertson

Sam and Gail Goldstein

Mary and Stuart Kahn

Rena Kopelman

Carole Landis Foundation

Susan and Jim Meyer

Richard and Beth Probinsky

Mary and Nathan Relles

Patricia Saddier-Dana

Ellen Schwartz and Jeremy Siegel

Marty Tuzman and Eileen R . Heisman Tuzman

BRONZE SPONSORS

Anonymous

Brinker, Simpson and Company c/o

Cathy Seiler, CPA

Deutsch Family Foundation

Art and Lynn Ellis

Arlene Fickler

Margie Honickman

Susan and Leonard Klehr

Robin Rifkin and Michael Silverman

Lynn and Bruce Robins

Francyn Sacks

Francine Tabas

Joseph Zuritsky

RUBY SPONSORS

Rosa Esquenazi

Bonnie Freundlich & Yuri Sergeyev

Terri N . Gelberg

Ruthie Levikoff

Sheldon Liss

Debra Malinics

Stephen C . Richman, Markowitz & Richman

Jordan Rosenberg

Rebecca and Ed Schulman

Frann Shore

Rita Siegle

Jerry Silverman

Adam Stout

Joan Tishgart

HOSPITALITY

Cooper Spirits

SPONSORS

Storybook Trips by Kevin

FUNDING PROVIDED BY:

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

Philadelphia Cultural Fund

Sponsors as of 9/28/2023. For updated list, visit PhillyJFM.org.

Brochure designed by Cherry Monroe

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PRESENTING

SPONSORS

ELAINE LINDY AND WEITZMAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY FOR THEIR GENEROSITY IN SUPPORTING THE FUTURE OF JEWISH

CALENDAR

NOVEMBER DECEMBER

12/6 EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS: Latkes & Vodkas Movie Night

8 PM at Khyber Pass Pub

12/16 SCHINDLER’S LIST: 30th Anniversary Screening

6:30 PM at The Weitzman

JANUARY

1/6 – 1/8 FALL FEST 2023 (Select Films) Streaming On Demand 3/7 ROSE 7 PM

MARCH

GENERAL TICKETING

For ticket prices, see page 15.

Check our website and app for our most up-to-date schedule .

FREE SNEAK PREVIEW

CINEMA SABAYA

Wednesday, November 8, 7 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Directed by Orit Fouks Rotem

Narrative Feature

Israel | 2021 | 91 min

Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles

At a video workshop, a group of Israeli and Palestinian women discover unexpected similarities amongst one another as they document their personal lives for a project . Barriers are broken as the project unites the students with their own relatable truths to share . Winner of five Ophir Awards (including Best Picture), Orit Fouks Rotem’s feature debut is a stunning depiction of the power of art and conversation to unite people . Fantastically acted and sharply written with a steady fusion of drama and humor, CINEMA SABAYA is a film that opens bridges to connection and hope amidst a dissonant world .

Official Selection: AFI Fest | Jerusalem Film Festival | Miami Jewish Film Festival | New York Jewish Film Festival | San Francisco Jewish Film Festival | Toronto Jewish Film Festival

UK Jewish Film Festival

FALL FEST 2023 –OPENING NIGHT

Directed by Ron Frank

REMEMBERING

GENE WILDER

Saturday, November 11, 7 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Tuesday, November 14, 7 PM Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Documentary Feature

USA | 2023 | 92 min

English

Official Selection: San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE

This Fall Fest 2023, have a seat and take an uproarious, emotional trip down memory lane with the legend himself, Mr . Gene Wilder! The comedy actor we all know and love receives the onscreen tribute he deserves in REMEMBERING GENE WILDER, a heartfelt documentary that spans the life and career of one of Hollywood’s funniest mensches . Director Ron Frank’s film, featuring intimate interviews with Mel Brooks, Carol Kane, and other friends and family of the late Wilder, reveals hilarious and moving anecdotes from the comedian’s personal and professional life .

