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These are the films that played during the 13th Annual Vancouver Jewish Film Festival. They are listed in alphabetical order.
Aimée & Jaguar
Drama, Germany, 1999, 35mm, 125 minutes
German w/ English subtitles
Directed by Max Färberböck
In 1943, while bombs are falling on Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the city of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women. One of them, Lily Wust (Juliane Köhler), married to a German soldier on active duty and mother of four sons, is the perfect German hausfrau. At first fascinated and confused, she is slowly seduced by Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), a Jewish member of the Underground. But Lily knows little about the enigmatic Felice, who disappears for days at a time without satisfactory explanation. The truth might bring them closer together or tear them apart. Based on a true story. See also Love Story, 1998 Vancouver Jewish Film Festival
All My Loved Ones (Vsichni moji blízcí)
Drama, Czech Republic, 1999, 35mm, 93 minutes
Czech w/ English subtitles
As the Nazi's move closer to Czechoslovakia, four brothers face the danger each in his own way. The focus of the story is the family of Jakub Silberstein (Josef Abraham) a respected doctor in the community. His blind faith in family unity threatens to prevent him from accepting the inevitable and taking the necessary action. The fact-based film is dedicated to Nicholas Winton, a British humanitarian who succeeded in rescuing hundreds of local Jewish children, including the film's writer, Karel Reisz.
Am I Still a Jew to You
Documentary, Canada, video, 9 minutes
Children of the Storm
Documentary, Canada, 2001, video, 95 minutes
Directed by Jack Kuper
Between 1947 and 1949, a total of 1,123-orphaned young Holocaust survivors arrived in Canada. These were children unlike any other children. They had already lost entire families and had witnessed the end of the world as they knew it. They were now being asked to accept new parents, new siblings, new schools, a new language, a new social structure and new identities. Overcoming broken hearts and spirits, depression, anxiety and fear, most of them blossomed into highly successful citizens, contributing to their adopted country in business, law, medicine, education, art and science.
Combinations
Documentary, Israel, video,
Hebrew w/ English Subtitles
Directed by Eran Livny
Combinations tells the story of teenage immigrants who come to Israel from Ethiopia, Morocco, Russia and many other countries, living together in a boarding school in Jerusalem. The film follows their background, difficulties and successes in their new home.
The Cross Inscribed in the Star of David
Documentary, TVP S.A., Poland, 1997, video, 27 minutes,
Polish w/ English subtitles
Directed by Grzegorz Linkowski
A compelling portrait of a man in search of his identity. On his 35th birthday, Father Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel, learned that he was a Jew saved from the Ghetto of Swieciany as an infant by a Christian woman. Now he must reconcile his Jewish roots with his life as an ordained Priest.
Dad on the Run (Cours Toujours)
Comedy, France, 2000, 35mm, 92 minutes
French w/ English subtitles
Directed by Dante Desarthe
A screwball comedy that mixes humour with religious allegory. Jonas (Clément Sibony) and Paco (Isaac Sharry) are best friends and professional Bar-Mitzvah musicians. Jonas has just become a father. Although an Ashkenazi himself, in an attempt to please his Sephardic wife, he decides to follow a North African custom and bury his newborn son's foreskin three days after the bris. Tired and forgetful after a long Bar-Mitzvah gig, Jonas dashes out late at night to complete the task but fate and farce intervene.
Drinkeleh Fresserkeh and the Angel's Foot Cake
Animated, Canada, 2001, video, 5:30 minutes
Yiddish w/ subtitles
Directed by Sharon Katz
Drinkeleh Fresserkeh decides to make a cake in the shape of an Angel's foot. The Angels take umbrage and the fun begins. Delightfully raucous modern Yiddish animation.
The Dybbuk
Drama, TVP S.A., Poland, 1999, Video, 90 minutes
Polish w/ English subtitles
Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Set in turn-of-the-century rural Poland, this classic story - based on the play by Szymon An-Ski - retells the famous Chassidic folktale of a wandering soul in search of an earthly host. The wrath of the spiritual world is unleashed when a matrimonial promise binding a yeshiva student and a young woman is betrayed by the girl's father. Using the power of the Kabala, the ancient Jewish practice of mysticism, the student conspires to free his own soul from his body and inhabit the form of his beloved.
