BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
Amherst Dipson Theatre,
3500 Main Street, Buffalo NY 14216
Facebook www.facebook.com/BIJFF
The 33rd annual Buffalo International Jewish Film Festival – the third longest running festival of its kind in North America – will present 12 award-winning and critically acclaimed films from around the world including Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, India, Israel, Poland, Sweden and the United States.
33rd annual Buffalo International Jewish Film Festival
March 9-15
2017-2018 Season
A tale of love and darkness
by Natalie Portman
Sunday, March 11 | 8:00 pm
Tuesday, March 13 | 3:30 pm
This story chronicles the life of a remarkable woman who traveled from a tiny Russian village to the Warsaw Ghetto, to a ship called The Exodus, and finally to the boardwalks of Atlantic City, the Arizona Canyons, and salsa-flavored nights in Miami Beach. ROSE, by the author of Bent and played by Olympia Dukakis at the Royal National Theatre in London and at New York’s Lincoln Center, is a vivid portrait of a feisty Jewish woman, and a reminder of events that shaped the 20th century.
Across the waters
by Nicolo Donato
Monday, March 12 | 8:00 pm
Thursday, March 15 | 6:00 pm
Unsure of whom they can trust, a Jewish musician and his family make a frantic escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark, in ACROSS THE WATERS, a gripping story of survival and rescue.
Enjoying the nightlife of 1943 Copenhagen, jazz guitarist Arne Itkin is seemingly immune to the hardships of war, as the Danish government opts for a compliant relationship with Nazi Germany. He is initially skeptical when his terrified wife Miriam hears rumors of the round-up and deportation of Danish Jews. However, an overnight raid forces the couple to flee their home with five-year-old son Jakob. Aided by a church pastor and underground resistance, they set out on a journey for the fishing village of Gilleleje, where refugees await passage to Sweden by boat. Amidst lurking danger from the Gestapo and their collaborators, the family puts its fate in the hands of strangers whose allegiance and motives are not always clear.
Based on true events, ACROSS THE WATERS is directed and co-written by Nicolo Donato, whose own grandfather was among the courageous Danish fishermen to ferry war refugees to safety.
FEVer at dawn
by peter gardos
Sunday, March 11 | 3:30 pm
Tuesday, March 13 | 8:00 pm
In 1945, after having been freed from a concentration camp, a 25-year-old Hungarian man, Miklós, is being treated at a Swedish hospital in a displaced persons center. The doctors diagnose him with a severe lung disease and tell him that he has no more than six months to live. But he refuses to give up, and wants to find a wife with whom he can start a new life. He sends letters to 117 Hungarian girls who are also being treated in Sweden. One of the girls is 19-year-old Lili, who likes Miklós’s letter, and they start corresponding.
Based on the novel Fever at Dawn.
harmonia
by ori sivan
Sunday, March 11 | 8:00 pm
Tuesday, March 13 | 3:30 pm
This story chronicles the life of a remarkable woman who traveled from a tiny Russian village to the Warsaw Ghetto, to a ship called The Exodus, and finally to the boardwalks of Atlantic City, the Arizona Canyons, and salsa-flavored nights in Miami Beach. ROSE, by the author of Bent and played by Olympia Dukakis at the Royal National Theatre in London and at New York’s Lincoln Center, is a vivid portrait of a feisty Jewish woman, and a reminder of events that shaped the 20th century.
how to ride an ELEVATOR on shabbat
by sal natale
(Preceding Menashe)
Sunday, March 11 | 6:00 pm
Wednesday, March 14 | 8:00 pm
Buffalo filmmaker Salvatore Natale produced this short about the conflicted life of a gay Hasidic Jewish man while he was participating in the Jerusalem Film Workshop last summer.
Salvatore Natale graduated in Spring 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in media study from UB. He created Film Lyfe to help people learn filmmaking through an online youtube community. Natale says he learned most of his filmmaking tips and tricks during his undergrad degree from YouTube creators.
the last laugh
by ferne perlstein
Friday, March 9 | 3:30 pm
Thursday, March 15 | 3:30 pm
Humor is tragedy plus time. – Mark Twain
Using the scope of the Holocaust, filmmaker Ferne Pearlstein examines what subjects are “off-limits” in comedy. Includes famous comics Mel Brooks, Rob Reiner, Carl Reiner, David Steinberg, Sarah Silverman, Judy Gold, and Gilbert Gottfried.