Co-Presented by

“GETTIN’ WILDER” AFTER PARTY FEATURING

KOSHA DILLZ

Kosha Dillz is back and ready to rap! Proceeding the film, join PJFM and the rapper himself for an epic evening of music, schmoozing, and fun at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History .

Co-Presented by

Directed by Igor

Kovalyov

Animation Feature

USA/UK | 1998 | 79 min

English

and Norton

Virgien

THE RUGRATS MOVIE: 25TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING

Sunday, November 12

Doors Open: 10 AM

Film: 11 AM

Kaiserman JCC

Tommy Pickles . Chuckie . Phil . Lil . Angelica . Reptar . The babies from one of the most iconic Nickelodeon shows of all time crushed the box office in 1998 with their feature film, THE RUGRATS MOVIE, which grossed close to $150 million at the worldwide box office and was followed by two sequels . Rugrats has been revered as being one of the first – if only –animated kids series to represent Jewish characters, featuring episodes dedicated to the history of Passover and Hanukkah . In honor of its 25th anniversary, PJFM is bringing this classic back to the big screen! All families are welcome to this delightful event .

ALLIANCE

Sunday, November 12, 4 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Wednesday, November 15, 2 PM

Gratz College (Mandell Education Campus)

7605 Old York Rd

Directed by Susan

Donnelly

Documentary Feature

USA | 2023 | 96 min

English

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE

Desperate to escape religious persecution in 1882 Imperial Russia, 43 Jewish families fled the region to a desolate plot of land across the ocean in Salem County, NJ, 40 miles outside Philadelphia . This group of people, a community with little to no agricultural skills, went on to create the Alliance Colony, considered to be the first successful Jewish farming community in the United States . ALLIANCE, a meticulously crafted film about the littleknown history of the colony, is a fascinating look at Jewish resilience and success, a tribute to the legacy of these immigrants who arrived with nothing and created a safe haven of their own that spanned decades .

JEWISH SHORTS

MY KIPPAH

Directed by Ilan Rosenfeld

Narrative Short | Spain | 2020

17 min | Spanish with English subtitles

When a sly thief immerses himself with members of a Spanish synagogue in the hope of stealing its Sefer Torah, the potency of the Torah’s teachings strikes him on an emotional level

Sunday, November 12, 7:30 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

ALL PHILADELPHIA PREMIERES

LETTER TO A PIG

Directed by Tal Kantor

Animation Short | Israel/France | 2022

17 min | Hebrew with English subtitles

A Holocaust survivor recounts his story of survival at school, prompting a schoolgirl to fall into a wild, visually dazzling dream where collective trauma and vengeance come to light

KISS MY ASS

Directed by Arielle Goldman

Narrative Short | USA | 2023 | 16 min

English and Yiddish with English subtitles

Molly Bernard (Younger) plays a woman on the way to get her first abortion alongside the ghost of her Yiddish-speaking great-grandmother .

QUEER AND FRUM

Directed by Miki Katoni

Documentary Short | USA | 2022

32 min | English

This pressing documentary tells the true stories of Chaim Levin and Lieb Swartz-Brownstein, two former Orthodox Jews, whose journeys from battling their intersecting identities as gay and Orthodox to becoming openly queer spark a larger conversation about the current matter of queerness in the Orthodox Jewish community

THE ANNE FRANK GIFT SHOP

Directed by Mickey Rapkin

Narrative Short | USA | 2023

15 min | English

Employees of a design firm discuss the best ethical ways to attract younger people to the gift shop of the Anne Frank House in this hilarious dark comedy . 10

REMEMBERING MARRAKECH

Monday, November 13, 2 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Thursday, November 16, 2 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Directed by Kinar Dar, Amit Erell, Moshe Michael, Zakaria Habbad, Shani Beradt, Shani Cohen, and Rotem Elkayam

Documentary Feature

Israel/Morocco | 2023 | 89 min

Arabic, French, and Hebrew with English subtitles

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE

Official Selection: San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

In the Jewish quarter of the Mellah, located in Marrakech, the Jewish sites once populated by thousands of Jews now sit quiet and desolate, visited by non-Jews and a now heavily reduced portion of the city’s remaining Jewish neighbors . REMEMBERING MARRAKECH, a collection of five short documentaries by students of Sapir College in Israel and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco, follows a variety of Marrakech locals, Jewish and Muslim, looking to restore and better educate themselves on the history of the city’s once thriving Jewish scene .

