JxJ 2019 Brochure

WASHINGTON JEWISH ARTS FESTIVAL WASHINGTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL WASHINGTON JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL

MAY 8–26 jxjdc.org

1

TICKETS

*Ticket prices are subject to online service charges.

Tier

A Tier

B Tier

C

TIER A EVENTS

$13.50 ONLINE | $16 AT THE DOOR

TIER B EVENTS

$20 ONLINE | $25 AT THE DOOR

TIER C EVENTS

$30 ONLINE | $36 AT THE DOOR

ALL-ACCESS PASS

$325

GENERAL PASS

$195

GENERAL PASS (30 AND UNDER)

$40

3 TICKET FLEX PACKAGE (LIMITED SUPPLY)

$30

Purchase Tickets

Visit JxJDC.org or call 202.777.3250 (phone operator available M-F 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM) Tickets purchased by phone are subject to additional processing fee of $3 per order.

JxJ Venue Box Offices: Same-day sales (when inventory remains) open one hour before the first program of the day.

Details

All ticket sales are final. No refunds or exchanges. All Saturday daytime programs are presale only. Each day, advance online sales will end at 10:00 AM for events that day. Day-of tickets will be available for purchase on-site. If an event sells out, tickets will be released through a Rush Line on a first-come, first-served basis as tickets become available. Ticket and pass holders must be seated 15 minutes prior to start time to guarantee admittance. Artist guest attendance is subject to change without notice.

Passes & Packages

Having trouble choosing what to attend? Passes and Flex Packages offer the best (and most cost-effective) way to gain access to the full breadth of JxJ programming. Pass and Package inventory is limited and expected to sell out. Details at jxjdc.org/passes

Questions? Email boxoffice@jxjdc.org

2

VENUES

AFI SILVER THEATRE 8633 Colesville Road Silver Spring, MD

BETHESDA ROW CINEMA 7235 Woodmont Avenue Bethesda, MD CITY WINERY 1350 Okie Street, NE Washington, DC E STREET CINEMA 555 11th Street, NW Washington, DC GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY BLACK BOX THEATRE 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC GOETHE-INSTITUT 1990 K Street, NW Washington, DC

Welcome to JxJ! INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK 1300 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC

On behalf on the Festival Staff, the Council, and the EDCJCC’s leadership, it is a great pleasure and honor to unveil a project that has been in the works for nearly two years now.

MONTGOMERY COLLEGE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER 7995 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring, MD

As you thumb through the pages in this guide, I hope that two functions are being filled simultaneously. The first is eminently practical: you shouldn’t have to look further than the catalog to plan your social calendar for the middle of May. We’ve got you covered.

PEARL STREET WAREHOUSE 33 Pearl Street, SW Washington, DC

The second is less utilitarian, but no less essential. I’d like you to consider the magic, vitality, and cultural impact of what is contained here and square your shoulders a bit—allow yourself to take the Festival’s incredible artistic output as a personal badge of honor. Say to yourself, “My city, my community is home to this wealth of Jewish and Israeli culture.” I ask you to kvell, to swell with a personal pride, and then to share that sentiment with everyone you meet.

PENN SOCIAL 801 E Street, NW Washington, DC UNION STAGE 740 Water Street, SW Washington, DC

The sounds and sights of the inaugural JxJ span the globe, ring out in over 30 languages, and sizzle with an intellectual dynamism rivaled only by the dazzling artistry on stage and screen. Through this burst of creativity, our connection with—and understanding of— the Jewish experience is deepened, contextualized, and celebrated. I hope you join me for this thrilling ride.

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 activities.

3

Ilya Tovbis Director, JxJ

Opening Night:

Thursday, May 9

6:45 PM

6:30 PM

Wednesday, May 8

Redemption (AFI)

6:15 PM

The Mover (E Street)

7:30 PM

A Fortunate Man (AFI)

8:00 PM 8:15 PM 8:15 PM

Black Honey: The Life and Poetry of Avraham Sutzkever (E Street) Book of J (City Winery)

Back to Maracanã (E Street)

The State Against Mandela and the Others (E Street)

Friday, May 10 12:00 PM

American Psalmody (IDB)

KEY

E Street Cinema

Bethesda Row Cinema AFI Silver Theatre City Winery Other:

GWU Black Box Theatre Goethe-Institut Inter-American Development Bank Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center Pearl Street Warehouse Penn Social Union Stage

1:00 PM

The Einstein of Sex (AFI)

2:30 PM

Wild Kids (E Street)

3:40 PM 3:45 PM

4:00 PM 5:45 PM

6:00 PM 6:15 PM

7:45 PM

8:00 PM 8:30 PM 8:45 PM

12:15 PM

12:45 PM 1:30 PM 1:30 PM 2:15 PM

2:45 PM 3:15 PM

4:15 PM

4:45 PM 5:45 PM

Saturday, May 11 2:00 PM

Sunday, May 12

Unsettling (E Street)

Dolce Fine Giornata (AFI)

6:15 PM

6:45 PM 8:00 PM

Sustainable Nation (E Street)

8:00 PM

Working Woman (E Street)

8:45 PM

Anna's War (E Street)

Spotlight: Moe Berg: The Spy Behind Home Plate (AFI) The Passengers (E Street) The Dive (E Street) Yidlive (GWU)

From Cairo to the Cloud: The World of the Cairo Geniza (E Street) My Polish Honeymoon (AFI) 4

8:20 PM

Back to the Jewture (Shorts Program) (E Street) Hidden Face (E Street) Autonomies (AFI)

Global Shtetl (Penn Social)

Set Apart (Shorts Program) (E Street) Hasidistock (E Street)

Forgotten Soldier (AFI)

Diverse or Di-Tryin’ (E Street)

Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles (E Street) Sefarad (AFI)

The Light of Hope (E Street)

Chewdaism: A Taste of Jewish Montreal (E Street)

From Cairo to the Cloud: The World of the Cairo Geniza (AFI)

Gili Yalo (Pearl Street Warehouse) City of Joel (E Street)

Shooting Life (E Street)

Monday, May 13 6:10 PM

6:25 PM 7:30 PM

8:00 PM 8:20 PM 8:30 PM

Barbara Rubin and the Exploding New York Underground (E Street)

Thursday, May 16 6:15 PM

Back to the Jewture (Shorts Program) (E Street)

6:30 PM

Artist Talk: Zalmen Mlotek

7:30 PM

Shut Up and Play the Piano (E Street)

8:00 PM

Spotlight: King Bibi (AFI)

Forgotten Soldier (E Street)

7:15 PM

8:00 PM

Different From The Others (Bethesda)

Spotlight: Autonomies (Bethesda) Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (AFI) Spotlight: Skin (AFI)

Yemen Blues / Nani (Union Stage) A Fortunate Man (Bethesda)

Tuesday, May 14

Saturday, May 18

6:30 PM

1:30 PM

12:10 PM

6:15 PM

Spotlight: King Bibi (E Street)

6:30 PM

Set Apart (Shorts Program) (E Street)

1:45 PM

Brussels Transit (E Street)

3:45 PM

8:30 PM 8:30 PM

8:40 PM

The Passengers (AFI)

Leona (E Street)

Spotlight: The Unorthodox (AFI)

Wednesday, May 15 6:15 PM

6:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:15 PM

8:45 PM

Spotlight: The Unorthodox (E Street)

Chewdaism: A Taste of Jewish Montreal (AFI)

Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis: Don’t Be So Modest, You Aren’t That Great! (E Street)

2:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 6:15 PM

8:20 PM 8:30 PM 8:30 PM 8:35 PM

Wild Kids (Bethesda)

Sunday, May 19 12:30 PM

Brussels Transit (AFI)

1:30 PM

Black Honey: The Life and Poetry of Avraham Sutzkever (Bethesda)

1:00 PM

2:00 PM 2:20 PM 3:15 PM

3:30 PM

4:30 PM

The State Against Mandela and the Others (Bethesda)

5:15 PM

Eurovision (AFI)

7:00 PM

Seder-Masochism (Bethesda)

7:20 PM

Abe (Bethesda)

5:30 PM

Paris Song (Bethesda)

7:15 PM

The Mamboniks (Bethesda)

7:30 PM

Working Woman (Bethesda) Carl Laemmle (Bethesda) The Dive (AFI)

Guy Mendilow Ensemble / Beyond the Pale (Montgomery College) Mack the Knife - Brecht's Threepenny Film (Bethesda)

7:30 PM

The Conductor (E Street)

5

Seder-Masochism (AFI) The Mover (Bethesda)

The Polish Honeymoon (Bethesda)

The 21%: The Lives of Arab Citizens of Israel (AFI) Dolce Fine Giornata (Bethesda) City of Joel (Bethesda)

Tio Chorinho (City Winery) Toman (AFI)

Back to Maracanã (Bethesda)

The Dancing Dogs of Dombrova (AFI) Hasidistock (Bethesda)

6:15 PM

Unsettling (Bethesda)

7:00 PM

Yankl the Blacksmith (Goethe-Institut)

6:30 PM

8:00 PM

Family in Transition (E Street)

Myths, Lies, and Truths: Romanticizing Traditional Cultures (GWU)

Monday, May 20

7:30 PM

Leona (AFI)

Barbara Rubin and the Exploding New York Underground (Bethesda)

8:15 PM

Family in Transition (Bethesda)

Spotlight: From Slavery to Freedom (AFI)

Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles (Bethesda) Sefarad (Bethesda)

Tuesday, May 21 6:15 PM

6:30 PM 7:30 PM

7:50 PM 8:15 PM

Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis: Don’t Be So Modest, You Aren’t That Great! (Bethesda) Hidden Face (Bethesda)

The Ancient Law with live accompaniment (AFI)

6:30 PM 6:30 PM

8:00 PM 8:15 PM

8:30 PM 8:30 PM

1:45 PM

Paris Song (AFI)

6:00 PM

Carl Laemmle (AFI)

3:45 PM

8:00 PM

The Light of Hope (AFI) Mack the Knife - Brecht's Threepenny Film (AFI)

Toman (Bethesda)

Redemption (Bethesda)

Wednesday, May 22 6:15 PM

Saturday, May 25

Spotlight: From Slavery to Freedom (Bethesda) Sustainable Nation (AFI)

Shooting Life (Bethesda)

Isle of Klezbos / Beregovski Suite (City Winery) Spotlight: Skin (Bethesda)

Sunday, May 26 12:15 PM

Sacred Spaces (AFI)

3:00 PM

Abe (AFI)

2:45 PM

3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM

The Accountant of Auschwitz (AFI) Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird (City Winery) The Conductor (AFI)

Closing Night: The Tobacconist (AFI)

The Mamboniks (AFI)

Anna's War (Bethesda)

Thursday, May 23 6:10 PM

6:20 PM 6:45 PM

7:30 PM

8:30 PM 8:40 PM

The Accountant of Auschwitz (Bethesda) Sacred Spaces (Bethesda) Two Jews Walk into a Bar

Music in Yiddish Cinema (AFI)

The Dancing Dogs of Dombrova (Bethesda) Shut Up and Play the Piano (Bethesda)

6

rtist Guests in Conversation A Guests are subject to change without notice. See website for updates and details.

