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Thursday, May 12
Sunday, May 15
6:15 PM
11:00 AM
6:00 PM
Image of Victory (Bethesda Row)
7:00 PM
OPENING NIGHT FILM Rose (EDCJCC)
8:15 PM 8:40 PM
Love & Mazel Tov (Bethesda Row)
Labyrinth of Peace, eps 1-3 (Bethesda Row) Plan A (Bethesda Row)
Saturday, May 14 6:00 PM
KEY
Bethesda Row Cinema AFI Silver Theatre EDCJCC
6:15 PM
6:30 PM 7:30 PM 8:15 PM
8:30 PM 8:30 PM
Alegría (EDCJCC)
Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen (Bethesda Row)
The City and the City (Bethesda Row) BETTY (EDCJCC)
Chess Story (Bethesda Row) CENTERPIECE FILM Carol of the Bells (EDCJCC) Wet Dog (Bethesda Row)
10:30 AM
BETTY Family Workshop (EDCJCC)
12:15 PM
Valiant Hearts (Bethesda Row)
12:30 PM 12:30 PM 2:15 PM
2:30 PM 2:30 PM 3:00 PM 4:30 PM 4:45 PM
5:30 PM 6:45 PM
7:00 PM 7:30 PM
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Picking Up the Pieces, Work in Progress (EDCJCC)
Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen (EDCJCC) Short Films: Documentary Cinema (Bethesda Row) Let it be Morning (Bethesda Row)
CENTERPIECE FILM Cinema Sabaya | The 21%: The Lives of Arab Citizens of Israel (EDCJCC) The Levys of Monticello (Bethesda Row) Ghetto Tango (EDCJCC)
CENTERPIECE FILM Four Winters (Bethesda Row)
A Tree of Life (Bethesda Row) Dedication (EDCJCC)
A Breath of Life (Bethesda Row) Charlotte (Bethesda Row)
Socalled Sings Di Frosh (EDCJCC)
Monday, May 16
Wednesday, May 18
Saturday, May 21
6:45 PM
6:10 PM
6:15 PM
6:15 PM
With No Land (Bethesda Row)
7:15 PM
Berenshtein (Bethesda Row)
8:15 PM
Getting Away with Murder(s) (EDCJCC)
Cinema Sabaya (Bethesda Row)
Tuesday, May 17 6:10 PM 6:15 PM
7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:15 PM 8:20 PM
Wet Dog (Bethesda Row) The Jews and the Blues (EDCJCC)
A Jewish Life (Bethesda Row)
Karyn Levitt – On Hollywood and Weimar (EDCJCC) The Levys of Monticello (EDCJCC) CENTERPIECE FILM Carol of the Bells (Bethesda Row)
6:10 PM
Alegría (Bethesda Row)
6:30 PM
The Forgotten Ones (Bethesda Row)
7:30 PM
8:30 PM 8:30 PM
8:40 PM
Three Minutes – A Lengthening (EDCJCC)
Gili Yalo Duo (EDCJCC)
Neighbours (Bethesda Row)
6:10 PM 6:15 PM
7:30 PM
7:50 PM 8:30 PM
8:40 PM
Love & Mazel Tov (EDCJCC)
7:00 PM
Eleanor Reissa with Paul Shapiro's Ribs & Brisket (EDCJCC)
8:15 PM
8:30 PM
Let it Be Morning (AFI)
Plan A (EDCJCC)
Neighbours (AFI)
The Swimmer (EDCJCC) Image of Victory (Bethesda Row)
Thursday, May 19 6:00 PM
6:15 PM
That Orchestra with the Broken Instruments (Bethesda Row) Shalom Putti (Bethesda Row) Reckonings (EDCJCC)
Jews that Jam (EDCJCC) Labyrinth of Peace (Bethesda Row)
A Tree of Life (EDCJCC)
Short Films: Israeli Cinema (Bethesda Row)
Sunday, May 22 12:15 PM
Valiant Hearts (EDCJCC)
2:15 PM
Chess Story (EDCJCC)
2:00 PM
2:30 PM
4:30 PM 4:45 PM
6:50 PM 7:15 PM
The Afro-Semitic Experience: Letters from the Affair (EDCJCC) The Swimmer (AFI) Rose (AFI)
CLOSING NIGHT FILM Greener Pastures (EDCJCC) Berenshtein (AFI)
CLOSING NIGHT CONCERT Mark Rubin: The Oklahoma Jew (EDCJCC)
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TICKETS AND PASSES TICKETS
FILM SCREENINGS CONCERTS PASSES
$15*
*Ticket prices are inclusive of ticketing fees. Some special events (including Opening, Closing, and Spotlight Events) may be priced differently.
$18 – $25*
FLEX PACKAGE
$30
3 FILM TICKETS**
FILM LOVERS PASS
$150
ALL SCREENINGS + 1 CONCERT**
ALL ACCESS PASS
MUSIC LOVERS PASS UNDER 30 PASS
$225
$150 $40
ALL JxJ EVENTS
ALL CONCERTS + 2 SCREENINGS** ALL JxJ EVENTS**
Purchase Tickets
Advance Sales: Visit JxJDC.org or call 202.777.3210 (phone representative available M-F from 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM). Tickets purchased by phone are subject to an additional processing fee of $3 per order. Same-Day Sales: The box office will open for same-day sales (when inventory remains) one hour prior to the first program of the day at each venue.
Terms and Details
All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges, except in the event of a cancelation. If an event sells out, tickets will be released through a Rush Line on a first-come first-serve basis, as tickets become available. Seating is only guaranteed for ticket and passholders until 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start of an event.
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Questions? Email boxoffice@jxjdc.org or call 202.777.3210
**The following pass types do not grant access to Opening, Closing, and Spotlight Events: JxJ Flex Package, Film Lovers Pass, Music Lovers Pass, and Under 30 Pass.
Concessions
Concessions will be available for Edlavitch DCJCC event and will be run in partnership with the EDCJCC’s Inclusion and Disabilities program. People of all abilities will work side-by-side and look forward to meeting you! Concessions will be available at other JxJ venues at their discretion.
Health & Safety
Please visit JxJDC.org/Safety for the latest guidance regarding Covid protocols. As the situation is fluid and evolving, this page will be regularly updated.
VENUES AFI SILVER THEATRE 8633 Colesville Road Silver Spring, MD
BETHESDA ROW CINEMA 7235 Woodmont Avenue Bethesda, MD EDLAVITCH DCJCC 1529 Sixteenth Street, NW Washington, DC
JxJDC.ORG
Join the conversation on social media using #JxJ. Check out our Facebook and Twitter accounts for exclusive updates, behind-the-scenes content, festival information, ticket giveaways, and more.
JxJFest JxJFest The EDCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and 2activities.
WELCOME BACK TO JxJ!
After a couple years of virtual presentations and hybrid performances, we are overjoyed to host a full-scale in-person JxJ Festival again. What better way to bask in each other’s warmth and company than over the best in contemporary international Jewish cinema and music? The pages to come offer a vibrant combination of affirmation, celebration, and discovery. We hope that you’ll recognize yourself, your community, and your dreams in some of the stories that unfold on screen and on stage—but we also cherish the opportunity to introduce you to new places, people, and narratives that are completely unlike your own. The Festival aims to broaden your understanding of Jewish identity, history, and culture, and in the process to expand and deepen your cultural horizons and community connections. We hope you’ll join us for this invigorating journey!
