The Louisville Jewish Film Festival is showcasing a spectacular season featuring 17 top-rated, thought-provoking films including 7 short films. In addition, the festival will present 6 special event programs.

Our 26th season will open at the Trager Family JCC with the film Remembering Gene Wilder, an affectionate biographical documentary that displays the full measure of Gene Wilder’s gifts as a comedic actor of great depth, a writer, a director, and a mensch.  The film will be accompanied by a Willy Wonka themed reception at 7 p.m. with light hors d’oeuvres and scrumdiddlyumptious Wonka-style treats. Your Golden Ticket to the event includes a chance to win a gift card to Meesh Meesh, owned and operated by award-winning Chef Noam Bilitzer. The evening will feature a special recorded cameo appearance by comedian, Ariel Elias. Ms. Elias will talk about the value of humor, especially in tough times.

Schedule

February 3, 2024

March 1968 - Poland, 115 minutes

Apolitical students Hania and Janek fall in love in the midst of social turmoil and discrimination against Jews in 1960s Warsaw.  When Hania’s parents lose their jobs and are forced to emigrate, the couple participate in a protest rally where they discover the high cost of freedom.

Winner of Audience Award for Best Narrative at DC JxJ Film Festival, Winner of Audience Award for Best Feature at Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Audience Award for Best Narrative at Jewish International Film Festival Australia.

SHTTL - France, 109 minutes

In one unflinching shot, this story reveals a day in the life of a Yiddish Ukrainian village on the Polish border 24 hours before the Nazi invasion.  A filmmaker returns from Kyiv to his rural village to marry the love of his life, instead of the Rabbi’s daughter he is expected to wed.  The producers have fully reconstructed a traditional Shtetl outside of Kyiv, which they plan to turn into a museum.

Winner of Audience Award at Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Best Feature Film at Berlin Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Emerging Filmmaker Jury Prize at Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Audience Award at Cleveland International Film Festival.

Your ticket includes the virtual special event on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. A Zoom link will be sent to you prior to the event.

Anne Frank Gift Shop - United States, 15 minutes

When a high-end design firm presents its plan to reimagine the gift shop at The Anne Frank Haus, the company’s overt appeals to Generation Z spark a darkly comic debate about collective trauma, the Holocaust, and tote bags.

Winner of Best Short film at San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Fledge - Israel, France, 15 minutes

A folkloric fantasy based on Slavic mythology combined with a realistic coming-of-age story. Elina, an immigrant teenage girl has inherited from her grandmother a strange genetic quirk:  she starts to grow feathers. Now she must choose her one identity.

Winner of Grand Prix and Banjualuka International Animated Film Festival, Winner of Best Short Script at Nature Independent Film Festival.

Demon Box - Canada, 14 minutes

After getting rejected by several film festivals, Sean Wainsteim goes over everything that is wrong about his short Holocaust film. This film-within-a-film explores how young Jews today are still affected by generational trauma. (Suicidal content.)  

Winner of Best Short Film at GenreBlast Film Festival, Winner of Best Short Film at Seattle Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Best documentary of Nightmares Film Festival, 30 additional awards.

Remembering Gene Wilder - United States, 92 minutes - Trager Family JCC

Ron Frank’s affectionate biographical documentary displays the full measure of Gene Wilder’s gifts as a comedic actor of great depth, a writer, a director, and a mensch.  Told in part through Wilder’s own voice, from his audiobook recording of his memoir, the film offers generous helpings of clips from across Wilder’s career – The Producers, Willy Wonka, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and more – and poignant home movies from his marriage to Gilda Radner.

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Opening Night Film, Winner of Audience Award at Boston Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Best Documentary Feature at Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media Festival.  

The film will be accompanied by an opening night Willy Wonka themed reception at 7 p.m. with scrumdiddlyumptious Wonka style treats and light hors d’oeuvres. Your Golden Ticket to the event includes a chance to win a gift card to Meesh Meesh, owned and operated by award-winning Chef Noam Bilitzer. The evening will feature a special recorded cameo appearance by comedian, Ariel Elias. Ms. Elias will talk about the value of humor, especially in tough times.