KEY

E Street Cinema

R ATED LGBTQ – Queer cinema series. Presented in partnership with GLOE – The Kurlander Program for LGBTQ Outreach & Engagement.

Bethesda Row Cinema

Black Hat – Short Film (p.35) Different From the Others (p.16) The Einstein of Sex (p.18) Family in Transition (p.19) Shooting Life (p.30)

FILMS

AFI Silver Theatre City Winery Other:

GWU Black Box Theatre Goethe-Institut Inter-American Development Bank Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center Pearl Street Warehouse Penn Social Union Stage

BEATSxJ – Movies about music 100 Faces – Short Film (p.35) Barbara Rubin and The Exploding NY Underground (p.12) The Conductor (p.15) Death Metal Grandma – Short Film (p.35) Dudu Tassa & The Kuwaitis: Don’t Be So Modest, You Aren’t That Great! (p.18) Edek – Short Film (p.35) Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles (p.19) Hasidistock (p.22) Mack the Knife – Brecht’s Threepenny Film (p.25) Paris Song (p.28) Shut Up and Play the Piano (p.31) WJFF CLASSICS – Repertory cinema The Ancient Law (p.43) Brussels Transit (p.13) Different From the Others (p.16) The Einstein of Sex (p.18) Music in Yiddish Cinema (p.45) Spotlight films—Some of the most prestigious and distinguished titles are highlighted in yellow. These screenings in there Tier B price band, unlike most other films.

7

OPENING NIGHT Sponsored by the Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation

REDEMPTION

Dir. Joseph Madmony and Boaz Yehonatan Yacov | 104 min | Narrative | Israel | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles DC Premiere One of the leading lights of contemporary Israeli cinema, Joseph Madmony (Restoration), returns for this spiritually rousing, emotionally intelligent story of exhilaration and faith.

Menachem is a middle-aged single father struggling to finance his six-year-old daughter’s medical treatment with his meager income as a grocery clerk. He had fronted a rock ‘n’ roll band until personal tragedies prompted his retirement from music, and the adoption of a devoted Hasidic practice that set him apart from his old friends.

Playing music promises to be more lucrative than stocking shelves, but would a return to singing be compatible with a life of worship?

OPENING NIGHT

Wednesday, May 8, 6:45 PM AFI Silver Theatre

Opening Night Party following the screening with food provided

by Carmel Caterers.

ADDITIONAL SCREENING Tuesday, May 21, 8:15 PM Bethesda Row Cinema

8

Tier

C Tier

A

CLOSING NIGHT Sponsored by Irwin and Ginny Edlavitch

THE TOBACCONIST

Dir. Nikolaus Leytner | 108 min | Narrative | Germany | 2018 German w/English subtitles DC Premiere Starring the recently passed Bruno Ganz (Downfall, Wings of Desire) as Sigmund Freud. Based on the international bestseller by Robert Seethaler.

A tender, heart-breaking story about one young man and his friendship with Sigmund Freud during the Nazi occupation of Vienna.

Seventeen-year-old Franz journeys to Vienna to apprentice at a tobacco shop. There he meets Sigmund Freud (Ganz), a regular customer, and over time the two very different men form a singular friendship.

When Franz falls desperately in love with the music-hall dancer Anezka, he seeks advice from the renowned psychoanalyst, who admits that the female sex is as big a mystery to him as it is to Franz. As political and social conditions in Austria dramatically worsen with the Nazis’ arrival in Vienna, Franz, Freud, and Anezka are swept into the maelstrom of events. Each has a big decision to make: to stay or to flee?

9

CLOSING NIGHT

Sunday, May 26, 7:15 PM AFI Silver Theatre Closing Night Reception following the screening with food provided by Carmel Caterers. Partially underwritten by the Embassy of Germany.

Tier

C

EAST COAST PREMIERE Narrative

DC PREMIERE Documentary

ABE

THE ACCOUNTANT OF AUSCHWITZ

Dir. Fernando Grostein Andrade | 78 min | Brazil | 2018 English, Arabic, and Portuguese w/English subtitles

Dir. Matthew Shoychet | 78 min Canada, Germany, Israel, Poland, USA | 2018 English and German w/English subtitles

In this delectable charmer fresh from Sundance, twelve-year-old Brooklynite Abe navigates the complicated identity issues that arise from having a Jewish-Israeli mother and a Muslim-Palestinian father.

While family political skirmishes play out across the dinner table, Abe’s focus is squarely on the kitchen itself, where the cultural fix he seeks is of the food fusion variety. When he meets the Brazilian chef Chico, who emphatically believes that “mixing flavors can bring people together,” Abe is inspired to prepare a Thanksgiving feast to help his family bridge their differences.

In 2015, 94-year-old Oskar Gröning, known as the Accountant of Auschwitz, was finally prosecuted for the murder of 300,000 Jews.

As survivors traveled to Germany to testify, the heinous acts of the Holocaust remained vivid and traumatic for all present. For some, there was no grey area: Gröning was witness to the horrors, and therefore complicit, regardless of his duty to follow orders. For others, he was considered a pitiful, frail man in the twilight years of his life, and they saw no reason to pursue charges.

Mixing youthful idealism, the healing power of food, and a dash of Brazilian rhythms (featuring two new tracks from Seu Jorge), Abe is a genuine delight.

Saturday, May 18, 1:45 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Sunday, May 26, 3:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

At once a gripping look at the race against time to prosecute the last living Nazi war criminals and a profound examination of the very concept of justice.

Tier

A

Thursday, May 23, 6:10 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Sunday, May 26, 2:45 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 10

Tier

A

SPOTLIGHT

US PREMIERE Narrative

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

ANNA’S WAR

AUTONOMIES

Ukraine, 1941: a Jewish girl regains consciousness under a thick layer of black earth. Close-ups of milky-white body parts surrounding her reveal she is in a mass grave. The image is startling and haunting, but it’s Anna’s resolve to persevere that’s truly indelible.

A dystopian drama from Shtisel creator Yehonatan Indursky, starring some of Israel’s top acting talent.

Dir. Aleksey Fedorchenko | 75 min | Russia | 2018 Russian, Ukrainian, and German w/English subtitles

Dir. Yehonatan Indursky | 210 min (presented with 10 min intermission) Israel | 2018 Hebrew and Yiddish w/English subtitles

Autonomies is set in an alternate reality of present day Israel, a nation torn and divided by a wall into the secular “State of Israel,” with Tel Aviv as its capital, and the “Haredi Autonomy” in Jerusalem, run by the ultraOrthodox.

Director Aleksey Fedorchenko (Silent Souls) beautifully relays the real story of six-year-old Anna, who views the war from her hiding place in a building taken over by the Nazis. The guard dog outside imprisons her. The threat of discovery is constant. Her childhood dreams of becoming a musician are replaced by a simple and more immediate desire: survival.

Saturday, May 11, 4:00 PM – E Street Cinema Wednesday, May 22, 8:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Broide is an ultra-Orthodox smuggler who makes his living sneaking minor contraband between the two regions. One day, he receives a lifechanging proposal to kidnap a little girl at the heart of a custody battle between two families that live in the opposite regions.

Tier

A

Sunday, May 12, 1:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Thursday, May 16, 6:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 11

Tier

B

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

EAST COAST PREMIERE Narrative

BARBARA RUBIN & THE EXPLODING NY UNDERGROUND

BACK TO MARACANÃ

Dir. Jorge Gurvich | 90 min | Israel, Brazil, Germany | 2018 Hebrew, English, and Portuguese w/English subtitles

Dir. Chuck Smith | 78 min | USA | 2018

Middle-aged divorcee Roberto and his septuagenarian father— Brazilian expats living in Israel—are soccer fanatics, boiling over with excitement for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil.

Offering a recontextualization of the 1960s New York art and experimental film scene through the story of a remarkably influential, yet unheralded figure, Chuck Smith’s film introduces viewers to Barbara Rubin.

That is, until Roberto’s ex-wife informs him that she’s off on a business trip (to Rio, no less!), saddling him with sole care of their spoiled teenage son. She’ll be gone for the entire duration of the tournament, and to his eyes it’s a disaster on par with the divorce itself, especially considering the boy’s righteous disdain for all sports. Then, a crazy idea forms…if Samuel’s mother is headed to Rio, why can’t they?

This extraordinary young filmmaker defied sexist conventions when she picked up a film camera and shot an art-porn masterpiece. She was instrumental in connecting Andy Warhol to the Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan to the Kabbalah, before dramatically and unexpectedly leaving the scene behind to lead a life as a Hasidic Jew.

Sponsored by Anonymous In honor of the EDCJCC Staff and Board in this renovation year.

Thursday, May 9, 8:15 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 19, 7:20 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Tier

A

Monday, May 13, 6:10 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 19, 1:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 12

Tier

A

WJFF CLASSIC Narrative

DC PREMIERE Documentary

BLACK HONEY: The Life and Poetry of Avraham Sutzkever

BRUSSELS TRANSIT

Dir. Samy Szlingerbaum | 80 min | Belgium | 1980 Yiddish and French w/English subtitles

Dir. Uri Barbash | 76 min | Israel | 2018 Yiddish, Hebrew, and English w/English subtitles

New Restoration

Avraham Sutzkever is often regarded as the greatest Yiddish writer of modern times. As long as he lived, he wouldn’t let a film about his life be made.

In 1980, visionary director Samy Szlingerbaum mined the childhood memories of his parents’ immigration to the “promised land” of Belgium to produce the first feature-length Yiddish film in 30 years.

Now, eight years after his passing, Black Honey tells the incredible story of the man who led an underground movement that saved Jewish manuscripts from the Nazis, survived WWII after Stalin sent him a private rescue plane, and testified in the Nuremberg Trials. After immigrating to Israel in 1947, he led a spirited revival of Yiddish culture, writing poetry that coursed with a sense of vibrant humanity that staved off the dark memory of the Holocaust.