Family Secret
Documentary, USA, 2000, video, 58 minutes
French and Romanian w/ English subtitles
Directed by Pola Rapaport
The film begins with the surprising discovery of an unknown brother - born in wartime Paris and raised in communist Romania while his sisters grew up in middle-class America, ignorant of their father's secret. Using black and white images, archival footage and video, the filmmaker assembles the pieces of her father's mysterious past. As she comes to know her foreign brother, we learn that the separation of time and distance often cannot overcome similarities in the looks and gestures, sense of humour and philosophies that relatives can share.
Fighter
Documentary, USA, 2000, 35mm, 91 min.
Directed by Amir Bar-Lev
Voted best documentary at this year's Newport International Film Festival. A psychological adventure unfolds as two friends, both Czech Jews persecuted by the Nazis, take a risky road trip into the past. Jan Weiner is a feisty 77-year-old who now lives in Massachusetts and still boxes despite his years. His travelling companion is Arnost Lustig, a professor and author who has decided to document his friend's life. Together they revisit scenes of humour and romance, of narrow escapes and deadly confrontations. But their journey home becomes a contentious clash of personalities that will ultimately take their friendship to the brink of collapse.
Finbar Lebowitz
Comedy, USA/Ireland, 2000, 35mm, 25 minutes
A simple, Irish labourer falls for a sarcastic, Jewish girl from who is working in her Uncle's Dublin bookstore. In an effort to win her over, he decides to convert to Judaism.
Hanele
Drama, Czech Republic, 1999, 35mm, 85 minutes,
Czech w/ English subtitles
Directed by Karel Kachyna
A tale of generational and ideological conflict set in an enclave of religious Jews in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine in the 1930's. Hanele rebels against her parent's religious rituals and customs and leaves for work in the big city. There she becomes involved in the growing Zionist movement and meets Ivo Karadzic, a secular Jew who has forsaken all spiritual belief. Soon, her unwillingness to return to the ways of her family threatens to split her home community. The latest film from acclaimed Czech film director Karel Kachyna (Loves Among Raindrops, Fany, The Cow)
Isa Kremer: The People's Diva
Documentary, USA, 2000, video, 56 minutes
Directed by Nina Baker Feinberg and Ted Schillinger
A charismatic stage performer who crisscrossed the world and was feted by princes, sultans and czars; a diva activist who confronted totalitarianism and despotism with her music; an internationally acclaimed artistic pioneer who sang in 24 languages and was the first woman to bring Yiddish songs to the world's concert stages, Isa Kremer has been almost forgotten - until now. In reclaiming Isa for posterity, the film takes us from her earliest years in pre-Revolutionary Russia through an eventful personal and professional life in Europe, the United States, and South America.
Israel Rocks!
Documentary, Netherlands, 2000, video, 55 minutes
Hebrew w/ English subtitles
Directed by Izzy Abrahami and Erga Netz
This new, award-winning film features some 20 singers, bands and choirs playing and singing in various styles: pop, rock, blues, folk and rap. Each one of the revealing songs in ISRAEL ROCKS! depicts the major problems and political complexities of life in Israel. Through listening to rocker Rabbi Tuvia Bolton who sings of the coming of the Messiah while Shalom Hanoch sings that the Messiah will never come, one can perceive the clash between religious and secular Jews. And through the songs of Palestinian pop singer Amal Murkus and the choir of the Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights, one can sense the struggle between the Israelis and Palestinians. Among other featured performers are: The Choir of The Disabled Army, Yemenite singer Marglit Tzanani, Absolut, a band made up of recent Russian immigrants, and world-famous singer Noa with her song "Homemade Religion."
Jazzman from the Gulag
Documentary, France/Netherlands, 1999, 58 minutes
English & Russian w/ subtitles
Directed by Pierre-Henry Salfati
This fascinating documentary retraces the life of the man nicknamed the "White Louis Armstrong" by Armstrong himself. Born Adolph Rosner in Poland, Eddie was a child prodigy in violin. Despite his classical training, he felt a strong affinity for American jazz, and eventually joined the famous German band, the Weintraubs Syncopators. When the Nazi's came to power, Jazz was declared "degenerate" and Rosner fled eastward to the Soviet Union. He was initially praised and enjoyed great popularity touring extensively in support of the war effort. But after the war, Stalin turned against all western influence; Rosner was accused of "rootless cosmopolitanism" and exiled to Siberia. The film utilizes rare documents and archival footage, and interviews with many of Rosner's contemporaries.
