PJFM44 SPONSORS
PRESENTING
Elaine Lindy
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
CHAI SOCIETY
The Lindy Family – Alan, Elaine, and Frank Lindy
PLATINUM
Steve and Betsy Filton
DIAMOND
Barbara and Mickey Black
Jacob Cohen and Sarah Waxman
Phyllis and Howard Fischer
Edward and Susan Hoffman
Lisa Kabnick and John McFadden
Amy and Richard Oller
DIRECTOR
Arthur and Lisa Berkowitz
GOLD
David and Nancy Colman
Harris and Debra Devor
Debbie and Bob Fleischman
Judith and Joel Golden
Seth Goldstein
Adele Aron Greenspun
Libby S. Harwitz and Burton Blender
Cathy and Dan Kaufman
Seth and Ellyn Lehr
Susan and Jim Meyer
Larry and Cindy Rappoport
Pam and Tony Schneider
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Susanna Lachs-Adler
SILVER
Ina Elfant Asher and Bob Elfant in memory of our sister, Janet Elfant
Penni and Mark Blaskey
Mr. and Ms. Glenn Blumenfeld
Marcia Bronstein and Eric Salmansohn
Michael Coleman and Ellen Singer Coleman
Bob Gelsher
Mary and Stuart Kahn
Susan and Leonard Klehr
Joanne and Alexander Klein
Carole Landis Foundation
Meltzer & Associates
Richard and Beth Probinsky
Mary and Nathan Relles
Robin Rifkin and Michael Silverman
Bob and Caro Rock
Lyn M. Ross
Patricia Saddier-Dana
Ellen Schwartz and Jeremy Siegel
Susan Sherman, Independence Foundation
Marty Tuzman and Eileen R. Heisman Tuzman
Joseph Zuritsky
COLLABORATOR
Dina Holt
Rena Kopelman
Sherrie Savett
BRONZE
Sid and Helene Amster
Jay W. Barnett Lobro Associates
Brinker, Simpson and Company c/o Cathy
Seiler, CPA
Deutsch Family Foundation
Art and Lynne Ellis
Bob Epstein
Arlene Fickler
Jill and Mark Fishman
Lynn Norton-Robins and Bruce Robins
Alan Sandman
Francine Tabas
Rabbi Lynnda and Larry Targan
INFLUENCER
Seyna and Larry Abel
Helene and Sidney Amster
Joseph Manko
Jerry Silverman
CINEPHILE
Benjamin Alouf
Ruthie Levikoff
Joy Pollock and Burt Siegel
HOSPITALITY
Cooper Spirits
Scan QR code for the most up-to-date list of PJFM44 Sponsors.
JEWISH RESILIENCE FILM AND MEDIA SERIES
THE STRONGHOLD
Opening Night
Thursday, April 24
7 PM at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
Sinai Desert, Yom Kippur War, 1973. In a remote outpost, a company of Israeli soldiers is overwhelmed by a sudden Egyptian onslaught. After a week of ceaseless assaults, the survivors face imminent doom. With lives hanging by a thread, a young lieutenant (Daniel Gad) and an army doctor (Michael Aloni) confront a soul-shattering choice: a desperate last stand or a perilous gamble that could betray everything they stand for.
Co-sponsored by
Directed by Lior Chefetz | Narrative Feature | Israel | 2024 | 113 min | Hebrew
THEODOR
Friday, April 25
2 PM at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
The Israeli Opera proudly presents this inspiring and visually captivating opera that explores the life and origins of Theodor Herzl, the visionary behind the modern State of Israel. THEODOR depicts how Herzl’s encounters with rising antisemitism in Europe compelled him to see the necessity of a Jewish state, leading to the founding of the Zionist movement. Composed by Yonatan Cnaan and directed by Ido Ricklin, this opera masterfully blends music, theater, and stunning visuals to portray Herzl’s relentless quest for Jewish belonging.
Directed by Ido Ricklin | Narrative Feature | Israel | 2024 | 120 min | Hebrew
999:
THE FORGOTTEN
GIRLS
Streaming on PJFM On Demand
Sunday, April 27
April 27-28 (12 AM – 11:59 PM ET)
1:30 PM at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
In the spring of 1942, the Nazis ordered the Slovak government to send a slave labor force and received 999 teenage Jewish girls. Their railway ticket was a one-way trip to Auschwitz. Heather Dune Macadam, first-time director/producer and author of the international best-selling book, 999, spent 11 years interviewing survivors of the first transport all over the world. Digging through family and government archives, 999 unearths groundbreaking research that reveals this untold story from an entirely female perspective. Those who survived endured more than three years in the death camps and beg viewers to ask the question: why were girls targeted first?