Weaving together a dream-like mosaic of stunning visuals, Szilingerbaum’s portrayal is suffused with a soft melancholy. While the horrors of the war are behind them, the family’s strained attempts to integrate to this foreign land are ultimately in vain, and the resulting alienation and loss of home are palpable.

The new European restoration brilliantly brings this landmark artifact of surrealist cinema back to the big screen.

Supported by the Max and Esther Ticktin fund

Thursday, May 9, 6:30 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 19, 1:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Tier

A

Tuesday, May 14, 8:30 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 19, 12:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 13

Tier

A

DC PREMIERE Documentary

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

CARL LAEMMLE

CHEWDAISM: A Taste of Jewish Montreal

Dir. James L. Freedman | 91 min | USA | 2018 Carl Laemmle founded Universal Pictures, produced hundreds of blockbuster comedies, westerns, and monster movies, and gave scores of Hollywood legends their first breaks (among them Walt Disney, John Ford, and William Wyler). His credits as a founding father of modern cinema are unimpeachable, but remarkably, this success pales in comparison with his humanitarian deeds.

Dir. Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman | 62 min | Canada | 2018 English, French, and Yiddish w/English subtitles The sharply intellectual and marvelously zany comedic duo behind the viral Yiddish-language web series YidLife Crisis return to their city of birth, Montreal, on a mission. On the verge of middle age, Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman have a hankering for the Jewish Montreal of their youth, not to mention its rich culinary heritage.

A German-Jewish immigrant himself, Laemmle did not stand idly by as the Hitler’s government took power, instead putting his personal clout and political standing on the line to fight this new threat. Along the way, he rescued over 300 Jewish refugee families fleeing Nazi Germany’s advance.

They set out to eat their way through the city, along the way reengaging and discovering Le Metropole’s storied Jewish community, its mouth-watering eateries, and of course the scrumptious Jewish cooking that powers it all.

See p.48 for more information on two live JxJ events—Yidlive! and Global Shtetl—featuring Eli and Jamie.

Saturday, May 18, 8:20 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Saturday, May 25, 6:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Tier

A

Sunday, May 12, 4:45 PM – E Street Cinema Wednesday, May 15, 6:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 14

Tier

A

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE TV Narrative

CITY OF JOEL

THE CONDUCTOR

City of Joel follows an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic group as they wage a turf war to expand their community boundaries. 50 miles north of New York City, the Satmars have thrived in a 1.1 square mile religious haven called Kiryas Joel, or City of Joel, for over 40 years.

Noah Gamliel (Lior Ashkenazi), a world-renowned musician and orchestra conductor, abruptly leaves behind a brilliant career and loving girlfriend to return to the home he left thirty years earlier. Once there, he finds his father’s Alzheimers progressing at an alarming pace, with his only remaining joy being able to sing in the local choir.

Dir. Jesse Sweet | 83 min | USA | 2018 English and Yiddish w/English subtitles

Dir. Alon Zingman | 84 min (first two episodes) | Israel | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles

With some of the highest rates of marriage, birth, and religious observance in the US, their success has come at a price, as Kiryas Joel is no longer big enough to hold its 22,000 members. When a plan is created to double the size of the village, their secular neighbors fight back.

Sunday, May 12, 8:20 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 19, 5:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

When the choir’s conductor passes away, Noah decides to take his place. All the while, he’s carrying around a devastating secret – Noah is slowly going deaf.

Tier

A

Wednesday, May 15, 8:15 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 26, 5:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 15

Tier

A

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

WJFF CLASSIC Narrative

THE DANCING DOGS OF DOMBROVA

DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS

Dir. Richard Oswald | 50 min | Weimar Republic (Germany) | 1919 Silent Film w/English intertitles

Dir. Zack Bernbaum | 102 min | Canada | 2018 English and Polish w/English subtitles

Paul Körner, a successful violinist in Berlin, falls in love with fellow musician Kurt. When the relationship between the two men is discovered by a blackmailer, the ensuing scandal threatens their relationship, their reputations, their careers, and their lives. Considered to be the first pro-LGBTQ+ film in the world, Different from the Others—co-written by early queer rights advocate Magnus Hirschfeld— challenged Germany’s long-standing Paragraph 175, which outlawed homosexual acts until 1994.

On a cold winter night, estranged siblings Sarah and Aaron Cotler arrive at an empty train station in Dombrova, Poland. With their only available ride being a determinedly silent driver, they embark on a quest to fulfill their dying grandmother’s wish—to find, dig up, and bring home the bones of her favorite childhood dog, Peter.

While navigating the many obstacles and colorful characters they encounter on their journey, Sarah and Aaron must come to terms with their own demons and differences, while also contending with a country seemingly content to let its past lay buried for good.

Screening as part of Kino-Q, a film and discussion series accompanying the exhibition and programs encompassed by “Queer as German Folk”– reflecting on 50 years since the Stonewall uprising, in both Germany and the United States.

Presented with the Goethe-Institut Washington.

Sunday, May 19, 7:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Thursday, May 23, 8:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Tier

A

Thursday, May 16, 6:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

16

Tier

A

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

EAST COAST PREMIERE Narrative

THE DIVE

DOLCE FINE GIORNATA

After learning of his father’s death, prodigal son Yoav returns to the sparsely populated kibbutz where he was raised alongside his brothers Itai and Avishai, who is about to ship off for military service in Lebanon.

Krystyna Janda, in a role that won her Best Actress honors at the Sundance Film Festival, plays Maria Linde, a free-spirited, Jewish-Polish Nobel Prize winner who now lives in Tuscany. A loving mother and grandmother, she also fosters a secret flirtation with the much younger Egyptian man who runs a nearby seaside inn.

Dir. Yona Rozenkier | 91 min | Israel | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles

Dir. Jacek Borcuch | 96 min | Poland | 2018 Italian, Polish, and French w/English subtitles

Yoav is an ex-officer traumatized by his experiences, while Itai remains a serviceman and believes fiercely in a man’s patriotic duty. Their conflicting perspectives generate a deep rift in Avi. However, the brothers have another duty to perform: their father’s final request was for the three of them to dive together and deposit his remains in an undersea cave.

After a terrorist attack in Rome, Maria refuses to succumb to the hysterical fear and anti-immigrant sentiment that quickly emerges, deciding in her acceptance speech of a local honor to boldly decry Europe’s eroding democracy—but she is unprepared for the backlash.

-Note adapted from the Sundance Film Festival

- Note adapted from the Toronto International Film Festival

Saturday, May 11, 7:45 PM – E Street Cinema Saturday, May 18, 8:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Tier

A

Saturday, May 11, 3:40 PM– AFI Silver Theatre Sunday, May 19, 5:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 17

Tier

A

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Documentary

WJFF CLASSIC Narrative

DUDU TASSA & THE KUWAITIS: Don’t Be So Modest, You Aren’t That Great!

THE EINSTEIN OF SEX

Dir. Rosa von Praunheim | 100 min | Germany | 1999 German w/English Subtitles In 1897, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a gay Jewish sexologist based in Berlin, founded the Scientific–Humanitarian Committee, the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in history. Von Praunheim’s film, a mixture of fact and fiction, examines Hirschfeld’s close inner circle of friends and their collective efforts to achieve equal rights for queer people – including the 1919 establishment of the Institute for Sex Research and their battle to continue their movement despite the rise of the Nazis.

Dir. Tal Hake | 64 min | Israel, USA | 2018 Hebrew, English, and Arabic w/English subtitles

In April 2017, Radiohead invited Dudu Tassa to join its US Tour. Dudu embarked on the journey of his life, accompanied by the “Kuwaitis,” a unique musical ensemble consisting of Jews and Arabs, singer Nasreen Qadri, and a camera that documented this once-in-a-lifetime experience from his own personal and intimate perspective.

Alongside the great expectations, glory, and excitement, we discover the intricate connection between Iraqi music and rock ‘n’ roll, performed by an Israeli singer and an Arab Muslim singer in the US.

Screening as part of Kino-Q, a film and discussion series accompanying the exhibition and programs encompassed by “Queer as German Folk”– reflecting on 50 years since the Stonewall uprising, in both Germany and the United States.

-Note adapted from DocAviv

Presented with the Goethe-Institut Washington.

Wednesday, May 15, 6:30 PM – E Street Cinema Tuesday, May 21, 6:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Tier

A

Saturday, May 11, 1:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

18

Tier

A

DC PREMIERE Documentary

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

FAMILY IN TRANSITION

FIDDLER: A Miracle of Miracles

In this deeply affecting paean to the true meaning of family, love, and parenthood, Amit is a father raising four children in the traditional Israeli town of Nahariya. When he confides to his wife Galit that he is a transgender woman planning to transition, she’s remarkably supportive.

Among the pantheon of Broadway musicals that changed the world, Fiddler on the Roof has a special place very near the top. In the halfcentury since its premiere, the production has had an unprecedented global impact, beloved by audiences the world over, performed everywhere from suburban middle schools in Nebraska to grand state theaters in Japan.

Dir. Ofir Trainin | 70 min | Israel | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles

Dir. Max Lewkowicz | 90 min | USA | 2019

Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles chronicles the birth, life, and continued resonance of this singular icon of the stage and screen. Featuring interviews with Joel Grey, original lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and stars of the current Broadway revival, Jessica Hecht and Danny Burnstein.

Galit pledges to stand by Amit’s side, come what may—stigma, bureaucracy, medical bills—and is steadfast in maintaining that family and a healthy marriage are the only things that matter. However, as Amit’s transformation takes shape, this harmony begins fraying at the edges, and not in ways that were entirely expected.

Wednesday, May 15, 8:45 PM – E Street Cinema Monday, May 20, 6:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Sponsored by Melanie and Larry Nussdorf

Tier

A

Sunday, May 12, 4:45 PM – E Street Cinema Monday, May 20, 8:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 19

Tier

A

US PREMIERE Documentary

DC PREMIERE Narrative

FORGOTTEN SOLDIER

A FORTUNATE MAN

Dir. Lucile Smith | 69 min | UK | 2018

Dir. Bille August | 168 min | Narrative | Denmark | 2018 Danish and German w/English subtitles

When Lady Irene Hatter was a little girl, she remembers strangers running up to her father, Sally Noach, to thank him effusively for saving them during WWII. He’d politely, but firmly, dismiss all comers with a tossed off, “forget about it,” and they’d be on their way.