Sponsored by Wilma Probst Levy

February 4, 2024

2:00 PM : June Zero - USA/Israel, 166 minutes at Baxter Avenue Theaters

Jake Paltrow’s historical drama captures a profound event in Israeli history. The aftermath of the Adolf Eichmann trial is examined through the experiences of three characters: a 13-year-old Libyan immigrant who works in the factory where Eichmann’s corpse in incinerated, a Moroccan guard assigned to protect the jailed Eichmann from vigilante justice, and a Polish survivor of Auschwitz who is the chief interrogator at the trial.

Winner of Jury Prize for Narrative Feature and Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.

Sponsored by Congregation Adath Jeshurun through a grant from the Jewish Heritage Fund and?Cantor David Lipp’s Discretionary fund.

February 7, 2024

SHTTL Virtual Event: A Conversation with Actor Saul Rubinek

Join us on Wednesday, February 7 at 7 p.m. as actor Saul Rubinek, who plays the Rabbi in SHTTL, will appear with Cantor David Lipp to discuss the film and his career. Rubinek was born in a displaced-persons camp in Allied-occupied Germany in 1948. The Rubinek family emigrated to Canada the following year. Rubinek has had a successful career as an actor in well-known films and television shows including Frasier and Warehouse 13 as well as most recently in the Amazon series, Hunters.

Your ticket for SHTTL includes this virtual special event. A Zoom link will be sent to you prior to the event.

About SHTTL - France, 109 minutes

In one unflinching shot, this story reveals a day in the life of a Yiddish Ukrainian village on the Polish border 24 hours before the Nazi invasion.  A filmmaker returns from Kyiv to his rural village to marry the love of his life, instead of the Rabbi’s daughter he is expected to wed.  The producers have fully reconstructed a traditional Shtetl outside of Kyiv, which they plan to turn into a museum.

Winner of Audience Award at Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Best Feature Film at Berlin Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Emerging Filmmaker Jury Prize at Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Audience Award at Cleveland International Film Festival.

February 8, 2024

7:00 pm : Bella - USA, 102 minutes at Baxter Theatre

In 1970, Bella Abzug challenged the Washington establishment boys’ club and, with her trademark hat and Bronx swagger, entered Congress swinging, battling for credit cards for women, LGBTQ rights, and other issues of diversity, despite pressures from the left and the right, the Nixon administration, the CIA, the FBI, even the New York Times.  Her struggles and successes are documented via never-before seen home movies, audio diaries, and newly discovered news footage.   

Winner of the Library of Congress Ken Burns Award, San Francisco Film Festival Closing Film.   

Immediately following the film, Kentucky State Senator Karen Berg and ACLU of Kentucky Executive Director Amber Duke will join us for a discussion about what it’s like to be a woman today, fighting for civil rights, women’s equality, LGBTQ+ rights and the road that Bella Abzug paved to get us where we are today.

Moderated by Solange Minstein, Community Outreach Chair of the Louisville Jewish Film Festival

Sponsored by Filson Historical Society and Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey and Susan Callen

February 10, 2024

7:30 pm – 9:30 pm : NEW this year, the festival is featuring a Shorts & Shots event at Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

This bourbon tasting and short film experience will be led by Executive Bourbon Steward, Phil Kollin. The evening will include four award winning and exceptional short films, a customized tasting experience including four topflight bourbon selections, a light food sampling of cheese and crackers and bourbon balls. Your ticket includes a special Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory souvenir and a guest pass to return to the Museum.

Sponsored by Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory

$36 per person
Must be 21 or older to attend this event.

February 11, 2024

Matchmaking - Israel, 96 minutes

Moti Bernstein is the perfect match for every bride – good looks, a good family, a good mind. In search of a wife, he meets the best girls in the Orthodox world, but he falls for the one girl he can never have. Against everything he knows and every value he holds dear, Moti is forced into the most unexpected and unusual of stratagems in his attempt to prove that love can conquer all.

The Boy - Israel, 25 minutes

Special note about the director of this film: On October 7th, Hamas terrorists burst into the film director’s bedroom in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. He fought the terrorists, allowing his wife and their one-month-old daughter to escape, but he was murdered.  