Ilya Tovbis JxJ Artistic and Managing Director 4
Bethesda Row Cinema AFI Silver Theatre EDCJCC
INDEX
CALENDAR (p. 1-2)
· Dedication (p. 15) · Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery in WWII (p. 11) · Getting Away With Murder(s) (p. 17) · The Jews and the Blues (p. 18) · A Jewish Life (p. 18) · The Levys of Monticello (p. 20) · Shalom Putti (p. 23) · A Tree of Life (p. 24)
R ATED LGBTQ Queer cinema series. Presented in partnership with GLOE – The Kurlander Program for LGBTQ Outreach & Engagement.
WORK IN PROGRESS FILM (p. 26)
· A Breath of Life (p. 13) · The Swimmer (p. 23) · Mazel Tov (p. 27) · Mint Tea (p. 27) · Sadeh (p. 27)
CONCERTS (p. 28-35)
BEATSxJ Movies about music.
BIG NIGHTS (p. 6-8)
CENTERPIECE FILMS (p. 9-11) A-Z FILM LIST (p. 12-26)
SHORT FILM PROGRAMS (p. 27)
SPONSOR AND DONOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (p. 36-38)
· Carol of the Bells (p. 9) · Dedication (p. 15) · Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen (p. 16) · The Jews and the Blues (p. 18) · That Orchestra with the Broken Instruments (p. 21)
PROGRAMS CENTERING JEWS OF COLOR
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· Alegria (p. 12) · BETTY (p. 29) · The Forgotten Ones (p. 16) · Gili Yalo Duo (p. 33) · Shalom Putti (p. 23) · Wet Dog (p. 25) · With No Land (p. 26)
BIG NIGHTS
KEY
ILMMAKER GUEST EXPECTED F Guests are subject to change. See website for updates.
• p.7-9 (each event gets full page): o Opening Film (Rose) o Closing Film (Greener Pastures) o Closing Concert (Mak Rubin)
OPENING NIGHT FILM MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE
Sponsored by the Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation
ROSE
Dir. Aurélie Saada | 102 min | Narrative | France | 2021 French w/English subtitles Actress and screenwriter Aurélie Saada makes her directorial debut with this life-affirming reminder that it’s never too late to seek fulfillment. The joys of celebrating the birthday of the Goldberg family patriarch give way to sorrow as his sudden death leaves his devoted wife Rose (screen legend Françoise Fabian, who played the title role in Éric Rohmer’s 1969 classic My Night at Maud’s) uncertain of how to navigate life as a widow. Her family offers little solace, but gradually Rose begins to advocate for her wishes and pursue her desires, rejecting the societal pressure to “act her age” and fade into oblivion. Similar in concept to Sebastián Lelio’s crowd-pleasing Gloria, but with its own cultural specificity and a career-crowning turn from Fabian, Rose took home the Variety Piazza Grande Award at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival.
OPENING NIGHT
Thursday, May 12, 7:00 PM EDCJCC
Followed by Opening night party
ADDITIONAL SCREENING Sunday, May 22, 4:30 PM AFI Silver Theatre
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CLOSING NIGHT FILM DC PREMIERE
Sponsored by Irwin and Ginny Edlavitch
GREENER PASTURES
Dir. Assaf Abiri, Matan Guggenheim | 90 min | Narrative | Israel | 2020 Hebrew w/English subtitles Nominated for 12 Israeli Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Lead Actor. A charming comedy from Israel, featuring a terrific cast that includes Shlomo Bar-Aba (Footnote), Dov Glickman (Shtisel), and Joy Rieger (Past Life). Dov, a widower (Bar-Aba), is forced by his family to move to a nursing home–and there’s nothing he can do or say about it. All he can think about is getting out, buying his old house back, and living there until the end of his life. When he notices that all his fellow residents smoke legal medical cannabis, he realizes that weed will be his salvation–selling it, not smoking it. When love, cops, and gangsters come into play, Dov finds himself at a crossroads: Will he risk it all to make his dream come true?
Sunday, May 22, 4:45 PM – EDCJCC Followed by champagne toast and dessert reception 7
CLOSING NIGHT CONCERT Sponsored by the Nussdorf Family Foundation
MARK RUBIN: “JEW OF OKLAHOMA” Oklahoma-born, Texas-reared, and now living in New Orleans, multi-instrumentalist Mark Rubin is an unabashed Southern Jew, known for his muscular musicianship and larger-than-life persona.
Over an accomplished 30+ year career, he has accompanied or produced a who’s-who of American traditional music, while straddling numerous musical genres, including country, western swing, bluegrass, Cajun, Tex-Mex, polka, klezmer, Roma, and more. He is perhaps best known for co-founding the notorious proto-Americana band Bad Livers, though his more recent work as a tuba and bass player in the klezmer music scene has earned him equivalent acclaim. As part of JxJ’s Closing Night, he performs music from his vast catalog, including from his latest album, The Triumph of Assimilation.
Sunday, May 22, 7:15 PM – EDCJCC
Preceded by champagne toast and dessert reception 6
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CENTERPIECE FILMS 9
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
Sponsored by Linda and Sid Moskowitz
CAROL OF THE BELLS
Dir. Olesya Morgunets-Isaenko | 122 min Ukraine, Poland | 2021 Ukrainian, Polish, German, English and Russian w/English subtitles The Christmas song Carol of the Bells comes from a popular Ukrainian folk melody representing the universal spirit of brotherhood and unity. In Ukrainian director Olesya Morgunets-Isaenko’s anti-war epic, three families—Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish—find their bonds tested with the outbreak of WWII. Chillingly timely, the film serves as a reminder of the power of unity and human decency in the face of jingoistic conflict. Despite successive occupations, first by the Nazis and then by Soviet forces, the families refuse to be splintered, joining their voices to sing a beautifully defiant Carol of the Bells.
Saturday, May 14, 8:30 PM – EDCJCC Tuesday, May 17, 8:20 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
DC PREMIERE Narrative
CINEMA SABAYA
Dir. Orit Fouks Rotem | 95 min | Israel, Belgium | 2021 Hebrew and Arabic w/English subtitles In this ode to the unifying power of art, nine women register for a filmmaking workshop with young director Rona. As the strangers, both Arab and Jewish, share the raw footage they shoot each week with their classmates, they are confronted not only by the vast differences in their circumstances but also by striking points of connection. Growing closer, the students develop a strong, supportive community, even as they begin to grow suspicious of Rona’s motives. Drawn from filmmaker Orit Fokus Rotem’s experiences leading similar workshops in Acre and Givat Haviva, Cinema Sabaya is an unvarnished exploration of the joy of learning to see and to truly being seen.
THE 21%: THE LIVES OF ARAB CITIZENS OF ISRAEL Sponsored by the Greater Washington Forum on Israeli Arab Issues and the Edlavitch DCJCC
Lead Support provided by The Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation Join us for our annual keynote program exploring the daily lives and challenges of Arab citizens of Israel. Following the Sunday, May 15, 2:30 PM screening of Cinema Sabaya, director Orit Fouks Rotem and actor Joanna Said will be in conversation about the contemporary experience of Arab women in Israel, and the role the arts play in bridging societal, religious, and political divides.