​ gifted but self-destructive young man leaves his suffocating Lutheran A upbringing in the country for the metropolitan Copenhagen of the 1880s. An engineer with progressive ideas, he is welcomed by a wealthy Jewish family and assimilates himself into their opulent milieu, embarking on a journey of personal and professional ambition that teeters on the razor’s edge between triumph and catastrophe.

During his post-war life, Noach maintained this stoic demeanor, and kept a tight lid on his truly incredible deeds in the wake of the “Grande Exode,” when he joined some six millions refugees fleeing the Nazi advance, eventually finding his way to Lyon, capital of the Resistance.

A sprawling story of grand scope and high romance from the Academy Award–winning director of Pelle the Conqueror, A Fortunate Man is a rare kind of film—beautifully realized, full of exceptional performances, and with a dramatic sweep on par with the great classics of cinema.

Now, nearly forty years after his death, Lady Hatter is determined to discover the truth about her father’s wartime exploits.

Sunday, May 12, 3:15 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Monday, May 13, 8:20 PM – E Street Cinema

Tier

A

Thursday, May 9, 7:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Thursday, May 16, 8:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 20

Tier

A

SPOTLIGHT

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

US PREMIERE Documentary

FROM CAIRO TO THE CLOUD: The World of the Cairo Geniza

FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM Dir. Arkady Kogan | 84 min | Israel | 2019 Russian w/English subtitles

Dir. Michelle Paymar | 92 min Canada, Egypt, France, Israel, USA, UK | 2018

From Slavery to Freedom portrays the story of Soviet Refuseniks through the prism of Natan Sharansky’s biography. In 1977, Sharansky, a famous human rights activist, was arrested on charges of spying for the USA, treason, and anti-Soviet agitation. The film takes viewers back to a Soviet era where there was an overwhelming sense of fear and insecurity in the face of the system.

In 1896, Solomon Schechter entered the sacred storeroom of an ancient synagogue in Cairo and discovered a vast treasure trove of manuscripts that revolutionized our understanding of Jewish history and illuminated a thousand years of vibrant Jewish life in the heart of the Islamic world.

No single person symbolizes the era more than Natan Sharansky, who defied the entire Soviet system in his fight for freedom and national identification. After spending years in prison, he ultimately won the struggle, paving the way for all of Soviet Jewry.

An accidental archive of more than half a million documents, the Cairo Geniza reveals the richness of Judeo-Arabic culture and reflects periods of relative religious co-existence nearly unimaginable today.

Saturday, May 11, 8:30 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 12, 8:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Tier

A

Monday, May 20, 7:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Wednesday, May 22, 6:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 21

Tier

B

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

HASIDISTOCK

HIDDEN FACE

Director Asaf Galay (Hebrew Superheroes, The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer) teams with Avida Livny to offer a fascinating peak at the creative process of some of the top Orthodox artists working in the music industry today.

Hidden Face is the stirring and remarkable account of Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam—founding Rabbi of the Hassidic SanzKlausenburg dynasty—whose harrowing experiences during the Holocaust shaped his philosophy, work, and religious contributions.

Through his and others’ historic stories, Hidden Face presents the complex relationship between ultra-Orthodox Jews and the memory of the Shoah.

Dir. Asaf Galay and Avida Livny | 90 min | Israel | 2019 Hebrew w/English subtitles

Dir. Eyal Datz | 54 min | Israel | 2018 Hebrew and Yiddish w/English subtitles

Rotating between their captivating discographies, ebullient live performances, and quieter moments of introspection, the film amplifies the output of Zusha, Motty Steinmetz, and Gad Elbaz. It shines a spotlight not just on their artistic output, but also the place of music in Orthodox society, the economy of this niche market, and the status of women within it.

Sunday, May 12, 2:45 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 19, 7:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Employing rare archival footage and interviews with Sanz Hassidim, Hidden Face reveals the ways they experience the revival and spiritual victory over the Nazis and passed it on to future generations, while dealing with the biggest question of all—where was God during the Holocaust?

Tier

A

Sunday, May 12, 12:45 PM – E Street Cinema Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 22

Tier

A

SPOTLIGHT

DC PREMIERE Documentary

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

KING BIBI

LEONA

Twenty years before the spectacle of Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu already understood the political benefits of fomenting an adversarial relationship with the media and taking his message directly to the public.

A young Jewish woman from Mexico City finds herself torn between her conservative family and forbidden love with a non-Jewish man. He helps her discover the world outside her tight-knit community, but the transition is as fraught as it is exciting. Textured with the unrelenting drama of a Jane Austen novel, Leona centers on a tightrope navigation of familial pressure, religious precedent, and her most fervent desires.

Dir. Dan Shadur | 87 min | Israel, USA | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles

Dir. Isaac Cherem | 95 min | Mexico | 2018 Spanish w/English subtitles

King Bibi explores Netanyahu’s rise to power using archival footage of his media performances over the years: from his days as a popular guest expert on American TV, through his public confession of adultery and his mastery of social media. Follow Bibi’s maturation as he evolves from Israel’s great political hope to a controversial figure who some perceive as Israel’s savior and others see as a cynical politician clinging to power at all cost.

Monday, May 13, 7:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Tuesday, May 14, 6:15 PM – E Street Cinema

The choices before her aren’t easy, and director Isaac Cherem’s debut film masterfully ratchets up the tension while maintaining a grounded accessibility throughout.

Tier

B

Tuesday, May 14, 8:30 PM – E Street Cinema Wednesday, May 15, 8:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 23

Tier

A

DC PREMIERE Narrative

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

THE LIGHT OF HOPE

MACK THE KNIFE – BRECHT’S THREEPENNY FILM

Dir. Silvia Quer | 96 min | Spain | 2018 Spanish, Catalan, and French w/English subtitles

Dir. Joachim Lang | 130 min | Germany, Belgium | 2018 German w/English subtitles

The Light of Hope is the inspiring story of real-life heroine Elisabeth Eidenbenz, who was the director of the Elne maternity camp in the south of France on the Spanish border. Throughout the 1930s and 40s, Elne provided refuge for pregnant women fleeing both the Spanish Civil War and Vichy refugee camps.

Following the phenomenal success of Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera in 1928 in Berlin, the film industry is eager to underwrite an cinematic adaptation.

Bertolt Brecht, however, isn’t willing to play by studio rules: his vision for the Threepenny Film is radical, political and pointed. Eventually, following a nasty legal dispute, Brecht and Weill are forced off the project altogether.

When Pétain’s fascist regime tries to close the home in 1942 and demands that she hand over all Jewish refugees and their children, Eidenbenz and her staff bravely resist, putting their own lives in great danger.

Sunday, May 12, 6:15 PM – E Street Cinema Saturday, May 25, 3:45 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Director Joachim Lang connects his interpretation of the Threepenny story with the genesis of Brecht’s exposé for a Threepenny Film that has never been on screen. It takes the audience to Berlin during the roaring twenties, and shows how the uncompromising artists attempted to shoot a movie while bristling at cinema’s conventions all along the way.

Tier

A

Saturday, May 18, 8:35 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Saturday, May 25, 8:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 24

Tier

A

DC PREMIERE Documentary

EAST COAST PREMIERE Documentary

MARIANNE & LEONARD: Words of Love

THE MAMBONIKS

Dir. Lex Gillespie | 90 min | USA | 2019

Dir. Nick Broomfield | 97 min | USA English and Norwegian w/English subtitles

During the 1950s, free-spirited, mostly Jewish dancers from New York City fell head over heels for the mambo, a hot dance from Havana, Cuba. Their love for Latin rhythms earned them a nickname: the Mamboniks.

Renowned filmmaker Nick Broomfield’s most personal and romantic film to date captures the beautiful, yet tragic, love story between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse, Marianne Ihlen. In 1960, on the Greek island of Hydra, Leonard—then a struggling and unknown fiction writer—and Marianne—a single mother with a young son— joined an expat community of artists, writers, and musicians.

DC-based filmmaker Lex Gillespie tracks their joyous story from the Jewish resorts of the Catskills, to Manhattan’s famed Palladium Ballroom, Miami’s Gold Coast Ballroom and of course Havana.

Featuring the infection sounds of Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Mongo Santamaria, Gillespie explores how two cultures, Jewish and Latino, met on the dance floor at a time when America was racially segregated, and anti-Semitism was commonplace.

Never-before-seen footage shot by Broomfield and legendary documentarian D.A. Pennebaker make for a unique portrait of this idyllic 1960’s bohemia. It was a time that left a lasting imprint on both Marianne and Leonard, whose friendship would last another fifty years before their deaths just months apart in 2016.

Originally presented as a work-in-progress at the 2016 WJFF.

Saturday, May 18, 6:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Wednesday, May 22, 8:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Tier

A

Thursday, May 16, 7:15 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

25

Tier

A

SPOTLIGHT

WORLD PREMIERE Documentary

US PREMIERE Narrative

MOE BERG: The Spy Behind Home Plate

THE MOVER

Dir. Dāvis Sīmanis | 90 min | Latvia | 2018 Latvian, German, and Yiddish w/English subtitles

Dir. Aviva Kempner | 90 min | USA | 2019

Few could have predicted that Žanis and Johanna Lipke would become Latvia’s Schindlers. After the Nazi invasion of 1942, Žanis supported his family by working in Riga’s Luftwaffe factory and supplemented his income by smuggling. The factory soon overflowed with Jews from the Ghetto forced into labor, often as a precursor to an even grimmer fate.

Moe Berg led two lives: one of public accomplishment, easy grace, and dazzling intellect; the other, hidden from view, as an OSS operative, whose daring deeds helped prevent the Axis powers from developing an atom bomb.

Tagged the ‘brainiest man in baseball,’ the son of Jewish immigrants stumped collegiate competitors by calling signals in Latin, and was eventually called up to the majors—playing catcher for the Washington Senators and other clubs during baseball’s Golden Age. He went on to join Babe Ruth on an All-Star tour to Japan, which brought his heroism, athletic career, and spycraft together, in a tale put to screen by dynamic documentarian Aviva Kempner.

Saturday, May 11, 6:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Despite enormous personal risk, Žanis and Johanna decided they couldn’t stand idly by. Using his black-market connections, they devised daring ways to sneak over 40 Jews into hiding. A beautifully rendered testament to the heroism of blue-collar family turned righteous saviors.