Key from Spain: Songs and Stories of Flory Jagoda
Documentary, USA, 2000, video, 40 minutes
Directed by Ankica Petrovic and Mischa Livingstone
According to legend, when the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, they took with them the keys to their homes and synagogues hoping that some day they would return. They never did, but their Spanish cultural heritage remained a powerful influence in their lives. In this uplifting tale of survival and continuity, acclaimed Sephardic folksinger, Flory Jagoda, tells her story and sings songs both old and new in Ladino, the tongue of her ancestors. Flory grew up on the outskirts of Sarajevo, Bosnia. Under the threat of Nazi persecution, she fled to the United States. Single-handedly she has revived the nearly forgotten musical traditions of her childhood.
Kippur
Drama, Israel/France, 35mm, 120 minutes
Hebrew w/ English subtitles
Directed by Amos Gitai
October 6, 1973. It is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. When war suddenly breaks out, Weintraub picks up his friend Ruso, and the two head off in a little Fiat sedan towards the front to meet their unit. Despite traffic jams and detours they finally arrive but their group is nowhere to be found. Eventually, they end up in a helicopter first aid unit assigned to retrieve wounded and shot down pilots. With Kippur, Gitai (Kadosh) has created a bloody and relentless anti-war film based on his own experiences as a veteran of the Yom Kippur War. The images are hyper-realistic, both during the at scenes, and the moments of frustration and tedium faced by the young, inexperienced soldiers. An astonishing and gritty film.
The Last Jewish Town
Documentary, Israel, 2000, video, 37 minutes
Directed by Gil Lesnik
At the beginning of the 18th century, the "mountain Jews" of north Azerbaijan were given a portion of land to run their lives according to Jewish tradition, without interference. Today, their descendants, numbering around 6000, live according to Sephardi tradition in the town of Kresnia Sloboda. The film vividly and poignantly captures their vanishing way of life.
Lisa
Drama, France, 2000, 35mm, 109 minutes
French w/ English subtitles
Directed by Pierre Grimblat
Sam, a Parisian filmmaker, wants to make a documentary on Sylvain Marceau, a reckless, womanizing young actor who mysteriously vanished during the German occupation of France 50 years earlier. Incredibly, he tracks down Lisa Maurin, whom he discovers was involved with Marceau before his disappearance. She's reluctant at first, but as she comes to trust Sam, she begins to share an incredible adventure and love affair of her youth. As the story unfolds, Sam discovers some startling similarities between himself and Lisa's Sylvain.
Make Me a Match
Documentary, USA, video, 76 minutes
Directed by Allen Mondell and Cynthia Salzman Mondell
Filled with hope and humour, trials and tribulations, this entertaining documentary captures the passion of Jewish singles looking for a match in today's America and the extent to which they will go to find a "catch." From Morristown, New Jersey to Crown Heights, Brooklyn to Dallas, Texas to San Diego, California, the film introduces viewers to diverse styles of matchmaking. Witness a rabbi and rebbetzin's probing questions as they interview prospective clients the "old style" (but with a laptop); sit-in on a round table session with 24-enthusiastic suburban matchmakers as they ponder the dating lives of their clients; see how singles are searching and finding their Jewish better halves over the Internet. A film that brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Have I got a nice Jewish boy/girl for you!"
Minyan In Kaifeng
Documentary, USA, 2001, video, 70 minutes
Written and Directed by Steven Calcote & Jonathan Shulman
Narrated by Leonard Nimoy
The last Rabbi of Kaifeng, China died well over a century ago. Now a group of modern Jewish expatriates seeks the remains of the ancient Jewish community that thrived there for hundreds of years. But, an unexpected gathering with the last descendants of the Kaifeng Jews transforms a celebration of Shabbat into an historical event. The arguments on identity and Diaspora that follow lead the Minyan to realize that their questions about the Jews of Kaifeng are also questions about themselves, and that these important questions have no easy answers.