CENTERPIECE 21% PROGRAM
Sunday, May 15, 2:30 PM EDCJCC
ADDITIONAL SCREENING
Monday, May 16, 8:15 PM Bethesda Row Cinema 10
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary
FOUR WINTERS: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery in WWII Dir. Julia Mintz | 96 min | USA | 2020
An essential documentary about Jewish partisans who took up arms against Hitler’s war machine. Despite extraordinary odds, over 25,000 Jews fought the Nazis and their collaborators from deep within the forests of WWII’s Eastern Europe, Ukraine and Belarus. These determined men and women, many barely in their teens, engaged in acts of sabotage, blowing up trains, burning electric stations, and attacking armed enemy headquarters with whatever weapons they could build, steal and construct. The last surviving partisans tell their stories to director Julia Mintz, who shines a spotlight on their bravery, grit, courage and deep humanity. Through interviews, archival footage, and historic war records, Four Winters reveals a stunning, heartfelt narrative of heroism and resilience.
Sunday, May 15, 4:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
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A–Z FILMS
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
ALEGRÍA
BERENSHTEIN
After years away, Alegría (Cecilia Suárez, Nora’s Will) returns to her hometown of Melilla, where three strands of Mediterranean culture converge: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. Ostensibly back for a Sephardic wedding, Alegría uses the moment to navigate her complex relationship with Judaism, her friendships with women of other faiths, and a reunion with an estranged daughter.
A long-forgotten hero’s story is unearthed in this riveting and lavishly produced docudrama.
Dir. Violeta Salama | 119 min | Spain | 2021 Spanish w/English subtitles
A bright comedy about multiculturalism, Violeta Salama’s film is also a coming to terms with her personal experience (her father is Sephardic and her mother Catholic) and a luminous portrait of Melilla.
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DC PREMIERE Narrative
Dir. Roman Shumunov | 110 min | Israel | 2021 German, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian w/English subtitles
The last surviving member of the Jewish Red Army partisans, Ukrainian Leonid Berenshtein was a decorated anti-Nazi fighter who sabotaged German train transports and tracked down Hitler’s secret V-2 doomsday missile facility. Evocatively employing flashbacks and stirring reenactments, Berenshtein recounts battlefield atrocities, lost love, and fateful choices. Most profoundly, the aging partisan gives voice to his fateful decision to refuse orders and break into a German prison to release Jews sentenced to death.
Saturday, May 14, 6:00 PM – EDCJCC
Monday, May 16, 7:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Wednesday, May 18, 6:10 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Sunday, May 22, 6:50 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 12
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Documentary
A BREATH OF LIFE
Dir. Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini | 95 min Italy, Germany | 2021 Italian w/English subtitles Lucy is a tough, spirited, and wryly funny 95-year-old woman. In her apartment, yellowed photos capture Lucy’s adolescence as she’s about to experience the worst period of her life. Lucy is the oldest transgender woman in Italy. She is among the few survivors of Dachau concentration camp. Lucy’s story is the grand narrative of the 1900s; she is a living witness to the 20th century and its dark shadows. Her youth, transition, motherhood, and trials as a sex worker are singular, but her dogged indomitability characterizes all Shoah survivors.
Sunday, May 15, 6:45 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
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DC PREMIERE Narrative
CHARLOTTE
Dir. Eric Warin, Tahir Rana | 92 min Canada, France, Belgium | 2021 Growing up in Berlin in the 1930s, Charlotte Salomon (voiced by Keira Knightley) had already demonstrated her artistic promise and antiauthoritarian leanings by the time she turned 16. The Nazis’ rise to power forced the Jewish girl to be expelled from the art academy where she studied, and in 1938, she fled to France. This stunning animated drama brings to life Salomon’s true story, as she faces down private turmoil and sweeping global cataclysm to create a masterpiece—the sprawling expressionist work Life? or Theatre?—which is revered in the art world to this day.
Sunday, May 15, 7:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary
CHESS STORY
THE CITY AND THE CITY
Dir. Philipp Stölzl | 112 min Germany, Austria | 2021 German w/English subtitles
The inspired film adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s timeless literary classic The Royal Game. It’s 1938, and Nazis are marching through the streets of Vienna. Attorney Josef Bartok and his wife plan to escape to America, but the Gestapo get to him first. Bartok refuses to cooperate with his captors, and quickly lands in solitary confinement. The intense isolation almost breaks his spirit, until he steals an old chess book—an act that changes the course of his life, but also gradually turns into a dangerous obsession. Presented with the support of the Goethe-Institut Washington. Saturday, May 14, 8:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Dir. Christos Passalis, Syllas Tzoumerkas with Vassilis Kanakis, Alexandros Vardaxoglou, Angeliki Papoulia, Argyris Xafis, Niki Papandreou | 87 min | Greece | 2022 Greek, Ladino, German, Turkish and French w/English subtitles The untold story of the life and perils of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community, presented in 6 poetic and stylistically innovative chapters. The Greek city, nicknamed “the mother of Israel,” was home to a large population of Sephardic Jews for centuries. Then in 1943, Eichmann’s deputies carried out a program of ghettoization, deportation, and eventually the extermination of over 90 percent of the city’s Jewish population. The City and the City records this dramatic history through six intertwined and visually evocative chapters that deftly combine documentary, fiction, and essay. Saturday, May 14, 6:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Sunday, May 22, 2:15 PM – EDCJCC 14
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary
DEAD SEA GUARDIANS
Dir. Ido Glass, Yoav Kleinman | 76 min Israel | 2021 Hebrew, English, and Arabic w/English subtitles The Dead Sea—shared by Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians— is a salt lake, known for its geographical, biological, and historical significance. Tragically, overconsumption and poor water management have led to the Dead Sea drying up, causing huge sinkholes, abandoned beaches, and collapsing roads. A Jordanian, an Israeli, and a Palestinian decide to take action: they plan an unprecedented, extremely dangerous swim across the Dead Sea to draw the world’s attention to its plight.
Sunday, May 15, 7:45 PM – EDCJCC
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WORLD PREMIERE Narrative
DEDICATION
Dir. Roger Peltzman | 67 min USA | 2022 Roger Peltzman transforms his one-man play into a deeply poetic, musical, and cinematic journey. Peltzman’s family fled Berlin for Brussels in 1933, and this story centers on his uncle Norbert—the finest pianist in Belgium, until he was murdered in Auschwitz at 21 years old. A singular tale from the Shoah that is at once extraordinary and relatable, Dedication is also a coming to terms with second generation survivor trauma and the role of music in helping to manage wounds that will never fully heal.
Sunday, May 15, 5:30 PM – EDCJCC
DC PREMIERE Documentary
FIDDLER’S JOURNEY TO THE BIG SCREEN Dir. Daniel Raim | 88 min USA | 2022
2021 marked the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof, which Pauline Kael designated “the most powerful movie musical ever made.” Narrated by Jeff Goldblum, Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen captures the humor and drama of director Norman Jewison’s quest to recreate the lost world of Jewish life in Tsarist Russia and re-envision the beloved stage hit as a wide-screen epic. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Daniel Raim draws on behind-the-scenes footage, archival stills, and original interviews with Jewison, Topol (Tevye), composer John Williams, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and actresses Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, and Neva Small. Saturday, May 14, 6:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Sunday, May 15, 12:30 PM – EDCJCC
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary
THE FORGOTTEN ONES Dir. Michale Boganim | 93 min France, Israel | 2021 French and Hebrew w/English subtitles
Like their European counterparts, many Sephardic Jews and Jews from Arab lands left their homelands for the promise of freedom and opportunity in Israel. Unbeknownst to them, these Mizrahim were to be relegated to bleak transit camps and development towns and kept from enjoying full rights of Israeli citizenship. Through interviews and rich archival footage, Franco-Israeli director Michale Boganim explores the history of discrimination against socalled “non-white” Jews in the Promised Land.
