The 27th annual Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival is scheduled for Oct. 27-31 at Marcus North Shore Cinema in Mequon.
Tickets for community screenings are $12 per person; stream-at-home viewing is $18 per household. All films will be available for at-home streaming Nov. 4-10 on Eventive, a website built for viewing independent movies.
A $200 “VIP” package is also available, providing access to all showings and platforms. To purchase tickets, visit jccmilwaukee.org/filmfestival or visit the JCC table that will be located inside the Marcus North Shore Cinema beginning one hour prior to each movie. Tickets are not available for purchase directly through the theater.
The Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival is a program of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, with support from the Marcus Theatre Department of the Marcus Corporation; the Shel and Danni Gendelman Endowment Fund; and the Sylvia and Robert Seinfeld Jewish Film Festival Endowment Fund. The festival co-chairs are Cindy Benjamin and Ronna Bromberg Pachefsky.
Here are this year’s films:
Running on Sand
Sunday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.
2023; Italy and France; Hebrew, English, Tigrinya with English subtitles; 104 minutes; Director: Adar Shafran
In this feel-good story of resilience and belonging, a young Eritrean refugee on the brink of deportation is mistaken for a professional soccer player, bringing hope to a struggling Israeli team. Dodging immigration authorities at the airport, asylum seeker Aumari is erroneously assumed by Maccabi Netanya soccer fans to be a Nigerian soccer star. This Israeli Academy Award Best Film nominee sweetly melds humor and heart, shedding light on the unseen and unheard in Israeli society.
Talkback: Noa Gerrasi, community shaliach, Israel Center, Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
Sponsored by the Shel & Danni Gendelman Endowment Fund
Shown in cooperation with the Israeli Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation
The Blond Boy from the Casbah
Monday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m.
2023; France; French with English subtitles; 126 minutes; Director: Alexandre Arcady
Passionate filmmaker Antoine travels to his birthplace, Algiers, with his young son to present his new film: an account of his childhood in Algeria during the country’s civil war in the 1960s. As he wanders through the city, the filmmaker immerses us in moments of happiness, laughter and tears from his youth—spent between school, friends, and his Jewish family.
Talkback: Rachel Baum, deputy director of the Sam & Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies, and Jody Hirsh, former director of Jewish education, Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC.
Here Lived
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m .
2023; Netherlands; English; 81 minutes; Director: Jane Wells
German conceptual artist Gunter Demnig’s Stolpersteine (“stumbling stones”) project provides a pathway to heal one of the most egregious wrongs of history and foster reconciliation throughout Europe. Each of the 100,000 stones in 30 countries honors the story of a person murdered by Nazis, with the stone placed in the location they were killed. One artist’s vision for healing has become the world’s largest decentralized memorial to victims of Nazi atrocities.
Talkback: Sam Goldberg, Director of Education, Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center.
Shown in cooperation with HERC.
Seven Blessings
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.
2023; Israel; Hebrew, Arabic, French and French Moroccan with English subtitles; 108 minutes; Director: Ayelet Menahemi
In Israel’s official entry for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, Ayelet Menahemi’s “Seven Blessings” revolves around an eventful Jewish Moroccan family wedding. Behind a facade of joie de vivre and togetherness, there are secrets, lies, and a painful old wound that forces them to confront the past while wrecking the present, all entwined in this acclaimed story about fury, forgiveness and food. Added to the mix is a joyous comedy of errors and misinterpretation by numerous members of the family speaking multiple languages, spanning Hebrew, Arabic, French, and the French Moroccan dialect. Seven Blessings won big at last year’s Israel Academy Awards (Ophirs), sweeping the awards ceremony by taking home the Best Picture Award and triumphing in nine additional categories.
Talkback: Noa Gerassi, community shaliach, Israel Center, Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
Shown in cooperation with the Israel Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation
Auction
Thursday, Oct. 31 • 7 p.m.
2024; France; French with English subtitles; 91 minutes; Director: Pascal Bonitzer
André Masson, an auctioneer, learns the whereabouts of a long-lost painting by Egon Schiele. The painting turns out to be a masterpiece that went missing in 1939. The discovery could be a turning point in Masson’s career, but after a brief investigation, he realizes that he’s in possession of a looted work of art.
Talkback: Tanya Paul, Isabel & Alred Bader curator of European Art, Milwaukee Art Museum, and Samantha Abramson, executive director, Nathan & Esther Pelz HERC.
Shown in cooperation with HERC.
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