Tier

B

Thursday, May 9, 6:15 PM – E Street Cinema Sunday, May 19, 3:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 26

Tier

A

US PREMIERE Narrative

Narrative

MY POLISH HONEYMOON

PARIS SONG

Fresh off their wedding ceremony, Anna and Adam—a Jewish couple from Paris—travel to Poland for a memorial service. The eye-opening trip awkwardly doubles as their honeymoon in this delightful romantic comedy from noted French director Elise Otzenberger. They attend a ceremony in memory of the Jewish community in Adam’s grandfather’s village, which was destroyed 75 years prior. Adam is not particularly enthusiastic about the trip, but views it as an opportunity to spend quality time with his wife, away from their baby boy.

Paris Song follows a small-town vocalist as he travels from Soviet-ruled Kazakhstan to the 1925 Paris Expo to compete in an international singing competition. There, the talented singer surprises his wellestablished competitors, impresses audiences, and develops an unlikely friendship with Jewish-American songwriter George Gershwin and photographer Lee Abbott (Abbie Cornish).

Dir. Elise Otzenberger | 88 min | Narrative | France | 2019 French w/English subtitles

Dir. Jeff Vespa | 90 min | Kazakhstan, Latvia, USA | 2018 English, Hebrew, and Arabic w/English subtitles

This enjoyable story, based on the life of Kazakh folk hero Amre Kashaubayev, has a fabulous score including a rousing rendition of “Fascinating Rhythm.”

Anna, on the other hand, is both anxious and eager about the journey.

She is hoping to reconnect with her own roots and finally discover more about her own family’s history, which has always been a mystery.

Sponsored by Linda and Sid Moskowitz

Saturday, May 11, 8:45 PM – AFI Sunday, May 19, 3:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Tier

A

Saturday, May 18, 3:45 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Saturday, May 25, 1:45 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 27

Tier

A

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

THE PASSENGERS

SACRED SPACES– From Temple to Synagogues: Absence and Presence

Dir. Ryan Porush | 72 min | USA, Israel, Ethiopia | 2019 English, Hebrew, and Amharic w/English subtitles The Passengers tells the story of the Ethiopian Jews and the struggle for a final, abandoned community to immigrate to Israel. The film follows the unlikely journey of two young men on a fateful trip to America as representatives of a grassroots advocacy campaign.

Dir. Celia Lowenstein | 90 min | France | 2018

Celia Lowenstein’s visually audacious tour of the 3,000-year history of the Jewish Diaspora is told through a globetrotting escapade of Jewish spaces of worship. If synagogues could speak, they would tell the story embodied in Sacred Spaces: the architectural and spiritual tale of a people’s beliefs, perseverance, and diversity.

As the pressure of representing its desperate community builds and an increasingly conservative Israeli government remains uninterested despite pervasive cries of racism, the pair must reconcile with an uncertain and fateful future.

Saturday, May 11, 6:15 PM – E Street Cinema Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Starting in Jerusalem and winding through Tunisia, Venice, Cordoba, and even Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (where Frank Lloyd Wright teamed up with Rabbi Mortimer Cohen), Sacred Space employs enlightening interviews, stunning drone footage, and a spirited intellectual rigor to examine Jewish history from a spectacularly original perspective.

Tier

A

Thursday, May 23, 6:20 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Sunday, May 26, 12:15 PM – AFI Silver Theatre 28

Tier

A

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

SEDER-MASOCHISM Dir. Nina Paley | 78 min | USA | 2018

SEFARAD

A disco-dancing Pharaoh, a crooning Angel of Death, Moses and his chorus line of dancing rams—this isn’t your bubbe’s Passover seder. Visionary animator Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues) directs an irreverent musical take on the Book of Exodus, reimagining the freeing of the slaves from Egypt as an eclectic mixtape of funk, rock, and Motown, featuring songs by Pat Boone and Led Zeppelin.

A sweeping epic that covers Jewish history in Portugal from the times of the Crypto Jews in 1496—when King Manuel I prohibited the open practice of Judaism—to the Nazi regime to modern times. Sefarad centers on the life of army captain Arturo de Barros Basto, founder of the Oporto Jewish Community.

Dir. Luís Ismael | 100 min | Portugal | 2019 English, Portuguese, Hebrew, and Yiddish w/English subtitles

Sharply witty, but also deeply personal and affecting, Paley’s kaleidoscopic animation is filtered through a feminist prism that exposes and explodes the patriarchal tenets of the Passover story.

As his fledgling community contends with claims of centuries-old secret societies of Jews in their midst, the rise of Nazism and the ever-present dangers of antisemitism in other forms prove a volatile mix.

-Note adapted from the Mill Valley Film Festival

Saturday, May 18, 4:00 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema Sunday, May 19, 2:20 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Tier

A

Sunday, May 12, 5:45 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Monday, May 20, at 8:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 29

Tier

A

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

EAST COAST PREMIERE Documentary

SHOOTING LIFE

SHUT UP AND PLAY THE PIANO

Igal Gazit, an unemployed film director from Tel Aviv, moves to Sderot and takes up a teaching job at the local high school. His first meeting with the students doesn’t go well and they make fun of the ‘enlightenment’ he brings from Tel Aviv. Igal, however, intends to see though his pledge that all the kids will pass the State Film Exams. The road to fulfilling that promise is one that the students will never forget.

Grammy-winning composer, virtuoso pianist, and entertainer Chilly Gonzales is a frequent collaborator with Feist, Jarvis Cocker, Peaches, Daft Punk, and Drake. Criss-crossing between rap, electro, and solo piano music—and between 90s underground Berlin, Paris, and his homeland of Canada—he became an outlandish pop performer who crashed classical music’s ivory tower.

Bolstered by a strong ensemble cast of young actors, this comingof-age story ponders, from the viewpoint of the next generation, the Middle East’s shattered dreams and future hopes.

He claims to be only “professionally” Jewish, as a useful bit of color for journalists seeking a hook. But the truth, as with all things Chilly, is more complex: his upbringing as the son of Ashkenazi Jews forced to flee from Hungary during WWII propelled his career and provided him more artistic fuel than he lets on.

Dir. David Kreiner | 84 min | Israel | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles

Sunday, May 12, 8:45 PM – E Street Cinema Wednesday, May 22, 6:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Dir. Philipp Jedicke | 85 min | Germany | 2018 English, German, and French w/English subtitles

Tier

A

Monday, May 13, 8:30 PM – E Street Cinema Thursday, May 23, 8:40 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 30

Tier

A

SPOTLIGHT

DC PREMIERE Documentary

EAST COAST PREMIERE Narrative

THE STATE AGAINST MANDELA AND THE OTHERS

SKIN

Dir. Guy Nattiv | 110 min | USA | 2018

Dir. Nicolas Champeaux and Gilles Porte | 105 min | France | 2018

Jamie Bell stars in the story of Bryon Widner, a young man raised by skinheads, for whom turning his back on hatred and violence meant undergoing painful and expensive operations to remove the tattoos that signified his terrible past life — a process only possible with the support of a Black activist.

Nelson Mandela’s story seized center stage during the historic Rivonia trial in 1963 and 1964. But there were eight others who, like him, faced the death sentence.

To a man they stood firm and turned the tables on the state: just as they were on trial, so too was Africa’s apartheid regime. Recently recovered archival recordings of those hearings transport us back into the thick of the courtroom battles.

The true story of Widner’s excruciating transformation inspired this startling chronicle of redemption from Israeli writer-director Guy Nattiv, whose short film version of this tale just won him an Oscar. Starring Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, and Vera Farmiga.

At the center of the trial was hawkish state prosecutor Percy Yutar, a brilliant legal mind, whose Jewish origins were put to dubious purposes in the courtroom.

-Note adapted from the Toronto International Film Festival

Thursday, May 16, 7:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Wednesday, May 22, 8:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

Tier

B

Thursday, May 9, 8:15 PM – E Street Cinema Saturday, May 18, 1:30 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 31

Tier

A

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Documentary

SUSTAINABLE NATION

TOMAN

Sustainable Nation follows three extraordinary individuals doing their part to bring sustainable water access to an increasingly thirsty planet.

Using solutions developed in water-poor Israel, they are working to change the status quo of a world where one in ten people lacks access to safe drinking water. But water is just the beginning.

Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ondřej Trojan (Zelary) presents a fascinating historical drama revolving around the real-life figure of Zdeněk Toman, a controversial and singular character in modern Czech politics. In the years following World War II, he served as the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, where he orchestrated the coup of 1948 and the Czechoslovak Communist Party’s rise to power.

Dir. Micah Smith | 60 min | Israel | 2018 English, Hebrew, Hindi and Swahili w/English subtitles

Dir. Ondřej Trojan | 144 min | Czech Republic | 2018 Czech w/English subtitles

The work of this visionary trio highlights the nexus between food, energy, and water, while underscoring how solving these enormous challenges can help liberate women specifically, and the world at large, from life-threatening poverty, illness, and lack of opportunity.

Saturday, May 11, 3:45 PM – E Street Cinema Wednesday, May 22, 6:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

He was an unscrupulous careerist and an unsavory politician, blackmailing, exploiting, and intimidating his way to the top of the Communist food chain. But he has another unlikely other role in the history books—as a savior of Jews.

Tier

A

Sunday, May 19, 7:15 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Tuesday, May 21, 7:50 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 32

Tier

A

SPOTLIGHT

MID-ATLANTIC PREMIERE Narrative

DC PREMIERE Documentary

THE UNORTHODOX

UNSETTLING

When Yakov Cohen’s (Shuli Rand, Ushpizin) daughter is expelled from school for “ethnic reasons,” he decides to fight back. It’s 1983 and Cohen is a regular Jerusalemite with no money, connections, or political experience. What he has in spades, however, is the passionate will to take action on behalf of Sephardic Jews who have too long been treated as second class citizens.

Iris Zaki (Women in Sink) rents an apartment and sets up a makeshift film studio in the settlement of Tekoa. She wants to interview the settlers, a group that’s foreign to her and her Tel Aviv friends, but at first none of the Tekoa residents agree to speak with her.

Dir. Eliran Malka | 99 min | Israel | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles

Dir. Iris Zaki | 70 min | Israel | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles

Despite their initial suspicion of this left-winger, settlers from various backgrounds gradually open up and engage in honest, surprising, and sometimes funny conversations, providing a fresh take on Israeli reality from both sides of the Green Line.

The Unorthodox brings to life the stunning rise of Israel’s Shas political party, though the story of Cohen’s improbable campaign—one full of love for his fellow man and equally animated by a great sense of humor and a whole lot of rage.