Wednesday, May 18, 6:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 16
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Documentary
GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER(S)
Dir. David Wilkinson | 175 min UK | 2021
Almost one million people in 22 countries carried out the unprovoked murder of 11 million innocent men, women, and children. 99% of those responsible were never prosecuted; most were never even questioned. Despite the extensive documentary coverage of the Holocaust to date, not one has explored in any depth the almost total lack of justice, statistically, toward the vast numbers of eagerly participating perpetrators who, at war’s end, simply walked away. Over 10 years in the making, Getting Away with Murder(s) addresses this glaring omission. Presented with brief intermission.
Monday, May 16, 6:45 PM – EDCJCC
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
IMAGE OF VICTORY Dir. Avi Nesher | 128 min Israel | 2021 Hebrew and Arabic w/English subtitles
Nominated for 15 Ophir Awards including Best Film, Avi Nesher’s exhilarating anti-war epic revisits Israel’s 1948 War of Independence and a doomed firefight with the Egyptian army, told from both sides of the conflict. An ignominious defeat for Israel, the Battle of Nitzanim pitted residents of a southern seaside kibbutz against crushing Egyptian forces. The calamitous encounter focuses on two real figures: an idealistic filmmaker from Cairo (Amir Khoury) and the reckless heroine (Joy Rieger), a kibbutznik radio operator.
Thursday, May 12, 6:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Wednesday, May 18, 8:40 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
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MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary
Sponsored by Richard Solloway
THE JEWS AND THE BLUES Dir. Drew Stone | 67 min USA | 2021
Filmmaker, musician, and talk show host Drew Stone travels to Israel in search of the connection between Jews and the Blues. Along the way he discovers how deeply embedded its melodies and stories are to the mix of cultures that inhabit the Holy Land. A fascinating history emerges, with roots in Arab, Jewish, Ethiopian, and Moroccan traditions, all filtered through the contemporary Israeli experience. Featuring interviews with—and a sizzling soundtrack from— leading contemporary Israeli musicians, including Ori Frank, Ravid Kahalani, and 2022 JxJ headliner Gili Yalo (concert info on p. 33).
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Documentary
A JEWISH LIFE
Dir. Christian Krönes, Florian Weigensamer, Roland Schrotthofer, Christian Kermer | Austria | 2021 German w/English subtitles Marko Feingold used to say: “Nothing can hurt those who already died once.” He himself had died several times over, as a survivor of four concentration camps: Auschwitz, Neuengamme, Dachau, and Buchenwald. From the moment of his liberation to the day he passed away in September 2019, aged 106, he dedicated his life to helping tens of thousands of survivors on their arduous journeys to Palestine, and later channeled his efforts into Holocaust remembrance. Feingold, who later became the President of the Jewish Community in Salzburg, gives his testimony with breathtaking clarity. Presented with the support of the Austrian Cultural Forum.
Tuesday, May 17, 6:15 PM – EDCJCC
Tuesday, May 17, 7:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
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MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE TV Narrative
DC PREMIERE Narrative
LABYRINTH OF PEACE
LET IT BE MORNING
It is 1945. The war is over. Switzerland, the neutral small country at the heart of Europe, was all but spared. Klara, her fiancé Johann, and his brother Egon are looking bright-eyed into the future.
Israeli Submission for Best International Feature Oscar, 2022
Dir. Mike Schaerer | 300 min Switzerland | 2020 Swiss and German w/English subtitles
While Klara tries to mend the wounds of the war by caring for young, displaced Holocaust survivors, Johann, who works for her industrialist father, hopes to save and modernize his father-in-law’s well-established yet troubled textile company. Just home from military service, Egon takes his first steps in the Attorney General’s office. His mission: to hunt down escaped Nazis. The six episodes of the mini-series are presented in two parts.
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Dir. Eran Kolirin | 101 min Israel, France | 2021 Arabic and Hebrew w/English subtitles
Sami, a middle-class Palestinian telecom executive, returns to his childhood village for his younger brother’s wedding. As he starts his journey back to Jerusalem with his wife and child, he discovers the villagers have been placed under military siege. When the power goes out too, Sami is left to ponder his life choices and whether his sense of security as an Israeli citizen has been nothing but an illusion. Based on Sayed Kashua’s novel, Eran Kolirin’s (The Band’s Visit) new film, which premiered at Cannes this year, offers an acerbic, if whimsical, look at the conflict.
Thursday, May 12, 8:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema (episodes 1-3)
Sunday, May 15, 2:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Thursday, May 19, 7:50 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema (episodes 4-6)
Saturday, May 21, 6:15 PM – AFI Silver Theatre
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary
THE LEVYS OF MONTICELLO Dir. Steven Pressman | 70 min USA | 2021
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello residence stands as a complex and paradoxical symbol of Democracy. Designed by Jefferson, built and tended by slaves, the palatial Virginia plantation was presidential retreat, retirement home, and final resting place. After it was sold due to mounting debts, Uriah Phillips Levy—a Jewish naval officer and fervent believer in Jeffersonian ideals—became its unlikely caretaker, restoring and saving the estate from ruin with the help of his family. The story behind this national treasure confronts the racism and anti-Semitism that remain part of the national narrative.
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
LOVE & MAZEL TOV Dir. Wolfgang Murnberger | 88 min Germany | 2020 German w/English subtitles
Anne has a crush on Judaism, but she isn’t a member of the tribe. Her bookstore specializes in Jewish literature, she volunteers in a Jewish retirement home, and she helps a Holocaust survivor publicize his memoir. When she meets Daniel, a charming doctor she wrongly assumes to be Jewish, the two hit it off. Smitten, he plays along, but as real romantic feelings develop, the lie at the heart of it all becomes too much to bear. A clever take on social appropriation and historical guilt, this warmhearted look at modern love from director Wolfang Murnberger (My Best Enemy) is full of thought-provoking laughs.
Sunday, May 15, 2:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Thursday, May 12, 6:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Tuesday, May 17, 8:15 PM – EDCJCC
Saturday, May 21, 6:15 PM – EDCJCC 20
DC PREMIERE Narrative
NEIGHBOURS
Dir. Mano Khalil | 124 min Switzerland, France | 2021 Kurdish, Arabic, Hebrew, and Turkish w/ English subtitles Six-year-old Sero lives in a Kurdish community near the Syrian–Turkish border in the early 1980s. He is extremely fond of his neighbors, the last Jewish family in a village where Jews and Kurds once peacefully coexisted. When he begins Arabic school, Sero is inundated with the fiery nationalism of a new teacher who demands that Arabic replace Kurdish in the home, and propagates anti-Semitism to his impressionable charges. Neighbours draws from the director’s personal experiences, delicately balancing youthful nostalgia with themes of impending tyranny under the Assad regime.
