2018 WJFF Winter Season

FILM at the EDCJCC WINTER 2018 SEASON

An Evening with Bernard-Henri Lévy

Renown French philosopher, activist, writer (The Genius of Judaism), and filmmaker Bernard-Henri Lévy offers a special presentation of his two most recent documentaries, Peshmerga and The Battle of Mosul.

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TWO TRAINS RUNNIN’

HUMOR ME

Dir. Sam Pollard | USA | 2016 Runtime: 82 min

Dir. Sam Hoffman | USA | 2016 Runtime: 86min

TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 7:30 PM

In June of 1964, hundreds of college students, eager to join the Civil Rights Movement, traveled to Mississippi, starting what would become known as Freedom Summer. That same month, two groups of young men—made up of musicians, college students, and record collectors—also traveled to Mississippi. Though neither group was aware of the other, each had come on the same errand: to find an old blues singer and coax him out of retirement.

Directed by Emmy and Academy Award nominated director and producer Sam Pollard, and narrated by Common.

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MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 7:30 PM A heartfelt father-son comedy about a struggling playwright who is forced to move in with his joke-telling dad in a New Jersey retirement community and learns, as his father often says, “life's going to happen, whether you smile or not.” Featuring Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Concords), Elliott Gould (MASH, The Long Goodbye), Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers), Annie Potts (Ghostbusters, Pretty in Pink), and singer Ingrid Michaelson.

Sam Hoffman’s directorial debut is inspired by the titular online project, which sparked an off-Broadway play, a bestselling book, and a lecture series.

In between the screenings, Lévy will join us for an in-depth conversation on the Kurdish will for a State and national independence; the current status of ISIS following the liberation of Mosul; and the role of foreign nations in this conflict.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23

(postponed from September 26) 6:15 PM — PESHMERGA

7:30 PM — BERNARD-HENRI LÉVY IN DISCUSSION

9:00 PM — THE BATTLE OF MOSUL

Battle of Mosul

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THE BATTLE OF MOSUL

PESHMERGA

The film opens on October 17, 2016, the first day of the battle to liberate Mosul from the Islamic State. It ends in mid-January 2017 with the complete liberation of the eastern half of the city, including the spot on the Tigris where the Prophet Jonah is buried, a place of significance for the three Abrahamic religions.

In 2015, Bernard-Henri Lévy sought to understand the psychology and culture of those embroiled with ISIS in the Middle East.

Dir. Bernard-Henri Lévy | France, Iraq | 2017 | Kurdish, Arabic, English and French w/English Subtitles | Runtime: 53min

Whether in the company of the Kurds or of the Iraqi Golden Division Special Forces, Bernard-Henri Lévy and his crew were present at every crucial step in the battle. Throughout the film, a question hangs in the air: will the imminent fall of the capital of the Islamic State spell its definitive defeat?

Dir. Bernard-Henri Lévy | France | 2016 | Kurdish, Arabic, English and French w/English Subtitles | Runtime: 92min

Accompanied by a team of cameramen, Lévy traveled over 650 miles of the frontline separating Iraqi Kurdistan from Islamic State troops. The Kurdish fighters he encounters in Mosul and the Sinjar Mountains demonstrate heroic resolve in their fight against jihadi fundamentalism, and relay unforgettable and harrowing stories that give human dimension to a conflict with immense global implications.

PASSES/TICKETS Single Ticket: $12* Winter Season Pass: $50 Year-Round Pass: $150**

TO PURCHASE Visit wjff.org, email boxoffice@wjff.org, or call 202-777-3250 4

THE YOUNG KARL MARX

FOXTROT

NAPLES ‘44

Dir. Raoul Peck | France | 2017 | Runtime: 118min

Dir. Samuel Maoz | Israel | 2017 | Runtime: 114min

Dir. Francesco Patierno | Italy | 2017 | Runtime: 80min

TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 7:30 PM

Fresh off the success of his James Baldwin documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, director Raoul Peck tackles the early days of the friendship between Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

From the smoky cafes of Paris, where nightly strategy sessions formed the basis of the Communist manifesto, to the socialist enclaves of London, where Marx, with Engels in tow, chose to live after the French authorities expelled him, Peck revels in the riveting world of ideas embodied in these two world-historical figures.

-Note adapted from the Vancouver International Film Festival

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 7:30 PM

Israel’s Official Submission for the 2018 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.

Michael (Lior Ashkenazi) and Dafna (Sarah Adler) experience gutwrenching grief when Army officials show up at their home to announce the death of their son, Jonathan, in this latest reflection on military culture from Israeli filmmaker Samuel Maoz (Lebanon).

Although there is a terrible tragedy at the heart of the film, Foxtrot contains many moments laced with mordant humor, irony, and sincere emotional connection.

-Note adapted from the Toronto International Film Festival

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 7:30 PM

Benedict Cumberbatch gives life to the words of British soldier Norman Lewis, whose remarkable memoir of post-World War II Naples form the basis for this haunting evocation of a ravaged land, and later a city of infinite charm.

Lewis entered Naples as part of an invasion of Nazi-occupied Italy, and records here his memories of that time—and his return many years later—with admirable warmth and wit. Filmmaker Francesco Patierno combines archival war footage with clips from movies set in Naples from the 1950s and 60s to evoke a city that suffered greatly during the war.

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