A father and his emotionally fragile son are forced to deal with yet another round of rockets aimed at their kibbutz bordering the Gaza strip. The son reaches a boiling point, and the father is forced to absorb the heat.

Winner of International Competition at Filmschoolfest Munich, Winner of Best Cinematography at Tel Aviv International Students Film Festival.

Heritage Day - United States, 20 minutes

Eight-year-old Evie becomes obsessed with pretending to be a Holocaust victim after dressing up as her estranged grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, for Heritage Day at her school. Inspired by a true event, this dark comedy explores the strife between mother and child.

Winner of Jury Award at Coronado Island Film Festival.

I Missed You at Synagogue - Israel, 12 minutes

When Carmel, a religious boy, finds his best friend Ido at his house, heartbroken from a recent break-up, Carmel realizes he has feelings for Ido that he doesn’t dare admit.

Sponsored by the Louisville Pride Foundation

Periphery - Canada, 27 minutes

This short film about the intersection of Jewish identity and ethnic, racial, sexual and cultural diversity within the Jewish community comprises interviews with people from a wide range of Jewish experience.

Official Selection of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Official Selection of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, Official Selection of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival.

Closed Circuit - Israel, 53 minutes

On June 8, 2016, two well-clad terrorists opened fire at a popular café in Tel Aviv, and murdered four people.  Actual footage taken from security cameras is interspersed with testimonies from survivors, both Jewish and Palestinian.  Produced by Nancy Spielberg, this gritty film deconstructs the events and examines the trauma shared by the victims.

Winner of Promising Young Filmmaker at Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg.

February 15, 2024

7:00 pm : The Checkpoint Women: Memories - Israel, 60 minutes at Baxter Theatre

Free

A group of Israeli women established Checkpoint Watch to guard the human rights of those passing through the checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank, documenting on film their interactions with the soldiers and their advocacy for the people who need to make the crossing.

Immediately following the film, Dr. Ranen Omer-Sherman, JHFE Endowed Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Louisville and Matt Golden, Director of Jewish Community Relations Council, will lead our audience through a thoughtful discussion surrounding the film.

February 17, 2024

7:30 pm – 9:30 pm : My Neighbor Adolf - Israel,Poland, 96 minutes at the Trager Family JCC

In 1960, Polsky, a lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor, lives in the remote South American countryside. Just after Adolf Eichmann is captured in Argentina, a mysterious old German man moves in next door, and Polsky becomes convinced that his new neighbor is actually Adolf Hitler.  In order to gather evidence against him, Polsky must befriend the man.

Winner of Special Jury Award at Mykolaichuk Open Audience Film Festival. Winner of Best Fiction Film at Mystic Film Festival.  

Immediately following the film, Director Leon Prudovsky will join us on video for a special Q&A session. Mr. Prudovsky is an Israeli screenwriter and director. He graduated from The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television (Tel Aviv University) with his short film Dark Night, which was voted finalist at the Student Academy Awards and received Special Mention at the Venice Film Festival. His feature film debut Five Hours from Paris won several international prizes, including the Best Film awards at the Haifa Film Festival and Napoli Film Festival. My Neighbor Adolf is Leon’s second feature film.

Moderated by Dr. Asaf Angermann, Assistant Professor Term of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at University of Louisville

February 18, 2024

5:00 pm : Seven Blessings - Israel, 108 minutes at The Speed Cinema

Marie was two years old when she was given to her barren aunt, a common custom of Moroccan Jews at the time.  Forty years later, Marie returns from France to marry, and is walked down the aisle by both of her mothers.  During the Seven Blessings tradition, a week of festive meals in honor of the bride, old wounds and secrets surface and the celebration turns into a bittersweet explosion of food, family drama, and belated forgiveness.

Winner of 10 Israeli Film Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Tickets are $12.
Student tickets are $5. (must be purchased on site on the day of the film)

Date: February 3, 2024 – February 18, 2024

Location: Various Venues in Louisville, KY and Online

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