Tuesday, May 14, 8:40 PM – AFI Silver Theatre Wednesday, May 15, 6:15 PM – E Street Cinema

Tier

B

Saturday, May 11, 2:00 PM – E Street Cinema Monday, May 20, 6:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 33

Tier

A

EAST COAST PREMIERE Documentary

DC PREMIERE Narrative

WILD KIDS

WORKING WOMAN

Hidden behind heavy metal doors of an old Jerusalem bomb shelter, there lies a tiny animation studio. Every week, children of Russian immigrants meet there to create a colorful carnival of monsters and earthquakes.

In this timely tale from feminist filmmaker Michal Aviad (The Women Pioneers, Dimona Twist), Orna—a blazing Liron Ben Shlush—is the mother of three with a husband struggling to start his own restaurant.

To help support her family, she returns to the workplace, landing a job with a former army superior who is now a successful real estate developer.

Dir. Tal Pesses | 54 min | Israel | 2018 Russian, German, and Hebrew w/English subtitles

Dir. Michal Aviad | 93 min | Israel | 2018 Hebrew w/English subtitles

Wild Kids illuminates the subversive world of two talented teenage artists, Zalman and Aharon, through a period of adolescence as they discover their own identity. Zalman must decide whether to stay in Israel, as Aharon strives for recognition of his radical artistic path. The studio leader, Max, lives art as an alternative way of life.

Saturday, May 11, 2:30 PM – E Street Cinema Saturday, May 18, 12:10 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema

As Orna embraces her new position, she begins to experience escalating sexual harassment from her boss. Her rapid rise through the ranks is accompanied by an increasingly aggressive pattern of predatory behavior, which threatens her career and marriage.

Tier

A

Saturday, May 11, 5:45 PM – E Street Cinema Saturday, May 18, 6:15 PM – Bethesda Row Cinema 34

Tier

A

SHORTS PROGRAMS

DIVERSE OR DI-TRYIN’

BACK TO THE JEWTURE

SET APART

The adage, “our differences make us stronger” is borne out in unexpected, funny, and powerful ways in this collection of shorts that explore the power of bringing together old and young, black and white, human and alien, and more.

Sometimes we reach into the past, grasping for solutions to a current problem; in other instances, it takes a future technology or approach to complete a journey started long

A series of shorts that examine what sets us apart from our families, communities, and peers. These markers can be ones of pride or shame, but they’re perhaps more integral

73 min | Israel, Spain, UK, USA

Featured films: 100 Faces; Death Metal Grandma; Edek; Girl With a Fork in a World of Soup; Granny Knows Best; and Krisis.

The second screening of this shorts program is part of our back-by-populardemand event, Two Jews Walk into a Bar. Join us for a cinematic pub crawl - $30 gets you three drinks and admission to the shorts program.

71 min | Australia, France, Germany, Israel, USA

ago. The six shorts in this compendium tackle war, spirituality, and identity as past becomes future, and the future acts a rear-view mirror.

Featured films: 5 Years After the War; Alef B’Tamuz; Men of Clay; Nazi VR; The Rolling Ground; and The Warsaw Robin.

73 min | Israel, Russia, Switzerland, UK, USA

to our identities than any other.

The factors that alienate or distinguish—and often both at once—range from sexuality and religion to nationality, ethnicity, and language.

Featured films: Black Hat; Elina; Liliths; Race; Starboy; Travelogue Tel Aviv; and Tryptich.

Check JxJDC.org/barcrawl for crawl route and participating venues.

Sunday, May 12, 4:15 PM E Street Cinema

Thursday, May 23, 6:45 PM Two Jews Walk into a Bar

Tier

A

Sunday, May 12, 12:15 PM E Street Cinema

Monday, May 13, 6:25 PM E Street Cinema 35

Tier

A

Sunday, May 12, 2:15 PM E Street Cinema

Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 PM E Street Cinema

Tier

A

Come early and enjoy dinner before the show.

MUSIC

Dinn

w ho

and a S er

BOOK OF J

Jewlia Eisenberg (Charming Hostess) and Jeremiah Lockwood (Sway Machinery) draw from the rich biblical commentary of Black and White American traditional music, Yiddish ghost songs, and piyutim (paraliturgical songs) for a mix the BCC describes as, “A wonder of haunted American roots music, taking listeners from Yiddish laments to labor anthems via mystical twists and turns.”

B

Dinn

Thursday, May 9, 8:00 PM (6:00 PM doors) City Winery DC

and a S er

w ho

The Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation is the Lead Sponsor of the Washington Jewish Music Festival

Tier

Related Events: Jewlia Eisenberg and Jeremiah Lockwood also lead the workshop American Psalmody on Friday, May 10. See p.48 for more details.

36

“The collaboration of singer-guitarist Lockwood and Charming Hostess vocalist Eisenberg encompasses Yiddish songs, Piedmont blues, and queer politics.”

— The New Yorker

GILI YALO

Sponsored by Deborah and Michael Salzberg

From his base in Tel Aviv, Gili Yalo is launching a solo career with a new project that combines Ethiopian roots with soul, funk, psychedelic, and jazz music.

Gili Yalo—who has collaborated with top music producers Beno Hendler (Balkan Beat Box) and Uri Brauner Kinrot (Boom Pam)—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, Amharic, and Hebrew.

“The whole thing has a strut to its step. With Yalo singing in both Amharic and English, his band cook up a whole range of retro flavours, from golden-age Ethiopian horns and old-school synths to the classic R&B rhythm-section sound. —Songlines Magazine Sunday, May 12, 8:00 PM (6:00 PM doors) Pearl Street Warehouse Dinn

B

and a S er

w ho

Tier

37

YEMEN BLUES

“Sound[s] like an Arabic pop orchestra accompanying serpentine melodies, or a North African trance group driving a modal riff, only to switch toward jazzy horn and flute solos or hints of chamber music.”

— The New York Times

From the start, Ravid Kahalani’s eclectic lineup of musicians—hailing from NYC, Uruguay, and Tel Aviv—who collectively form Yemen Blues have created a wildly original and powerful sound with global reach and influences.

The result of this amazing group is a coursing energy that mixes Yemenite, West African, and jazz influences. The mambo and North African rhythms create a joyful and deep foundation, while the vocals remind the listener of ancient Arabic chants mixed with funk and blues.

DOUBLE BILL

38

NANI

“ Breathtaking artist, her ballads go under your skin” —Frankfurter Allgemeine, DE

Nani’s hypnotizing vocals breathe new life into jazz, flamenco, North African, and Sephardic and Ladino traditional song. Her voice is mesmerizing: pure and simple, powerful and precise, and imbued with the traditions and the emotional journey of the migrant people who first took their culture across the globe, following the Jewish expulsion from Spain in the 15th century.

YEMEN BLUES & NANI Thursday, May 16, 8:00 PM (7:00 PM doors) Union Stage

Tier

C 39

THE GUY MENDILOW ENSEMBLE

“[The Guy Mendilow Ensemble] explode with artistry, refinement, and excitement” — Hebrew Union College

Folding radio drama-style stories into a top-flight world music concert, the Guy Mendilow Ensemble is “an international tour de force” (Bethlehem Morning Call) from the Middle East and South and North America. The ensemble combines musicianship with cinematic storytelling, whisking audiences to distant times and picturesque places while conjuring voices lost to upheaval. Ensemble members have toured and recorded with Bobby McFerrin, Yo-Yo Ma, Christian McBride, and Amanda Palmer.

Related Event: Myths, Lies and Truths: Romanticizing Traditional Cultures on Sunday, May 19.

See p.49 for more details.

DOUBLE BILL

40

BEYOND THE PALE

“A bracingly modern, mind-blowing flight into a very new Jewish-Balkan sonic atmosphere”

THE GUY MENDILOW ENSEMBLE & BEYOND THE PALE Saturday, May 18, 8:30 PM (8:00 PM doors) Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center

— LA Weekly Tier

C

One of Canada’s most innovative and exciting acoustic roots ensembles uses klezmer and Balkan styles as the point of departure for the band’s genre-defying sound, which is also shaped by everything from jazz and classical music to bluegrass and reggae. With unique songcraft and exuberant energy, Beyond the Pale’s music ranges from a raucous roar to the most intimate and dynamic chamber-folk.

41

TIO CHORINHO

42

PWYC

and a S er

w ho

This uniquely Brazilian form of high-energy improvisational music blends European, African, and South American traditions, and in Jacob do Bandolim’s case, bears a strong inflection of his Jewish musical upbringing learning Yiddish folk songs from his Polish-Jewish grandmother.

Sunday, May 19, 7:00 PM (5:00 PM doors) City Winery DC Dinn

Tio Chorinho is dedicated to performing Brazilian choro music in the tradition of the great Jewish mandolin master Jacob do Bandolim. A virtuosic instrumentalist and prolific composer, Jacob do Bandolim was a major figure in the development of what many consider to be “The New Orleans Jazz of Brazil.”

THE ANCIENT LAW with Live Accompaniment by Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin Dir. Ewald André Dupont | 135 min | Narrative | Germany | 1923 Silent w/English intertitles

This gem of German-Jewish cinema will be shown with an original live score by the extraordinary violinist Alicia Svigals (The Klezmatics, The Yellow Ticket) and pianist Donald Sosin.

Baruch, a rabbi’s son, yearns to become an actor so, he leaves his shtetl for the Vienna stage, against his father's wishes. But success cannot quell Baruch’s guilt and longing for home. A precursor to The Jazz Singer, The Ancient Law is one of the first films to have addressed the subject of assimilation and features visually stunning depictions of shtetl life.

Tuesday, May 21, 7:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

Tier

B

43

ISLE OF KLEZBOS & BEREGOVSKI SUITE

ISLE OF KLEZBOS

Isle of Klezbos approaches tradition with playful irreverence and deepest respect. The soulful, fun-loving powerhouse all-gal klezmer sextet has toured from Vienna to Vancouver since 1998. Band repertoire ranges from rambunctious to entrancing: Neo-traditional folk dance, mystical melodies, Yiddish swing and retro tango, late Soviet-era Jewish drinking songs, re-grooved standards, and genre-defying originals.

Related Event: Isle of Klezbos also presents Music in Yiddish Cinema (see p.46).

44

C

and a S er

Dinn

Tier

“ Isle of Klezbos tests the elasticity of the genre” — The New Yorker

w ho

Wednesday, May 22, 8:00 PM (6:00 PM doors) City Winery DC

“Her fiddle ruled...”

— The New York Times

DOUBLE BILL

BEREGOVSKI SUITE featuring Alicia Svigals and Uli Geissendoerfer

Twenty years ago, Alicia Svigals released her groundbreaking album Fidl, the first contemporary recording of the deep and ecstatic klezmer fiddle music which had been beloved across Jewish Eastern Europe for hundreds of years.