Wednesday, May 18, 8:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Saturday, May 21, 8:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 21
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary
THAT ORCHESTRA WITH THE BROKEN INSTRUMENTS Dir. Yuval Hameiri | 79 min Israel | 2021 Arabic, English, and Hebrew w/ English subtitles
An orchestra of 100 professional and amateur musicians, young and old, sets out on a journey against all odds to a one-time concert. They speak different languages. Their instruments are broken. One brilliant conductor, three gifted composers, and musicians from different backgrounds meet for four days of rehearsals to pull off a concert unlike any other: a concert played in Jerusalem on broken instruments. A poetic, engaging look at the broken and the whole through characters determined to create, if only for a moment, harmony in a discordant city. Thursday, May 19, 6:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
SNEAK PREVIEW Documentary
Sponsored by Cyna and Paul Cohen, Sara C. Cohen and Norm J. Rich
PLAN A
RECKONINGS
Based on a true story. In 1945, a group of Jewish Holocaust survivors seeking revenge planned to poison the water system in Germany.
They met in secret to negotiate the unthinkable—compensation for the survivors of the largest mass genocide in history. Survivors were in urgent need of help, but how could reparations be determined for the unprecedented destruction and suffering of a people?
Dir. Doron Paz and Yoav Paz | 109 min Germany, Israel | 2021
Furious at the death of his entire family in camps, Max follows Anna and a group of former partisans to Nuremberg, but quickly realizes that they will not find redemption in the upcoming trials. Led by charismatic leader Abba Kovner, they formulate the most ambitious revenge operation in history: Plan A—to kill six million Germans, one for every Jew slaughtered by the Germans.
Thursday, May 12, 8:40 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Dir. Roberta Grossman | 74 min USA | 2022
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman (Who Will Write our History, Blessed is the Match: Hannah Senesh), Reckonings recounts the tense negotiations between Jewish and German leaders. Under the constant threat of violence, they forged ahead, knowing it would never be enough but hoping it could at least be an acknowledgement and a step towards healing.
Thursday, May 19, 6:15 PM – EDCJCC
Saturday, May 21, 8:15 PM – EDCJCC 22
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Narrative
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
SHALOM PUTTI
THE SWIMMER
When a little-known Jewish community in rural Uganda encounters a group of Orthodox Israeli rabbis, everyone is destined to be transformed.
An athlete tries to reconcile his sexual identity with dreams of becoming a world champion, in this sensual, strikingly filmed drama.
Dir. Tamás Wormser | 85 min Canada | 2021
Dir. Adam Kalderon | 85 min Israel | 2021 Hebrew w/English subtitles
Director Tamás Wormser documents the extraordinary encounter over seven years, crafting a nuanced and visually arresting documentary reflection on identity, religion, and the long shadow of colonialism.
Erez, a young Israeli swimmer, arrives at a training camp hoping for a shot at the Olympics. He strikes up a friendship with a chief competitor, hoping it will blossom into something more.
This poignant look at the lives and religious practice of the Abayudaya touches on the very definition of what it is to be Jewish, while raising timely questions about wealth inequality and the relationship between Israel and the African diaspora.
Inspired by his travails as a gay swimmer, writer-director Adam Kalderon pits the discrimination and toxic masculinity of the hyper-competitive sports world against a private story of acceptance.
Thursday, May 19, 6:10 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
-Note adapted from the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
Wednesday, May 18, 8:30 PM – EDCJCC Sunday, May 22, 2:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre
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DC PREMIERE Documentary
DC PREMIERE Documentary
THREE MINUTES – A LENGTHENING
A TREE OF LIFE
A revelatory hit at the Sundance, Telluride, and Toronto International Film Festivals
In Pittsburgh in 2018, a white supremacist opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. The survivors recount the harrowing experience and detail how their lives have fundamentally changed.
Dir. Bianca Stigter | 69 min | The Netherlands, UK | 2021 English, German, Polish, Yiddish w/English subtitles
The three minutes of footage explored in this extraordinary film are the only moving images left of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk, Poland, before the Holocaust. Director Bianca Stigter inhabits and examines every frame of the home movie Glenn Kurtz found in his parents’ home in Florida, transforming the rare color footage shot in 1938 Poland into a riveting and haunting essay film narrated by actress Helena Bonham Carter that unravels the stories hidden in the celluloid.
Wednesday, May 16, 6:10 PM – EDCJCC
Dir. Trish Adlesic | 80 min USA | 2021
Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning director Trish Adlesic (Gasland ) confronts the “moral decay of humanity” and takes a larger look at the hate-based crisis stemming from the political climate to pose the ultimate question: What kind of nation does America want to be?
Sunday, May 15, 4:45 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Thursday, May 19, 8:30 PM – EDCJCC 24
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative
VALIANT HEARTS
WET DOG
A film for the whole family, centering on a true story of exceptional bravery and survival. Starring acclaimed French actress Camille Cottin (Call My Agent, House of Gucci, Stillwater), Valiant Hearts recounts the odyssey of six Jewish children in August 1942 who were forced to take refuge among Louvre Museum artworks hidden in the Château de Chambord.
Soheil is 15 when his Jewish-Iranian family moves to one of Berlin’s majority-Muslim neighborhoods. Eager to fit in with the gangs that dominate the city, Soheil hides his Jewish identity until one day his friends decide to rob the local Jew-lery, as they call it.
Dir. Mona Achache | 87 min France | 2021 French w/English subtitles
Between fear, outbursts of laughter, and unexpected encounters, the children learn about independence and discover solidarity and friendship amid harrowing circumstances.
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Dir. Damir Lukacevic | 103 min Germany | 2020 German w/English subtitles
Suddenly, Soheil can no longer ignore his heritage, and he begins to embrace who he is and where he comes from. Based on Arye Sharuz Shalicar’s provocative autobiography, Wet Dog raises questions of cultural diversity, religious identity, assimilation, and how these forces intersect during Soheil’s formative years.
Sunday, May 15, 12:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Saturday, May 14, 8:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
Sunday, May 22, 12:15 PM – EDCJCC
Tuesday, May 17, 6:10 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
WITH NO LAND
Dir. Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian, Kobi Davidian | 83 min Israel | 2021 Amharic and Hebrew w/English subtitles Thirty years ago, Operation Solomon brought 15,000 Jews from Ethiopia to Israel in under 24 hours. It was immediately hailed as an unqualified triumph that only Israel’s military could have pulled off. Using firsthand testimonies and archival footage, With No Land seeks to set the record straight and delve into the untold aspects of the story. Along the way, it explores the dangerous but necessary actions taken across three continents by the Jewish Ethiopian activists fighting for justice and those left behind by Operation Solomon. From JxJ favorite, Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian (Fig Tree ).
Monday, May 16, 6:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
WORK IN PROGRESS
MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary
WORK IN PROGRESS Documentary
PICKING UP THE PIECES Dir. Aviva Kempner | 15 min | USA | 2022
Picking Up the Pieces is the story of director Aviva Kempner’s mother, Hanka Ciesla, who survived the Holocaust as a Polish Catholic and her uncle, Dudek Ciesla, who survived Auschwitz. They miraculously found each other after liberation in Berlin. American Jewish military journalist Harold Kempner captured their reunion, and eventually fell in love with and married Hanka. The film depicts how survivors rebuilt their lives, and the descendants’ need to share their stories. Speakers: Director Aviva Kempner, Editor Lucia Fox Shapiro, niece Delaney Kempner, and Professor Emanuel Thorne Supported by the Milton and Helen Covensky Fund and the Chaim Kempner Fund.