Directed by Heather Dune Macadam | Documentary Feature | USA | 2024 | 86 min | English
THE COMMUNITY
Sunday, April 27
4 PM at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
US Premiere
THE COMMUNITY captures the strength and resilience of Ukraine’s diverse Jewish community as they navigate the hardships of war. Through personal stories and interviews with a range of characters, the film reveals their essential role in Ukraine’s struggle and explores their experiences amidst accusations of Nazism that have cast a shadow over the nation. Director Alex Osmolovsky returns to his homeland to witness this powerful reality firsthand, seeking to understand why, despite everything, the Jewish community continues to see Ukraine as their home.
Directed by Alex Osmolovsky | Documentary Feature | Israel, Ukraine | 2025 | 64 min | Ukrainian, Russian
TORN
Sunday, April 27
6 PM at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
TORN delves into the controversy surrounding the ‘KIDNAPPED’ poster campaign, a grassroots effort to raise awareness about the 250 hostages taken by Hamas. These posters quickly became polarizing symbols, sparking intense clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine activists and turning New York City’s streets into battlegrounds of ideology and emotion. The film explores the motivations behind activists putting up and tearing down the posters, unraveling the complexities of this intense ‘paper arm’ proxy war, fought thousands of miles from the actual conflict.
Co-sponsored by
Directed by Nimrod Shapira | Documentary Feature | USA | 2024 | 75 min | English, Hebrew
FOUR WINTERS
Closing Night
Monday, April 28
7 PM at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
“All I owned was my camera, leopard coat, rifle and a grenade in case I’m captured... the pillow was the rifle, the walls were the trees and the sky was the roof,” says Faye Schulman, one of over 25,000 Jewish partisans who fought back against the Nazis and their collaborators from deep within the forests of WWII’s Eastern Europe, Ukraine, and Belarus. Against extraordinary odds, they escaped Nazi slaughter, transforming from young innocents raised in closely knit families to courageous resistance fighters. Shattering the myth of Jewish passivity, the last surviving partisans tell their stories of resistance in FOUR WINTERS, revealing a stunning narrative of heroism and resilience.
Directed by Julia Mintz | Documentary Feature | USA | 2022 | 90 min | English
SHORTS
SOME.BODY – A NOVA STORY
AI Installation
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
EXHIBITION HOURS:
Friday & Saturday, April 25 - 26 | 10 AM – 4 PM
Sunday, April 27 | 10 AM – 6 PM
Directed by Netanel Kafka
Combining original AI animation, spoken word, and trance music, SOME.BODY – A NOVA STORY is inspired by the massacre at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on the 7th of October 2023.
A GREAT BIG SECRET
Preceding 999: THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS
Preceding THE STRONGHOLD
Dutch-born Holocaust survivor and retired teacher Anita Magnus Frank narrates her story from childhood trauma to adult healing, opening up to the world as one of World War II’s “hidden children.”
Directed by Yoav Potash | Documentary Short | USA | 2024 | 13 min | English
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Preceding TORN
Blake Peters, Jewish student-athlete and Ivy League basketball player, navigates the highs of athletic achievement and the lows of antisemitism on campus.
Directed by Nate Berman | Documentary Short | USA | 2024 | 5 min | English
NEW LIVES
Preceding FOUR WINTERS
A Holocaust survivor navigates the delicate balance between assimilating to her new American identity and reckoning with her traumatic past in 1950s Brooklyn.
Directed by Joey Schweitzer | Narrative Short | USA | 2023 | 20 min | Polish, English
Film Screening
CENTERED: JOE LIEBERMAN
Wednesday, May 7
7 PM at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
Joe Lieberman. The man who nearly became the first Jewish Vice President of the United States. The politician who put principles above party. And the Founding Chairman of No Labels, whose quest for a bipartisan ticket nearly upended the 2024 presidential election. CENTERED chronicles Lieberman’s 40 years of public service, providing invaluable insights into this iconoclastic politician.
