Welcome to the 12th Annual Sabes JCC (Minneapolis) Festival of Jewish Film

As current events this year leave us a little unsettled, our Jewish Film Festival affords us a special opportunity to celebrate all that is positive in Jewish culture and faith. We gather to explore many important areas of the Jewish experience. Whether or not you are Jewish you will be delighted by the cinematography, music and stories, and you will be engaged by the variety of topics.

This year we are especially thrilled to be presenting the Minneapolis premier of Nowhere in Africa, Golden Globe nominee for best foreign film. Documentaries, Shanghai Ghetto and Secret Lives, both playing to packed houses on the coasts, will also have their local premiers.

Additionally, we are presenting a seven-film Israeli Mini Festival that features an Israeli newspaper reporter who is the only Jew living in Ramallah (Between the Lines), the Wolgin Award winning feature about immigrant labor (Foreign Sister), a hot jazzy doc about the concept of time in Israel (It’s About Time) and a motley street gang that creates theater in the raucous film It Kinda Scares Me.

We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from sponsors. With this help we have been able to acquire great films, invite guests and arrange special events during the festival. Thanks to the enthusiasm of our wonderful sister organizations, our audience is growing. Festival attendance tripled last year! The festival is truly an exciting, ongoing community event. If this is your first festival, thanks for taking the time to check us out.

Walter Elias
Sabes JCC Festival of Jewish Film Committee Chair