2015 Spring Season - Film at the DCJCC

FILM DCJCC at the

2015 SPRING SEASON

Visit WJFF.ORG for tickets & passes

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THE STURGEON QUEENS

ALTINA

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 7:30 PM

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 7:30 PM

Dir. Julie Cohen (50min, USA, 2014) Narrative

Dir. Peter Sanders (79min, USA, 2014) Documentary

Presented at Adas Israel Congregation (2850 Quebec Street NW, Washington, DC) in partnership with MakomDC @Adas Israel

Born in a New York mansion to a Sephardic tobacco tycoon from Turkey, Altina Schinasi (1907-1999) quickly eclipsed her guarded childhood to make sexually liberated art with a flagrant audacity that became the trademark of a life lived to the fullest. Along the way, she picked up an Oscar nomination for directing Interregnum, a film on George Grosz; befriended Martin Luther King Jr.; and hid a member of the Hollywood Ten during the Red Scare.

Four generations of a Jewish immigrant family created Russ and Daughters, a Lower East Side lox and herring emporium that thrives to this day. Follow its fascinating history through interviews with two of the original daughters of the store’s name and stalwart patrons such as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin.

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Director Peter Sanders in person.

BENEATH THE HELMET:

From High School to the Home Front TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 7:30 PM Dir. Wayne Kopping (85min, Israel, 2014) Documentary

A coming of age story that highlights five young Israeli high school graduates who are drafted into the army to defend their country. At the age of 18, away from their houses, family, and friends, these young individuals undergo a demanding journey, revealing the core of who they are and who they want to be.

Co-presented by the Israel Action Center at the JCC of Greater Washington.

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Two jews walk into a bar THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 7:30 PM Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St NW, Washington, DC)

Join us for a Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) celebration at Nellie’s featuring food, drinks, and 20 short Israeli animated films and music videos. Drinks and films are included with your ticket. Seating is limited and we expect this event to sell out quickly.

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THE LENGTH OF THE ALPHABET

EL GUSTO

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 7:30 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 7:30 PM

Dir. Joe Balass (52min, Canada, 2013) In French, Arabic and English with English subtitles Documentary

Dir. Safinez Bousbia (88min, Algeria/Ireland/France, 2011) In Arabic and French with English Subtitles Documentary

Order of Canada recipient Naïm Kattan considers language, place and home to be the three pillars of his life and work. Director Joe Balass presents a touching portrait of the Iraqi-Jewish Francophone Canadian author—from his youth in Baghdad to his studies in France and his move to Montreal in the 1950s where he flourished. Founder of the first Canadian Jewish newsletter in French, Kattan forged connections between Montreal’s Jewish and Francophone communities.

Disbanded by the 1954 Algerian Revolution, an orchestra of young Jews and Muslims in the city of Algiers went silent for sixty years. That is, until filmmaker Safinez Bousbia fell in love with their infectious Chaabi music – Sephardic Spanish rhythms with Arabic sound. She brought the El Gusto orchestra back together, its members 70 to 100 years old, for a joyful reunion and a wildly successful musical tour of Europe, reminiscent of The Buena Vista Social Club.

Director Joe Balass in person.

Presented as part of the Washington Jewish Music Festival

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DAWN

CLOSER TO THE MOON

TUESDAY, MAY 19, 7:30 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 26, 7:30 PM

Dir. Romed Wyder (95min, Switzerland/UK/Germany/Israel, 2014) Narrative

Dir. Nae Caranfil (110min, Romania/USA/Italy, 2014) Narrative

Two men wait through the night in British-controlled Palestine for dawn – and for death. One is a captured English officer. The other is a young Israeli freedom fighter whose assignment is to kill the officer to avenge the British execution of a Jewish prisoner. Based on Eli Wiesel’s best-selling novel of the same name.

The true account of a group of high-ranking Jewish members of the nomenklatura, who, in 1959, staged what was to become known as the coup of the century: They robbed Romania’s National Bank, making it look like a film shoot. And this is only the beginning. Once arrested and prosecuted, they were forced to reenact their parts in the heist for a propaganda movie. Despite its tragic aspect, this incredible story forever shrouded in mystery, gets an unexpectedly light treatment. Vera Farmiga, Mark Strong, and Game of Thrones’ Harry Lloyd star.

Director Romed Wyder in person.

Co-sponsored by the Embassy of Switzerland Visit WJFF.ORG for tickets & passes

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A LA VIE

TOUCHDOWN ISRAEL

TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 7:30 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 7:30 PM

Dir. Jean-Jacques Zilbermann (104min, France, 2014) In French with English subtitles Narrative

Dir. Paul Hirschberger (85min, USA/Israel, 2014) Documentary

Three women who were all in Auschwitz, but who haven’t seen each other since the war, get together at Berck-Plage in 1960. This break offers Hélène, Rose, and Lili many firsts: their first real meal together, their first ice cream, and their first swim. There will be laughter, song, and merriment; but the women also find their rekindled friendship burdened by unspoken memories.

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Against all odds, an aggressive new sport is playing out in Israel’s stadiums. Weekend warriors team up, suit up, don helmets over their kippahs, and charge the field in a season of full-contact American tackle football, revealing pieces of themselves and their world along the way. Secular or religious, Israeli-born or not, these Jews, Muslims and Christians are transformed from ordinary citizens into fierce gridiron competitors on a quest for Israel Bowl glory.

WE ARE GRATEFUL TO OUR MAJOR DONORS AND SPONSORS: DAY SPONSOR

BLUE LIKE ME TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 7:30PM Dir. Hal Rikin (28min, USA/India, 2015) Documentary

An exploration of artist Siona Benjamin’s fascinating life and work. A Jew raised in India, educated by nuns and Zoroastrian teachers, brought up alongside Hindu, Christian and Muslim neighbors, Benjamin has garnered global acclaim for her paintings, which blend Talmudic, Hindu and Islamic references with contemporary Western art influences. Preceded by the 36min film In Search of Bene Israel (2008) about Sadia Shepard’s Indian Jewish grandmother who eloped with a Muslim man and migrated from India to Pakistan and later, to the United States.

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Anonymous Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation Scott and Ellen Dreyer Louie and Ralph Dweck Susie and Michael Gelman Shelley and Allan Holt The Melvin and Estelle Gelman Foundation - Elise and Marc Lefkowitz Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation Linda and Sid Moskowitz Deborah and Michael Salzberg PRODUCER Linda Greenberg and Tac Tacelosky Linda Lipsett and Jules Bernstein Melanie and Lawrence Nussdorf

DIRECTOR Patty Abramson and Les Silverman Michele and Allan Berman Cyna and Paul Cohen & Sara Cohen and Norman Rich Lois and Richard England Family Foundation Dina Gold Richard Solloway Marcia and Ira Wagner Diane Abelman Wattenberg Judith Weintraub LIGHTS Belman Klein Associates, LTD Jacqueline and Edward Cohen Brenda Gruss and Daniel Hirsch Tamara and Harry Handelsman Aviva Kempner Marian and Alan Malasky Joy Midman Susan Wedlan and Harold Rosen Anita Wolke and Kenneth Brooks

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YEAR-ROUND PASSES Excited about our year-round film programs?

Consider purchasing a pass and save over 50% off buying individual tickets!

Passes are available for individual seasons or the whole year.

To learn more, visit dcjcc.org/filmpass; email info@wjff.org; or call 202-777-3247.

WJFF.ORG /WASHINGTONJEWISHFILMFESTIVAL

@WJFF

Washington DCJCC Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts Irwin P. Edlavitch Building 1529 Sixteenth Street NW Washington, DC 20036