Sunday, May 15, 11:00 AM – EDCJCC 26
DOCUMENTARY CINEMA
SHORTS PROGRAMS
Canada, Germany, UK, USA English, Russian, and British Sign language w/English subtitles
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An eclectic and powerful collection of documentary shorts take on topics as wide-ranging as socialism by way of summer camp, changing Jewish attitudes toward canines, Larry King, and more! Films include Cherry Bone, Frum Dogs of Hendon, Graphic, Irene, Kinderland, Larry & Me, A Mensch is a Mensch, Sadeh, Underwater with Closed Eyes. Sunday, May 15, 12:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
ISRAELI CINEMA Hebrew w/English subtitles
A compilation of the year’s best in contemporary Israeli short cinema, encompassing animated and student films, dramas, comedies and more. Films include A Day Out, Desert Heart, The Last Jew, One Last Wish, Mazel Tov, Mint Tea, As You Like.
Thursday, May 19, 8:40 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema
The Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation is the Lead Sponsor of the Washington Jewish Music Festival
MUSIC
BETTY
Longtime indie band BETTY returns home! Fronted by African-American singer Alyson Palmer and queer Jewish sisters Elizabeth and Amy Ziff, BETTY’s distinct vocals have been heard for 35 years on radio, film, TV, and the internet, including: the Michael J. Fox holiday classic Life With Mikey; HBO’s Encyclopedia and Real Sex; Showtime’s The L Word; Pringles ads nationwide; and ten albums. BETTY’s heartfelt feminist passion and international appearances as Arts Envoys for the US State Department led Gloria Steinem to suggest they create The BETTY Effect, a non-profit for their ongoing work on behalf of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people. Co-presented with GLOE — The Kurlander Program from LGBTQ Outreach & Engagement MAIN SHOW: Saturday, May 14, 7:30 AM – EDCJCC FAMILY WORKSHOP: Sunday, May 15, 10:30 AM – EDCJCC 28
GHETTO TANGO
Featuring music written and adapted by Jewish composers, actors, singers, street performers, and amateurs in the Jewish ghettos of Poland and Lithuania during World War II, Ghetto Tango is satirical and elegiac, political and personal, angry and heartfelt. Its musical forms reflect popular Yiddish songs of the early twentieth century: songs rooted in Eastern European Jewish folk and liturgical music and influenced by European opera and operetta, American ragtime, film, tango, and cabaret entertainment. The concert features Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director and conductor at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene; Daniella Rabbani, Israeli American actress, singer, and voiceover artist; and Avram Mlotek, rabbi, cantor, actor, and author of Why Jews Do That or 30 Questions Your Rabbi Never Answered.
Supported by the Max and Esther Ticktin Fund. Sunday, May 15, 3:00 PM – EDCJCC
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SOCALLED SINGS DI FROSH “A theatrical musical mastermind” – Now Magazine
Socalled (Josh Dolgin), “the mad wizard of Yiddish hip-hop,” goes back to his roots in this ground-breaking program. Featuring accompaniment by the Bachanalia Chamber Players, the program presents songs from the Yiddish theatre, Hassidic melodies, klezmer, folksong, songs from the Holocaust and from Israel, and even some original numbers. The program is funny, sad, beautiful, and dark with a diverse range of styles, colors, keys, modes, and moods. The Yiddish revival is over and it’s the Yiddish era again, so let’s dig deep, celebrate, and explore the riches of this extraordinary culture.
Sunday, May 15, 7:30 PM – EDCJCC
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KARYN LEVITT— ON HOLLYWOOD AND WEIMAR The Songs of European Composers from the Golden Age of Film
Many of Hollywood’s greatest scores were written by émigré and exiled composers who fled Nazi Europe for Southern California. Kurt Weill, Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Dimitri Tiomkin, Miklós Rózsa, and other European composers brought from their respective homelands the highest level of culture, which they poured into American movies. On Hollywood and Weimar celebrates the blending of the old world and the new to produce the uniquely hybrid sound of Hollywood’s Golden Age. From dusty westerns and sweeping romances to the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock, soprano Karyn Levitt and pianist Jed Distler perform songs ranging in style from Weimar cabaret, musical theater, and country-western to operetta, art song, and jazz. Tuesday, May 17, 7:30 PM - EDCJCC 31
“T errific and expressive singing. Introduced me to a repertoire and stories that were mostly new to me… A rich theme… Beautiful work!” – James Gavin, awardwinning music journalist and author
GILI YALO DUO
From his base in Tel Aviv, Gili Yalo is creating music that combines Ethiopian roots with soul, funk, psychedelic, and jazz forms. Gili Yalo incorporates sounds from traditional Ethiopian music into a contemporary music production. The result is an exceptional, rich, vivid melody accompanied by Gili’s unique voice with lyrics in both English and Amharic. He is joined in an intimate duo concert by The Anbessa Orchestra’s Nadav Peled, widely considered one of the leading Israeli jazz, rock, and world guitarists working today.
“Gili Yalo is one of the most intriguing contemporary musicians hailing from Israel.” - NPR Music
Wednesday, May 18, 7:30 PM EDCJCC 32
JEWS THAT JAM
Don’t miss out on celebrating Lag B’Omer at our community concert packed with heat! Join us for a performance from our young adult musicians community, Jews That Jam. In April, they came together to pick their bandmates for their temporary bands, and they have been practicing for weeks to present an awesome evening of popular hits, featuring “songs with fire.”
Co-presented with EntrypointDC, the EDCJCC’s program for Jewish young adults in their 20s and 30s.
Thursday, May 19, 7:30 PM – EDCJCC
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ELEANOR REISSA WITH PAUL SHAPIRO’S RIBS & BRISKET
Join Eleanor Reissa for a talk on her critically acclaimed new book The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey, followed by a swinging concert by Paul Shapiro’s Ribs & Brisket playing the Music of Mrs. Maisel, featuring Eleanor Reissa and Cilla Owens. Eleanor Reissa is an acclaimed actress, singer, director, writer, and contemporary Yiddish performer. She kicks off this multi-genre evening with a book talk about big history, the Holocaust, and her contemporary quest to make sense of the senselessness in a rare blend of informative, poignant, honest, humorous, and ultimately inspiring storytelling. Then, Reissa is joined onstage by Paul Shapiro’s Ribs & Brisket featuring Cilla Owens performing the 1950’s repertoire that underscores The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, brought to life with classics originally sung by Reissa, Owens, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Blossom Dearie, Juliette Greco, Connie Francis, and The Barry Sisters. Saturday, May 21, 7:00 PM - EDCJCC
This program includes complimentary rugelach, a traditional Jewish dessert made possible for you to enjoy by the Edlavitch DCJCC’s Marjorie Watson Serendipity Fund, established in memory of Marjorie Watson and her love, support, and advocacy for the arts at the Jewish Community Center and beyond.