In 2018 she followed up Fidl with Beregovski Suite: a project with Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Uli Geissendoerfer. Together they bring to life long-lost melodies from the early 20th-century fieldwork of Moshe Beregovski, and re-imagine them for the 21st century.

Related event: Alicia Svigals performs a live score with The Ancient Law (see p.43).

45

MUSIC IN YIDDISH CINEMA with Isle of Klezbos & Metropolitan Klezmer Isle of Klezbos and Metropolitan Klezmer plumb the fascinating range of music found in vintage Yiddish film soundtracks, from tango and tragic lullaby to a tenement wedding dance and much more. This multimedia concert—set against archival film clips—has been a national sensation with packed performances at Lincoln Center and the Museum at Eldridge Street.

The band plays original arrangements inspired by scenes in celebrated movies and lesser-known cinematic gems ranging from The Dybbuk and Uncle Moses to newsreels from Moscow’s State Yiddish Theater and a host of Molly Picon favorites.

Thursday, May 23, 7:30 PM, AFI Silver Theatre

Tier

B 46

DANIEL KAHN AND THE PAINTED BIRD

With their new record The Butcher’s Share, The Painted Bird returns to the road as the original radical Yiddish borderland bandits.

The Berlin-based Detroit-born poet/translator/singer/multi-instrumentalist (accordion, piano, guitars) Daniel Kahn has reformed the band with new and old comrades: Berlin’s clarinet/sax/brass master Christian Dawid, New York’s Yiddish fiddle virtuoso Jake Shulman-Ment, expat experimental contrabassist Berlin composer Michael Tuttle, and classic klezmer drummer Hampus Melin.

Dinn

B

and a S er

w ho

Sunday, May 26, 3:00 PM (1:00 PM doors) City Winery DC

Tier

“ Accordion charged with punk rock… the free-spirited attitude of the New York Tzadik circle, cabaret flair, and scraps of Tom Waits.”

— Rolling Stone

47 47

AMERICAN PSALMODY Workshop with Book of J

STUDIO

Combining their passion for Jewish liturgical traditions and American folk religious music, Jewlia Eisenberg and Jeremiah Lockwood lead a workshop on spirituals, protest music and related texts.

Presented with the Inter-American Development Bank.

Tier

Friday, May 10, 12:00 PM Inter-American Development Bank

A YIDLIFE CRISIS – LIVE!

Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion, the creators and stars of the award-winning Yiddish comedy web series YidLife Crisis (and closeted professional Jewish educators!) present two nights of shtick, schmoozing, and inspiration—one with their popular Yidlive! program, and the first-ever performance of a new show: Global Shtetl Live.

YIDLIVE!

In the YidLive! presentation, the duo of seasoned performers mix skits, discussion and screenings and use the “trojan horse” of comedy to bring Yiddish and yiddishkayt to the fore, to engage the topic of Jewish identity with all—from a young 20s and 30s crowd through to those 65 and over.

Saturday, May 11, 8:00 PM – GWU Blackbox Theatre

GLOBAL SHTETL LIVE

Tier

B

The intrepid Yiddish comedy team mine the journeys taken to shoot their documentaries Narishkayt—about an eye-opening visit to Krakow—and Chewdaism (p.14)—a kaleidoscopic culinary tear through Montreal—to present a walking, laughing and crying tour, with the audience as their virtual travel partners.

48

Sunday, May 12, 1:30 PM – Penn Social

Tier

B

ARTIST TALK: ZALMEN MLOTEK DISCUSSES FIDDLER ON THE ROOF IN YIDDISH

Direct from Stage 42 on 42nd Street in New York City, Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director of National Yiddish Theatre and Music Director of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, joins us to discuss the creation of this new Yiddish-language production. Mlotek will share the stage with company members from the hit Off-Broadway musical, which is directed by Joel Grey.

Sponsored by Melanie and Larry Nussdorf

Tier

A

Monday, May 13, 7:30 PM – Venue TBD

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2019

Can’t make it to Tel Aviv for the Eurovision Song Contest Finals? No problem! Join JxJ, the Embassy of Israel, and Eurovision USA for the official DC-area watch party – we’ll have the full show broadcast live via satellite feed on the AFI’s giant screen, a pop up bar, Eurovision prizes, trivia, and live musical host Ricky Paul spinning classic Eurovision hits.

Come for the revelry, stay for the Eurosong.

Saturday, May 18, 2:30 PM – 6:30 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

MYTHS, LIES, AND TRUTHS: ROMANTICIZING TRADITIONAL CULTURES

The Guy Mendilow Ensemble present a multimedia lecture—incorporating video excerpts from sand artist Kseniya Simonova—that traces the distortion of Sephardic music from the former Ottoman Empire, exploring shifts in both its inadvertent and intentional forms. Narrative storytelling is interwoven with field recordings from Sephardic communities of the former Ottoman Empire, modern artists' interpretations, and live performance from the Guy Mendilow Ensemble.

Sunday, May 19, 2:00 PM – GWU

PWYC

49

Tier

B

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 and The Lois and Richard England Family Foundation

Join us for the 9th annual in-depth exploration of the daily lives and challenges of Arab Citizens of Israel.

The program will feature screenings of two mid-length films—Freedom Train from director Tawfik Abu Wael and Be/Longing by Amit Breuer—followed by a moderated conversation.

Be/Longing

Both the films and the conversation to follow center on the challenges faced

by Arab women in Israel regarding career opportunities, racism, and the struggle for equal treatment. The discussion will offer insight into real issues facing Arab citizens in contemporary Israeli society, while also providing a look at the constructive changes being enacted on the ground by NGOs, government agencies, businesses, and determined individuals.

Sunday, May 19, 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM – AFI Silver Theatre

PWYC

Speakers: Suzan Hasan, JDC Israel Tevet’s Director of Employment Programs for Arabs and for Career Advancement.

Freedom Train

50

Amal Rihan, Main subject of Be/Longing.

YANKL THE BLACKSMITH Theater J's Yiddish Theater Lab – Play Reading

By Dovid Pinski Translated by Nahma Sandrow | Directed by Adam Immerwahr

When Yankl, the town drunk and a notorious philanderer, gets married, everyone predicts that it won’t last. Everyone, that is, except Yankl’s young wife.

Can her faith in him stop Yankl from falling back into his old way of life? Can people change?

And if they can, is there any guarantee that they won’t change back? Join Theater J for this one-night-only script-in-hand reading of a sensual and insightful exploration of the power and limitations of relationships.

Monday, May 20, 7:00 PM – Goethe Institut

PWYC

SHABBAT IN SONG

Join local congregations for Shabbat in Song at several events held throughout the Festival.

This community-wide celebration of Shabbat and music highlights musical services and events around the Greater Washington area. As of printing participating congregations include: Shirat haNefesh, Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, Temple B'nai Shalom, Temple Beth Ami, Temple Rodef Shalom of Falls Church, VA, Tikkun Leil Shabbat, and Tikvat Israel Congregation.

For more details, and an updated list of congregations taking part visit JxJDC.org/Shabbat

TWO JEWS WALK INTO A BAR

Our one-of-a-kind cinematic pub crawl is back by popular demand! Joining together our three loves— good people, good movies, and good drinks—this program highlights the short film series Diverse or Di-Tryin’ (p.35) in a festive bar atmosphere. $30 gets you 3 drinks and admission to the shorts film program.

Tier

Visit JxJDC.org/barcrawl for more information on the route and participating venues.

51

C

Barbara Abramowitz Patty Abramson Andrew Altman Joseph A. Baldinger Michele G. Berman Jennifer Bradley Kenton Campbell Johanna Chanin Jaclyn Cohen Eva Davis Nora Dweck-McMullen Myrna Fawcett Brian Gelfand Dina Gold Debra Goldberg Rena Gordon Ellen Kassoff Gray Tamara Handelsman Elise Lefkowitz Emma Levine Benjamin Loewy Stewart Manela Meredith Margolis Sid Moskowitz Alfred Munzer Alyson Myers Melanie Franco Nussdorf Saul Pilchen Arnold Polinger Shannon Powers Sharon Russ Jonathan Rutenberg Michael Salzberg Janis Schiff Rhea Schwartz Michael Singer Tina Small Cathy Toren Diane Abelman Wattenberg

Founding Director Ginny Edlavitch

SPONSORS

2018–2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jill Granader, President Daniel Hirsch, Vice President Norm J. Rich, Vice President Eric Zelenko, Vice President Jonathan Grossman, Treasurer David Goldblatt, Assistant Treasurer Janet B. Abrams, Secretary

Presidents Emeriti Stephen Altman Rose H. Cohen Martha Gross Stephen Kelin William Kreisberg John R. Risher, Jr.* Lynn Skolnick Sachs Deborah Ratner Salzberg Mindy Strelitz Francine Zorn Trachtenberg Robert Tracy Ellen G. Witman

LEAD BEVERAGE SPONSOR

FOOD SPONSORS

Vice President Emeritus Lee G. Rubenstein

Ambassadors Council Esthy & James Adler Diane & Norman Bernstein Joshua Bernstein Heidi* & Max Berry Ann Loeb Bronfman* Ryna & Melvin* Cohen Louie & Ralph Dweck Irwin P. Edlavitch Lois* & Richard* England Susan & Michael Gelman Paula Seigle Goldman Jack Kay* Edward J. Lenkin Arna Meyer Mickelson Norman Pozez Anne S. Reich* Lee G. Rubenstein David Bruce Smith Daniel Solomon Alan G. Spoon Matthew Watson

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS

*of blessed memory

52

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

WE’RE BUILDING SOMETHING NEW AT 16TH AND Q!

Since returning to our historic 16th Street building over twenty years ago, the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center has become the hub of Jewish life in the nation’s capital. This summer, we will return home to a modern, fully renovated building fit to serve the needs of our expanding, diverse, and vibrant community.