DELEGATION

Monday, November 13, 7 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Tuesday, November 14, 2 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Directed by Asaf Saban

Narrative Feature

Israel/Poland/Germany | 2023 | 101 min

Hebrew, Polish, and English with English subtitles

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE

Official Selection: San Francisco Jewish Film Festival | Toronto Jewish Film Festival

The school year is almost over for Frisch, Nitzan, and Ido, three Israeli teenagers about to enroll in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) . During a field trip to the concentration camps in Poland, private insecurities and emotional pains are soon unveiled as the trio is forced to confront their history and responsibilities as Jews . Amidst the tragic past that is literally presented in front of them, these teens come to question their own decisions, unsure of themselves as their next chapter in life – protecting their State – soon approaches .

RABBI ON THE BLOCK

Wednesday, November 15, 7 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Thursday, November 16, 7 PM Ambler Theater

Directed by Brad Rothschild

Documentary Feature

USA | 2023 | 88 min

English

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE

Official Selection: San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

For Tamar Manasseh, a Black Jew and founder of Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killings (MASK), Judaism is not about gender or the color of your skin . Her experiences with racism and misogyny have compelled her desire to bridge the gap between Black Jews and Ashkenazi Jews . In her journey to becoming an ordained rabbi, this outspoken leader enables the Jewish practice of tikkun olam (“repairing the world”) in an effort to open dialogues into what it is like to be a Jew in 21st century America and lessen the marginalization of Black Jews in modern society .

Co-Presented by

SOLOMON & GAENOR

Friday, November 17, 2 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Directed by Paul Morrison

Narrative Feature

UK | 1999 | 105 min

English, Welsh, and Yiddish with English subtitles

An Orthodox Jew falls for a local girl in 1911 Wales in SOLOMON & GAENOR, Paul Morrison’s Jewish take on Romeo and Juliet. Nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 72nd Academy Awards, this epic romance has resurged years later with its love story and rare depiction of Welsh Jews . With breathtaking shots that look like they’re right out of a painting, you won’t soon forget (and cry over) this forgotten revival of Jewish romantic cinema .

FALL FEST 2023 –CLOSING NIGHT

THE OTHER WIDOW

Saturday, November 18, 7 PM Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE

Directed by Maayan Rypp

Narrative Feature

France/Israel | 2023 | 83 min

Hebrew with English subtitles

Ella (Dana Ivgy), a 34-year-old theater costume designer, has been secretly having an affair with Assaf, the married playwright of the show . After his unexpected passing, she begins attending his family’s Shiva . The closer she becomes with his family, including his now widowed wife, Assaf’s “other woman” embarks on a sorrowful journey in which she learns to mourn in her own unique, independent way . With an excellent premise and hauntingly surreal imagery that mirrors Ella’s personal conflicts, Maayan Rypp’s film – nominated for nine Ophir Awards (Israeli Oscars) – is an honest look at everyday people, the mistakes they make, and the often peculiar ways of coping with loss .