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THE AFRO-SEMITIC EXPERIENCE PRESENTS: Letters From the Affair
A multi-media work that blurs boundaries between jazz, opera, and musical theater (and has a great deal of art history in it). The production relays a true but little-known story about the Dreyfus Affair and how it ended the friendship between Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro. Tracing the artists’ relationship from before the first impressionist exhibition until Pissarro’s death in 1903, The Afro-Semitic Experience plucks all the lyrics directly from letters written between the men. Letters From the Affair illustrates how Degas’ anti-Semitism was at the core of the break of their friendship, while exploring how the Jewish Pissarro had to face anti-Semitism on a daily basis during the peak of the Dreyfus Affair. Sunday, May 22, 2:00 PM – EDCJCC
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SPONSORS
Major Sponsors
Media Sponsors
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LEAD SPONSOR ($75,000) DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities DC Government MAJOR SPONSOR ($20,000-$74,999) The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch Nussdorf Family Foundation EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ($10,000-$19,999) Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation Dweck Philanthropy Embassy of Israel Susie and Michael Gelman, The Morningstar Foundation Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation Linda and Sid Moskowitz Deborah and Michael Salzberg PRODUCER ($5,000-$9,999) Cyna and Paul Cohen, Sara C. Cohen and Norm J. Rich Scott Eric Dreyer and Ellen Clare Gillespie Dreyer Rena and Michael Gordon Brenda Gruss and Daniel Hirsch Jennifer and Dan Mendelson Nancy and Saul Pilchen Ratner Family Foundation Richard Solloway ASSOCIATE PRODUCER ($3,000-$4,999) Janet B. Abrams Monica and Gavin Abrams Dava Berkman Michele and Allan Berman Johanna Chanin and Randall Levitt Dina Gold Rae Grad and Manuel Schiffres Dianne and Herb Lerner Barbara Silverstein Diane Abelman Wattenberg
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PATRON ($1,100-$2,999) Adas Israel Congregation Dianne Adelberg Alison Baraf and Aryeh Portnoy Deborah and Charles Both Dave Connick Morgan and Josh Genderson
Erica Gloger Jill and Robert Granader Sandra Hoexter Aviva Kempner Stacey Kluck Liza Levy Carol Mates and Mark Kahan Joan and Barry Rosenthal Les Silverman Michael Singer and James Smith Susan Suleiman Mimi Tygier and Robert Rubin Debra Vodenos and Samuel Boxerman Heidi Wachs Susan Wedlan and Harold Rosen Anita Wolke and Ken Brooks TASTEMAKER ($550-$1,099) Charlotte and Michael Baer Sanders H. Berk, MD and Sally Berk Suanne and Richard Beyda Susan Brett and Rob Shesser Meg and Samuel Flax Lorraine Gallard and Richard H. Levy Sid Kaplan Marion Ein Lewin Iris Lipkowitz Miriam Morsel Nathan Joan Nathan Nancy and Joel Poznansky Lawrence Schleifer Tina and Albert Small, Jr. Deborah Tannen and Michael Macovski FAN ($175-$549) Joanne Aaronson Babs and Rabbi A.N. Abramowitz Nicholas and Marla Allard Bruce Berman Paula Bienenfeld and Emlen Myers Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch and Stuart Bloch Nanci and Jim Bramson Dr. Lois K. Cohen Jacqueline and Edward Cohen Rosalind and Donald Cohen Nadine Cohodas Pam Crystal Anne-Marie Deutsch and Steven Feldman Michael and Laurie Edberg Stuart Eizenstat Leesa Fields and Jonathan Band Dr. Stanley C. and Ronna Foster Barry Friedman
Mindy Gasthalter Ricki Gerger Ann and Frank Gilbert Debra Goldberg and Seth Waxman Lynn Goldin and Henry Birnkrant Michael Goldstein Martha Winter Gross and Robert Tracy Lisa Himmelfarb Gilbert Holland Alan Kaplan Ronald Kaplan Barry Karas Nancy and Everett Korman Anita Lampel and Daniel Metlay Joy Lerner and Stephen Kelin Dalya and Edward Luttwak Marian and Alan Malasky Lynn Levin Oshinsky and Stan Oshinsky Dori Phaff and Dan Raviv Jessica Pollner Edna and Larry Povich Debby Prigal Nancy and Samuel Raskin Marcia and Robert Rosenberg Ilene Rosenthal Lisa Savitt Rhea Schwartz and Paul Wolff Mindy Strelitz and Andrew Cornblatt Sheila Taube John Tolleris Drs. Marion and Michael Usher David Wachs Sarah Wattenberg Jill and Michael Weinstein Sylvia and Peter Winik
EDLAVITCH DCJCC FUND SUPPORT Ann Loeb Bronfman Fund Milton and Helen Covensky Fund The Samuel and Marlene Halperin Fund Chaim Kempner Fund The Harriet J. Neuman Endowment Fund Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation Endowment Max and Esther Ticktin Fund The Arthur Tracy “The Street Singer” Endowment Fund Marjorie Watson Serendipity Fund
Listing as of March 30, 2022
EDLAVITCH DCJCC DONORS
JxJ DONORS
PRESENTING SPONSOR ($100,000) Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation
The Edlavitch DCJCC wis $100,000+ Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation + The Samuel Bronfman Foundation The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation + DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities DC Government Susie and Michael Gelman, The Morningstar Foundation + Brenda Gruss and Daniel Hirsch + Jewish Federation of Greater Washington + The Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod Family Foundation + Washington Area Community Investment Funds $50,000-$99,999 DC Department of Homeland Security Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch + Sari R. Hornstein The Annette M. and Theodore N. Lerner Family Foundation + Nussdorf Family Foundation + Nancy and Saul Pilchen + Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation Share Fund $25,000-$49,999 Johanna Chanin and Randall Levitt + Dweck Philanthropy + Lois and Richard England Family Foundation Rena and Michael Gordon + The Kay Family Foundation + The Marinus and Minna B. Koster Foundation Alfred Munzer and Joel Wind + National Endowment for the Arts Deborah and Michael Salzberg + The Schoenbaum Family Foundation, Inc. The Shubert Foundation United Jewish Endowment Fund George Vradenburg Amy Weinberg and Norbert Hornstein $15,000-$24,999 The Family of H. Max & Josephine F. Ammerman and Andrew R. Ammerman Michele and Allan Berman Lisa and Josh Bernstein + Bruce A. Cohen James A. Feldman and Natalie Wexler + Susan Sachs Goldman + Jill and Robert Granader + Patti and Mitchell Herman Stuart S. Kurlander and David L. Martin Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation Dianne and Herb Lerner Amy and Alan Meltzer + Linda and Sid Moskowitz + Patricia Payne and Nancy Firestone
shes to thank the donors who enable us to serve the community.** Diane and Arnold Polinger + Kay Richman and Daniel Kaplan Rhea Schwartz and Paul Wolff + Helene and Robert Schlossberg The Abe & Kathryn Selsky Foundation + Patti and Jerry Sowalsky George Wasserman Family Foundation, Inc.
