It’s amazing that since I started this blog, I’ve written about the Westchester Jewish Film Festival nearly every year. It’s an event that I look forward to every year. Over the years, I’ve been inspired by so many films featured in the festival and I honestly wish I could attend every single one.
This year’s festival is no exception, featuring a broad range of films including an Israeli horror film, two Latin American Jewish films, music-themed movies, an Elaine May retrospective (with May herself joining IRL on May 31st), and more. It runs March 30th-April 20th, so you have plenty of time to catch a film in the series..or as many as you can take the time out to see.
I ‘m looking forward to seeing Presenting Princess Shaw, which kicks things off on Opening Night and was co-produced by Dobbs Ferry resident and JBFC’s Founder Steve Apkon. It’s the Cinderella story of an artistic collaboration between an Israeli remix artist, Kutiman, and an obscure, supremely talented New Orleans–based vocalist, Princess Shaw.
Highlights of the Westchester Jewish Film Festival
Fauda is a critically acclaimed hit Israeli TV show that you can’t see anywhere else in New York, is rarely screened in North America, and is destined for a US adaptation the same way that Homeland was reimagined for American television. Jacob Burns is screening the complete series over the course of three programs, each four episodes long, and they are holding a preview screening of the first four episodes as a WJFF pre-event on March 23.
I’m always drawn to films about the Holocaust, and this year they have a rich slate including a documentary called What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy and a film I have been anxious to see, Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah. There are films about Israel including its rich culinary scene called In Search of Israeli Cuisine, Censored Voices about the Six Day War and The Prime Ministers II: Soldiers and Peacemakers. Youth is a portrayal of the gritty realities the country faces, day in and day out.
Mamale features the Yiddish film actress, Molly Picon, and is a throwback to another era. I’m also really excited about the Elaine May retrospective, including Ishtar, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and The New Leaf. On March 31st, they are hosting a Q&A with Elaine May following the screening of Ishtar and a Q&A with actor Charles Grodin will precede the screening of The Heartbreak Kid on April 5th. And obviously I am looking forward to the intimate portrayal of one of my heroines, Nora Ephron, Everything is Copy.
When people think Jewish film, they don’t typically think Latin America, so it’s exciting to have two Spanish language films in this year’s festival: Mr. Kaplan, a comedy from director Alvaro Brechner, who’s been called the Uruguayan Woody Allen, and Papirosen, an Argentinian drama about family dynamics.
And for the kids, because we are culture moms, of course, the festival has some great programs for youth including Experimenter, about the Yale University-based social scientist Stanley Milgram who created the Milgram Shock Experiment, Junun, a musical journey from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, JeruZalem, a zombie horror film from Israel’s answer to the Coen Brothers, and Youth, about disillusioned youth in modern-day Israel.
How, where, when: You can see films from March 30-April 20. For complete schedule including screening times, dates and tickets, visit burnsfilmcenter.org or call 914-747-5555. Jacob Burns Film Center, 364 Manville Road, Pleasantville.
Disclosure: I partnered up with the Jacob Burns Film Center on this post but all opinions are my own.
Follow
Speak Your Mind