The Last Laugh takes a fresh – and unexpectedly funny – approach to sensitive subject matter, uncovering affecting insights about the nature of comedy along the way.
menashe
by Joshua Z. Weinstein
(Preceded by HOW TO RIDE AN ELEVATOR ON SHABBAT)
Sunday, March 11 | 6:00 pm
Wednesday, March 14 | 8:00 pm
Menashe, a widower, lives and works within the Hasidic community of Borough Park, Brooklyn. Since his wife passed away a year before, he has been trying hard to regain custody of his nine-year-old son, Rieven. But the rabbi (and all the community behind him) will not hear of this unless he remarries, which Menashe does not want.
A tender drama performed entirely in Yiddish, the film intimately explores the nature of faith and the price of parenthood.
my hero brother
by yontan nir
Monday, March 12 | 6:00 pm
Wednesday, March 14 | 6:00 pm
A group of remarkable young people with Down syndrome embark on a demanding trek through the India Himalayas, accompanied by their ‘typical’ brothers and sisters. Unresolved conflicts and the complexities of growing up with a child with Down syndrome in the family come to surface, while a heart-warming and special closeness develops among the siblings as they deal with formidable physical and emotional challenges. The difficult trials and poignant relationships, set against the richly colorful backdrop of India, open new horizons and greatly deepen our understanding of special needs people and their families.
raise the roof
by Yari & Cary Wolinsky
Sunday, March 11 | 1:00pm
Tuesday, March 13 | 1:00 pm
Inspired by images of the magnificent wooden synagogues of 18th century Poland, the last of which were destroyed by the Nazis, artists Rick and Laura Brown of Handshouse Studio set out to reconstruct a replica of the stunning, mural-covered Gwozdziec Synagogue. Working with a team of 300 artisans and students from around the world, using only period hand tools and techniques, the Browns finally realized their dream.
Filmmakers Yari and Cary Wolinsky’s beautifully photographed and rendered film Raise The Roof tells the story of this remarkable 10-year project against the backdrop of the 1000 year history of Jews in Poland.
rosenwald
by aviva kempner
Monday, March 12 | 3:30 pm
Wednesday, March 14 | 1:00 pm
Aviva Kempner’s Rosenwald is the incredible story of Julius Rosenwald, who never finished high school, but rose to become the President of Sears, Roebuck & Company. Influenced by the writings of the educator Booker T. Washington, this Jewish philanthropist joined forces with African American communities during the Jim Crow South to build more than 5,300 schools during the early part of the 20th century.
Inspired by the Jewish ideals of tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam (repairing the world) and a deep concern over racial inequality in America, Julius Rosenwald used his wealth to become one of America’s most effective philanthropists. Because of his modesty, Rosenwald’s philanthropy and social activism are not well known today. He gave away $62 million in his lifetime.
SHalom bollywood
by Danny Ben-Moshe
Saturday, March 3 | 7:00 pm (Special Screening at Kick-off Party Fundraiser)
Monday, March 12 | 1:00 pm
Wednesday, March 14 | 3:30 pm
When Australian filmmaker Danny Ben-Moshe read an obituary of renowned Hindi film actress Nadira in 2006, he discovered that her real name was Florence Ezekiel. Further research revealed that Nadira was part of a long tradition of Jewish women and men who changed their names after entering the movie trade in Bombay, India, – later to be celebrated as Bollywood. Many of the actors were Baghdadi Jews, who traced their origins to Iraq. These women were the first to act in Indian films, at a great risk to their reputation, at a time when the participation of women in performing arts was taboo. During the silent era, most of India’s female film stars were Jewish.
Ben-Moshe’s exhilarating documentary Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema revisits this fascinating chapter in Indian film history.
the testament
by Amichai Greenberg
Tuesday, March 13 | 6:00 pm
Thursday, March 15 | 8:00 pm
Yoel, a senior Holocaust researcher, is in the midst of a widely publicized legal battle with powerful forces in Austria, concerning a brutal massacre of Jews that took place toward the end of WWII in the village of Lensdorf. An influential family of industrialists on whose land the murder took place is planning to build a real estate project on the very same land.
Yoel suspects that their aim is to bury the affair for good, but has trouble finding the conclusive evidence that would stop the project. During his investigation, he also hears classified testimonies of Holocaust survivors, and to his shock and surprise, his mother is among them. A mystery about a man who is willing to risk everything to discover the truth