Official Selection: AFI Fest | Jerusalem Film Festival

| Miami Jewish Film Festival | New York Jewish Film Festival | San Francisco Jewish Film Festival | Toronto Jewish Film Festival

UK Jewish Film Festival

LATKES & VODKAS MOVIE NIGHT

EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS

Wednesday, December 6

DOORS OPEN: 7 PM

FILM: 8 PM

Khyber Pass Pub

Directed by Seth Kearsley

Animation Feature

USA/Canada | 2002 | 76 min | English

It’s time to “latke and vodka” with Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah musical extravaganza! This holiday – or in this case, Chrismukkah – season, join PJFM for drinks, latkes, and laughter galore with this animated classic . Sandler’s animated adult comedy follows Davey Stone, a 33-year-old alcoholic After getting arrested, he is ordered community service as the assistant referee for the town’s youth basketball league where he is forced to work alongside elderly, little Whitey Duvall, the head referee . Hilarity ensues, plus plenty of spontaneous, outrageous musical numbers

30TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING

SCHINDLER’S LIST

Saturday, December 16, 6:30 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Narrative Feature

The incredible, almost impossible realism it pulls off in every frame . The haunting score . The unforgettable performances . The visually striking cinematography, from its opening shot of a Shabbat candle to a little girl in red walking through a massacre . Together, we never forget SCHINDLER’S LIST, a film whose imagery continues to stay ingrained into our souls . In commemoration of its 30th anniversary, PJFM invites everyone to see this unforgettable tribute on the big screen .

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY SCREENING

ROSE

Thursday, March 7, 7 PM

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Directed by Aurélie Saada

Narrative Feature France | 2021 | 102 min

French with English subtitles

USA | 1993 | 195 min | English Official

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE

Rose (Françoise Fabian), a 78-year-old woman, has just lost her beloved husband of 50 years . Amidst her children’s worrying, family dinners, and endlessly lonely nights in her apartment watching TV, Rose discovers that it’s never too late to stop living . Her choices are her own, and no one can stop that .

21 & Over Event. Pre-registration recommended.

TICKETS & PASSES

GENERAL TICKETING

$15 General Admission

$13 Senior

$10 Student (I .D . required at check-in)

SPECIAL PRICES

$25 | THE RUGRATS MOVIE:

25th Anniversary Screening

11/12, 11 AM

Kaiserman JCC For families up to six people.

$20 | REMEMBERING GENE WILDER

11/11, 7 PM

The Weitzman

Includes admission to post-film after party with Kosha Dillz.

$15 | EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS: Latkes & Vodkas Movie Night

12/6, 8 PM

Khyber Pass Pub

$10 | SOLOMON & GAENOR

11/17, 2 PM

The Weitzman

$10 | SCHINDLER’S LIST: 30th Anniversary Screening

12/16, 6:30 PM

The Weitzman

FREE ADMISSION | CINEMA SABAYA

11/8, 7 PM

The Weitzman

$180 | FALL FEST BADGE

VENUES

AMBLER THEATER

108 E Butler Ave

Ambler, PA 19002

(215) 345-7855

https://amblertheater .org/

BRYN MAWR FILM INSTITUTE

824 Lancaster Ave

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

(610) 527-9898

https://brynmawrfilm .org/ GRATZ COLLEGE

Mandell Education Campus

7605 Old York Rd

Melrose Park, PA 19026 (215) 635-7300

https://www .gratz .edu/

KAISERMAN JCC

45 Haverford Rd

Wynnewood, PA 19096 (610) 896-7770

https://www .phillyjcc .com/

KHYBER PASS PUB

56 S 2nd St Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 238-5888

https://www khyberpasspub com/

WEITZMAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY

101 S Independence Mall E Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 923-3811

https://www .theweitzman .org/

TICKETING POLICY

All tickets, badges, and sponsor allaccess pass sales are final . Attendees must be in their seats 15 minutes before showtime . To see PJFM’s full ticketing policy, visit PhillyJFM org

Fall Fest Badges come with early access to all in-person film screenings during Fall Fest 2023, November 11-18, and virtual encore screenings of select Fall Fest movies from January 6-8, 2024 . Badge and Sponsor All-Access Pass Holders must be seated no later than 15 minutes before showtime for guaranteed seating .