We can't wait to see you there! Thank you to our generous Capital Campaign donors. $6,500,000 Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch $1,000,000 - $4,999,999 The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation The Morningstar Foundation Charles E. Smith Family Foundation, Robert O. and Arlene R. Kogod Family Foundation, and David Bruce Smith Foundation Nussdorf Family Foundation The Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation $250,000 - $999,999 Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation Rose and Robert Cohen Ralph S. and Frances R. Dweck Family Foundation Brenda Gruss and Daniel Hirsch The Kay Family Foundation, Inc. The Annette M. and Theodore N. Lerner Family Foundation Diane and Arnold Polinger Deborah and Michael Salzberg Share Fund Tina and Albert Small, Jr. The Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation Francine Zorn Trachtenberg and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg $100,000 - $249,999 Esthy and James Adler Lisa and Josh Bernstein Susie and Kenton Campbell Marcy and Neil Cohen, Ryna Cohen Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Sarah and Bernard Gewirz Jill and Robert Granader Stuart S. Kurlander and David L. Martin Alan and Amy Meltzer Linda and Sid Moskowitz Alfred Munzer and Joel Wind

$50,000 - $99,999 Jamie and Joseph A. Baldinger Michele and Allan Berman Marilyn and Michael Glosserman Carolyn June Kaplan* Stephen Kelin and Joy Lerner Meredith Margolis and Gary Goodweather Judith and Robert Snyder Mindy Strelitz and Andrew Cornblatt and Family Martha Winter Gross and Robert L. Tracy Carolyn and Bill Wolfe $20,000 - $49,999 Cathy Bernard The Honorable Ann Brown and Don Brown Bruce A. Cohen The Duber Family Lois and Richard England Family Foundation Jenny and Brian Gelfand, Edith and Michael Gelfand Debbie Goldberg and Seth Waxman Rena and Michael Gordon William M. Kreisberg Elise and Marc Lefkowitz Nancy and Saul M. Pilchen John and Lynn Sachs Rhea S. Schwartz and Paul Martin Wolff Deborah Harmon and Robert Seder Susan Wedlan and Harold Rosen Carole R. Zawatsky Eric Zelenko $10,000 - $19,999 Babs and Rabbi A.N. Abramowitz Patty Abramson and Les Silverman Abby and Andrew Cherner Myrna L. Fawcett Dina Gold Cheryl Gorelick Michelle and Jonathan Grossman Beverly and Stuart Halpert Harman Family Foundation Rae Ringel and Amos Hochstein Arlene and Martin Klepper Marion Ein Lewin Howard Menaker and Patrick Gossett 53

DC Minyan The Ratner Family Foundation Michael Singer Cathy and Peter Toren Matthew Watson Diane Abelman Wattenberg Rory and Shelton Zuckerman $5,000 - $9,999 Janet B. Abrams Carolyn Small Alper Steve and Amy Altman Patricia Alper-Cohn and David Cohn Bunny Dwin Ann and Frank Gilbert Jerald and Debbie Greenspan Patti and Mitchell Herman Sandra and Stephen Lachter Dianne and Herb Lerner The Pokempner-Levine Family Liza and Michael Levy Benjamin and Saskia Loewy Rona and Allan Mendelsohn Alyson Myers Elaine Reuben Norm Rich and Sara Cohen Carol Risher Jim and Trisha Ritzenberg Trina and Lee G. Rubenstein Sharon H. Russ and David S. Rubin Debra and Jonathan Rutenberg Evelyn Sandground and Bill Perkins Hank Schlosberg Shirley and Albert H. Small Mary and James Speyer $1,000 - $4,999 Grace and Morton Bender Jennifer Bradley and Leon Wieseltier Mara Bralove and Ari Fisher Nadine Cohodas Eva Davis and Justin Kramer Michelle and Glenn Engelmann Lois and Michael Fingerhut David and Amanda Goldblatt Renata Hesse and Josh Soven Emily and Kyle Jillson Adina and Bryan Kanefield Aviva Kempner Bill and Norma Kline Tiefel Martha Kahn and Simeon M. Kriesberg

Kenneth and Amy Eisen Krupsky Ellen and Gary Malasky Zena and Paul Mason Glenna and David Osnos Shannon and William Powers Leshowitz Family Foundation/Terry Singer Joan S. Wessel Ellen Witman Margot and Paul Zimmerman Fund $1,000 and under Martin Akerman DeAndre M. Anderson Beth Helman and Peleg Tal Linda Rosenzweig and Sandy Bieber Victor Block and Phyllis Hockman Timothy Christensen and Walter Ochinko Jeffrey Jorge Cohen Neil W. Cohen Toby Dershowitz Roslyn Eisner Stuart Eizenstat Dr. Stanley C. and Ronna Foster Rabbi Karen Fox David Goldstein Lisie and Michael Gottdenker Tamara and Harry Handelsman Eileen Kane Ellen Kassoff Gray and Todd Gray Audrey and Wayne Kliman Susan J. Kline Phyllis H. Kline Dr. Darryl Lefcoe Grant, Janice, and William Logan Stewart Manela Sandy and Howard Marks Gail Neer Sherry and Louis Nevins Allison and Daniel Rabin Nancy and Sam Raskin Mita M. Schaffer and Tina Martin Nell and Ed Shapiro Marshall Soltz Patti and Jerry Sowalsky John Tolleris Juliet Wurr Katharine Zambon

* of blessed memory List as of March 13, 2019

JxJ DONORS

LEAD SPONSOR ($75,000+) Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation MAJOR SPONSOR ($20,000 - $74,999) DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation The Dweck Family Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch Melanie and Larry Nussdorf EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ($10,000 - $19,999) Anonymous Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation Linda and Sid Moskowitz Deborah and Michael Salzberg PRODUCER ($5,000 - $9,999) Embassy of Israel Lois and Richard England Family Foundation Dr. Sara Cohen and Norm Rich, Dr. Paul and Cyna Cohen Scott Eric Dreyer and Ellen Clare Gillespie Dreyer Rena and Michael Gordon Brenda Gruss and Daniel Hirsch ASSOCIATE PRODUCER ($3,000 - $4,999) Monica and Gavin Abrams Michele and Allan Berman Dina Gold Barbara Silverstein Richard Solloway PATRON ($1,100 - $2,999) Esther Saks Abelman Yiddish Culture Fund Patty Abramson and Les Silverman Ms. Dava Berkman Dr. Kenneth Brooks and Dr. Anita Wolke Anne and Howard Clemons Jacqueline and Edward Cohen Nadine Cohodas

Tabard Corporation Morgan and Josh Genderson Margery and Joseph Hoffman Belman Klein Associates, Ltd. Anita Lampel and Daniel Metlay Dianne and Herb Lerner Liza and Michael Levy Joy Midman Deborah and Juan Prawda Susan Wedlan and Harold Rosen Lynn and John Sachs Rae Grad and Manuel Schiffres Tina and Albert Small, Jr. Diane Abelman Wattenberg Judith Weintraub TASTEMAKER ($550 - $1,099) Charlotte and Michael Baer Leesa Fields and Jonathan Band Suanne and Richard Beyda Rosalind and Donald Cohen Dr. Stanley C. and Ronna Foster Linda and Jay Freedman Lorraine Gallard and Richard H. Levy Joan Nathan and Allan Gerson Jill and Robert Granader Florence and Peter Hart Aviva Kempner William Kreisberg Iris Lipkowitz Carol Mates and Mark Kahan Miriam Mörsel Nathan and Harvey Nathan Diane Lipson Schilit and Howard Schilit Susan Brett and Rob Shesser Janet and Henry Waxman Jeffrey Yablon FAN ($175 - $449) Lisa and Diane Ables Babs and Rabbi A.N. Abramowitz Anonymous Alison Baraf and Aryeh Portnoy Karen and Barry Barbash Sanders H. Berk, MD and Sally Berk Paula Bienenfeld and Emlen Myers Debra Vodenos and Samuel Boxerman Debbie and Jeremy Brown Carmel and Barry Chiswick Dr. Lois K. Cohen Ellen Nissenbaum and

54

Jeffrey Colman Dave Connick Anne-Marie Deutsch and Steven Feldman Mark B. Feldman Debra and Marvin Feuer Stephanie Flack and Jason Weinstein Mindy Gasthalter Ann and Frank Gilbert Debra Goldberg and Seth Waxman Lynn Goldin and Henry Birnkrant Sandra Hoexter Gilbert Holland Alison Drucker and Tom Holzman Ronald Kaplan and Yoni Bock Sally Kaplan Alma and Sid Kaplan Helen and Gary Klein Sandy Kronsberg and Jerry Skalka Bill Levenson Devra C. Marcus Dorothy Moss and Lawrence Meyer Aubrey Cox and Joseph Ottenstein Peggy Parsons Dori Phaff and Dan Raviv Edna and Larry Povich Arlington Podiatry Center - Dr. Edward S. Pozarny Debby Prigal Linda Roth Lawrence Schleifer Debbie Schwartz Sandra Perlstein and Sidney Schwarz Sarah Pokempner and Jerry Levine Mr. and Mrs. Sidney J. Silver Margaret Hahn Stern and Stephen Stern Mindy Strelitz and Andrew Cornblatt Deborah Tannen and Michael Macovski Sheila Taube John Tolleris Martha Winter Gross and Robert Tracy Robin Hettleman and Matthew Weinberg Jill and Michael Weinstein Oliver Wolf Suzanne Wolk Rivka Yerushalmi

EDLAVITCH DCJCC FUND SUPPORT

Milton and Helen Covensky Fund The Samuel and Marlene Halperin Arts Fund Chaim Kempner Fund

The Harriet J. Neuman Endowment Fund

Max and Esther Ticktin Fund The Arthur Tracy “The Street Singer” Endowment Fund LEAD SUPPORT OF THE EDLAVITCH DCJCC IS PROVIDED BY

The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation

Susie and Michael Gelman, The Morningstar Foundation The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

Arlene and Robert Kogod, The Robert and Arlene Kogod Family Foundation

JxJ is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Listed as of March 19, 2019

MAJOR SPONSORS

THE MORRIS & GWENDOLYN CAFRITZ FOUNDATION

WASHINGTON DC

55

1529 Sixteenth Street NW Washington, DC 20036

JxJ STAFF Ilya Tovbis, Director Alexis Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Communications and Operations Carolyn Hoehner, Program Coordinator Elizabeth King, Production Coordinator Corinne Williams, Festival Logistics Coordinator Natasha Mirny, Box Office Manager Katherine Lim, Intern JxJ COUNCIL Sara Cohen, Chair Michele Berman Anne Clemons Morgan Genderson Dina Gold Margie Hoffman Anita Lampel Sid Moskowitz Manny Schiffres Barbara Silverstein Richard Solloway Diane Wattenberg EDLAVITCH DCJCC Jill Granader, President Carole R. Zawatsky, Chief Executive Officer Craig Mintz, Chief Financial Officer Bini W. Silver, Chief Operating Officer

m

Su s

ec

op

d ce

bly Prod ina u ta

rin t.c

Printed on recycled paperstock,

o in a facility free of carbon emissions.