Najeeb: A Persian Girl in America
Documentary, USA, 2000, video, 28 minutes
English and Persian w/ English subtitles
Directed by Tanaz Eshaghian
"Najeeb" is a humorous narrative documentary about one young woman's conflict with her traditional Iranian-Jewish family's determination to get her married...now that she's almost over the hill at 25!
The New Klezmorim
Documentary, Canada, 2000, 70 minutes
Directed by David Kaufman
A behind-the-scenes look at the 1998 KlezKanada Festival, a phenomenal gathering of international Klezmer musicians and singers. This engaging documentary features stellar performances and insightful interviews with some of the leading exponents of Yiddish music today: Michael Alpert, Alan Bern, Kurt Bjorling and Stuart Brotman (Brave Old World); Hankus Netsky (Klezmer Conservatory Band); Bruce Adler; Adrienne Cooper; Deborah Strauss; Jeff Warschauer and Josh Waletzky.
One Day Crossing
Drama, USA, 1999, 16mm, 25 minutes
Hungarian w/ English subtitles
Directed by Joan Stein
Budapest, October 1944. As the Hungarian Nazi movement Arrow Cross grows stronger, a young Jewish couple poses as Christians to protect their son.
Play for Me
Documentary, USA, 2001, video, 28 minutes
English and Russian w/ English subtitles.
Directed by Jeremy Macey
"Play for Me" (or "Shpilt Mir" in Yiddish), focuses on a recent Klezmer Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, to tell the story of the revival of Jewish folk music in the former Soviet Union. It includes interviews with and performances by the leading Jewish musicians in the region, as well as two Western musicians brought in as teachers.
Pola's March
Documentary, USA, 2001, video, 70 minutes
Directed by Jonathan Gruber
An inspirational documentary chronicling the emotional journey of Holocaust survivor Pola Susswein. Pola travels from Israel to Poland with 200 teenage students on the 'March of the Living' program, recounting the most intense experience of her life for the first time in fifty years. As the group visits Warsaw, Lublin and Krakow, as well as several notorious death camps, Pola struggles to relate and examine her past with extraordinary honesty, optimism and humility. Archival concentration camp footage is not used; rather the film relies on contemporary scenes for its emotional power. Pola's March is a film about one woman's triumph over her past, and a unique and compelling portrait of a survivor today.
The Purimspiel
Drama, Poland, 2000, video, 57 minutes,
Polish w/ English subtitles
Directed by Izabella Cywinska
A dark satire about mistaken identity and stereotypes. The story revolves around a poor but proud labourer in Lodz, Poland. He loves his Polish identity and makes anti-Semitic assertions proudly. His son belittles anyone different from himself. His supportive wife remains silent. One day, however, he learns a secret that turns his world upside down; there is a fortune to be inherited from a distant relative waiting for him in America, but first he must return to his roots.
Simon Magus
Drama, Great Britain, 1998, 35mm, 105 minutes
Directed by Ben Hopkins
Starring Noah Taylor (Shine), Ian Holm, Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner)
A fantastic, magical tale of a community and a character in crisis. Simon (Noah Taylor) lives in an isolated Jewish shtetle somewhere in central Europe during the nineteenth century. Disheveled and slightly mad, he's blamed for all the troubles that plague the community. Easily manipulated and beset by visions of the devil, he finds himself caught up in a conflict over ownership of a railway station that will affect both the shtetle and the nearby non- Jewish village. Hopkins brilliantly blends conflict and strife with a love story and social commentary.
Still (Stille)
Documentary, Canada, 2001, video, 25 minutes
Directed by Wendy Oberlander
Still (Stille) looks back to the world of assimilated European Jews during the 1930s. Sixty years after the exile, Wendy Oberlander returned with her mother to Berlin - only to find the dissonance of her family's diaspora playing in real time. Still (Stille) transforms a collection of archival footage into an indelible montage of faces, piecing together the filmmaker's inheritance from her mother's story.
Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness
Documentary, USA, video, 102 minutes
Directed by Robert Kirk
The Vancouver premiere of a remarkable, new feature-length documentary on Japanese diplomat, Chiune Sugihara. As a Japanese Consul in Lithuania, Sugihara risked his career and even his life by disobeying orders and writing exit visas for desperate Jewish families running from the approaching Nazi army. Incredibly, he single-handedly saved over 6000 Jews. The filmmakers achieved unprecedented access to Sugihara's family and their personal films, photos and papers, to create the definitive telling of this moving and inspirational story. The film also chronicles the fascinating relationship between the Japanese and the Jews during the 1930's and 40's. See also Visas and Virtue, 1998 Vancouver Jewish Film Festival.
See also Visas and Virtue, 1998 Vancouver Jewish Film Festival.
Timbrels & Torahs: Celebrating Women's Wisdom
Documentary, USA, 2000, video, 36 minutes
Directed and produced by Miriam Chaya and Judith Montell
A groundbreaking film documenting Simchat Hochmah - a new rite of passage for women marking the journey from midlife to the elder years. Follow the stories of three women as they enter a new stage of life and redefine themselves in the Simchat Hochmah ceremony. With pride they celebrate the aging process, their personal spiritual journey and the wisdom they have gained from living. The film features music by Debbie Friedman and interviews with noted scholar and author Savina Teubal, creator of the ritual, Blu Greenberg, Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell and author Marcia Cohn Spiegel.
The Travellers:This Land Is Your Land
Documentary, Canada, 2001, video, 75 minutes
Directed by Robert Cohen
The popular folk group, The Travellers, have been together in one form or another since 1952. The founding members, Jerry Goodis, Sid Dolgay, Jerry Gray and his sister Helen, were originally singers in the United Jewish Peoples Order (UJPO). With prodding from folk icon Pete Seeger, they made their debut as The Travellers at the Chelsea Club in Toronto in 1954. By 1957, they were appearing on CBC Television and had recorded their first album, 'Across Canada With The Travellers' which featured their signature song, a Canadian version of a Woodie Guthrie tune, "This Land is Your Land." The Travellers made groundbreaking impact on Canada's popular culture of the 1950's and 60's. Their rise from poor Jewish communist activists to Canadian musical ambassadors to the world has remained a hidden gem - until now.
Untying The Bonds: Jewish Divorce
Documentary, Canada, video, 40 minutes
By denying a "get" (Jewish divorce) a vindictive husband can effectively prevent his estranged wife from remarrying within the Jewish community. Although it can be argued that it was intended to provide a reasonable means of separation and renewal after divorce, in reality the halakhic (Jewish legal) system can also provide men with a means to subject a woman to emotional blackmail and marital limbo. Although not common, these incidents have been rising in number and have given impetus to a number of organizations in Canada and the US which provide support to agunot (women denied a Jewish divorce) and lobby for change. The film features and was written by Dr. Norma Baumel Joseph, who also consulted on the documentary, Half the Kingdom.
Vulcan Junction
Drama, Israel, 1999, 35mm, 98 minutes
Hebrew w/ English subtitles
Directed by Eran Riklis
A perceptive human drama from by the director of Zohar and Cup Final. Michael and Danny lead a rock band called the Genetic Code. They aspire to greatness, but play at the local pub owned by Jimmy Smith, a burned out ex-American. Avi hopes to play for the Ajax soccer team in Amsterdam. Dalia, his ambitious and bright girlfriend must choose between family and a career as journalist at a left wing newspaper. Vulcan Junction is a nostalgic trip back in time to the days just prior to the Yom Kippur war. The soundtrack features some of the best of 70's classic rock including Deep Purple, The Animals, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, and The Zombies.
Wanderings: Postcards from the Diaspora
Documentary, Canada, 2001, video, 52 minutes
Directed by Nikila Cole
"Wanderings" follows the travels of Vancouver filmmaker Nikila Cole and her 13-yr. old daughter Sarah, as they explore the remaining trails of 4,000 years of Jewish settlements throughout the Diaspora. Jewish communities in Asia, North America, the Caribbean, Europe, Spain and India are visited in a kind of travelling 'Bat Mitzvah.' The film provides entertaining and compelling insights into Jewish life around the world, and conveys a personal journey between mother and daughter.
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