$10,000-$14,999 Suevia and Rudolph B. Behrend Fund Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation Rose and Robert Cohen + Cozen O’Connor + Embassy of Israel Myrna Fawcett Michael Glosserman + Rae Grad and Manuel Schiffres Jill and Robert Granader + Martha Winter Gross and Robert Tracy + Harman Family Foundation + Meg and John Hauge Thelma Z. Lenkin + The Leshowitz Family Foundation, Terry Singer Marion Ein Lewin Jeff Menick The Morgan Fund at the Seattle Foundation Sherry and Louis Nevins Ratner Family Foundation + Melina and Robert Robbins Bella Rosenberg Ruth and Samuel Salzberg Family Foundation Evelyn Sandground and Bill Perkins Janis and Philip Schiff + Hank Schlosberg $5,000-S9,999 Babs and Rabbi A.N. Abramowitz Janet B. Abrams Carol and Gary Berman + Joan and Alan Berman Cathy S. Bernard Jordan Lloyd Bookey and Felix Lloyd Andrea Boyarsky-Maisel Susan and Dixon Butler Susie and Kenton Campbell Bonnie and Louis Cohen Cyna and Paul Cohen, Sara C. Cohen and Norm J. Rich Marcy and Neil Cohen, Ryna Cohen + Corporate Media Solutions + Scott Eric Dreyer and Ellen Clare Gillespie Dreyer Patricia and David Fisher Meg and Samuel Flax + Mindy Gasthalter Ann and Frank Gilbert Dina Gold Debra Goldberg and Seth Waxman +
Goldblatt Martin Pozen LLP + The Estate of Marjory Goldman Cheryl Gorelick Susy and Thomas Kahn + Betsy Karmin and Manny Strauss William Kreisberg + Sandra and Stephen Lachter Karen Lehmann-Eisner Joy Lerner and Stephen Kelin + Frances Marshall and Lewis Schrager Carol Mates and Mark Kahan Cathy and Scot McCulloch + Howard Menaker and Patrick Gossett Rona and Allan Mendelsohn Jennifer and Dan Mendelson Morgan Stanley Nora Roberts Foundation Elaine Reuben, The Timbrel Fund Trisha and James Ritzenberg + Joan and Barry Rosenthal April Rubin and Bruce A. Ray Debra and Jonathan Rutenberg + Lynn and John Sachs + Barney Shapiro and Susan Walker Les Silverman Michael Singer and James Smith Tina and Albert Small, Jr. + Charles E. Smith Family Foundation + Richard Solloway Dr. Stuart Sotsky Mindy Strelitz and Andrew Cornblatt + Francine Zorn Trachtenberg and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg + Dr. Kathryn Veal Diane Abelman Wattenberg Alan and Irene Wurtzel Eric Zelenko + Judy and Leo Zickler $2,500-$4,999 Monica and Gavin Abrams Amy and Stephen Altman Jamie and Joseph A. Baldinger Linda and Howard Berger Dava Berkman Joan Bialek and Louis Levitt, MD Lynn and Wolf Blitzer Deborah and Charles Both Mara Bralove and Ari Fisher Susan and Steven Bralove Nancy Taylor Bubes and Alan Bubes Kathy Byrnes and John Immerwahr Susan Cohn Cornerstone Research, Inc. Eva Davis and Justin Kramer Bunny Dwin Jonathan Edelman
The EJL98 Charitable Trust, on behalf of Roselin Atzwanger and Edward Lenkin Linda and Jay Freedman Jenny and Brian Gelfand Pamela and Thomas Green Michelle and Jonathan Grossman Deborah Harmon and Robert Seder Janet Leno and Peter Harrold Kenneth and Amy Eisen Krupsky Liza Levy Saskia and Benjamin D. Loewy Johannah and Jeremiah Lowin Meredith Margolis and Gary Goodweather Philip Margolius Undine and Carl Nash M. Craig Pascal Shannon and William Powers Barbara Silverstein Debby and Donald Tracy Mimi Tygier and Robert Rubin Heidi Wachs Matthew Watson Wealthspire Joan S. Wessel Carolyn and William Wolfe $1,000-$2,499 Adas Israel Congregation Dianne Adelberg Clement and Sandra Alpert Designated Endowment Fund Andrew Altman James Baller Alison Baraf and Aryeh Portnoy Joy and Leonard Baxt Dave Connick Toby Dershowitz Allie and David Dickman Arielle and Gerald Dorros Alan Edelman and Debbie Sosland-Edelman John Edelmann Gayle Engel Michelle and Glenn Engelmann Andrew and Jennifer Erickson Suzanne Fefer Nancy and Cary Feldman Lois and Michael Fingerhut Susan and Michael Friedman Friends of Stead Park Edith and Michael Gelfand Pamela and Richard Gelfand Morgan and Josh Genderson Ellen Gertsen, The Abby and David Cohen Family Foundation Bernard Gewirz Cathy and Michael Gildenhorn Erica Gloger
Lois and Hadar Granader Bonnie and Alan Hammerschlag Robin Hettleman and Matthew Weinberg Linda Lurie Hirsch Sandra Hoexter Martha Kahn and Simeon M. Kriesberg Sid Kaplan Irene and Lou Katz Ellen Winer Kay Aviva Kempner Arlene and Martin Klepper Stacey Kluck Carol and Martin Kolsky Dalya and Edward Luttwak Ellen and Gary Malasky Paul and Zena Mason Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Victor Mizrahi Dorothy Moss and Lawrence Meyer Alyson Myers Joan Nathan Jed and Sarah Nussdorf Debra and Jonah Perlin Ruth and Stephen Pollak
Henry and Anne Reich Family Foundation Vicki Robinson June and Marvin Rogul Trina and Lee G. Rubenstein Alfred Sanders Mita M. Schaffer and Tina M. Martin Schnitzer Family Foundation Marcy and Peter Schuck Jane Silverman Mindy and Jeff Sosland Susan Suleiman The Audrey J. Sussman Memorial Fund Ellen and Stephen Thomas Tomares Family Foundation Allison and Daniel Turner United Way of the National Capital Area Lise Van Susteren and Jonathan Kempner Debra Vodenos and Samuel Boxerman Susan Wedlan and Harold Rosen Helene Weisz and Richard Lieberman Anita Wolke and Ken Brooks Rebecca Wolozin and Louis Beckman Robert Zweig Listing as of March 30, 2022
LEAD SUPPORT OF THE EDLAVITCH DCJCC IS PROVIDED BY: • Diane & Norman Bernstein Foundation • The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation • Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch • The Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod Family Foundation • The Morningstar Foundation • Nussdorf Family Foundation • The Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation All of the programs at the Edlavitch DCJCC are supported in part by a generous gift from the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. + These Community Champions have supported the Edlavitch DCJCC's Annual Fund with generous contributions of $5,000 or more. With their support, the Center’s unique programs continue to grow and remain accessible to everyone in our vibrant community, and our historic building thrives as a hub of Jewish life and culture in our nation's capital. ** This list includes all FY2022 donors through March 30, 2022. Due to space limitations, only donors of $1,000 or more are listed. The Edlavitch DCJCC would like to thank all of our donors for the important impact they have on our work.
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Irwin P. Edlavitch Building 1529 Sixteenth Street, NW Washington, DC 20036
JxJ Staff Ilya Tovbis, Artistic and Managing Director Alexis Rodríguez, Director of Communications and Operations Elijah Jones, Festival Communications Associate Jasmine Jones, Ticket Office Manager JxJ Council Sara Cohen, Chair Janet Abrams Alison Baraf Michele Berman Charles R. Both Morgan Genderson Dina Gold Manny Schiffres Richard Solloway Susan Suleiman Asher Velasco Heidi Wachs Diane Wattenberg Aviva Kempner, Artistic Advisor EDLAVITCH DCJCC Saul Pilchen, President Dava Schub, CEO Emily Jillson, Senior Director of Institutional Advancement Craig Mintz, Chief Financial Officer Bini Silver, Chief Operating Officer
