ONLINE SALES HAVE ENDED FOR THE ALL FESTIVAL PASS. PLEASE PURCHASE A PASS AT ANY FILMS IN THE FESTIVAL!

The All Festival Pass enables the passionate film-goer a spectacular Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival experience! This non-transferable pass includes:
-One ticket for all festival films
-Admittance to all special events and receptions
-Acknowledgement in select festival publicity
-VALUE: $126

Please only choose the shipping option if there are three (3) business days before the first film you plan to attend.

ONLINE SALES HAVE ENDED FOR FIVE FILM PASSES. PLEASE PURCHASE FIVE FILM PASSES AT THE BOX OFFICE PRIOR TO ANY FILM DURING THE FESTIVAL!

Save $5 on 5 films!
5-FILM Passes are currently available for purchase online, and will also be available for purchase at the box office at each film location. 5-FILM passes are transferable, and can be used by five people at one film, or by one person at five films, etc. Seating is not guaranteed with this pass; passholders must still visit the box office at each film with their 5-FILM pass to obtain a punch in the pass, and a ticket for each specific film. Not valid for the closing night film or reception at the Walker Art Center.

Please only choose the shipping option if there are three (3) days before the first film that you plan to attend.

Pigeon (Short)
Director: Anthony Green
Canada, 2006
11 minutes
English/German

It only takes one moment and a perfect stranger... to change a life forever.
Set during World War II and based on a true story, Pigeon recounts a rare and startling act of charity. Sumptuously shot and emotionally affecting, Anthony Green’s short drama features Academy Award nominee Michael Lerner and Canadian treasure Wendy Crewson.

A Secret (Un Secret)
Director: Claude Miller
France, 2007
110 minutes
French with English Subtitles

Lavishly adapted from the award-winning autobiographical novel by Philippe Grimbert, A Secret is the haunting saga of a Parisian Jewish family torn apart by passion and shame during World War II. Shifting between events past and present, the story centers on François (played by two child actors and Mattieu Amalric) who seeks the painful truth about both his own identity and the identity of his detached, aristocratic parents (erotically-charged performances by Cécile de France and Patrick Brue). Not until a family friend (Julie Depardieu) shatters the illusion of an idyllic childhood can François decode the family tragedy that unfolded under Nazi occupation. Flawlessly directed by Claude Miller, A Secret is a harrowing drama that raises questions about collective memory and the consequences of denial. (Summary courtesy of Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, 2009)

Director: Michal Goldman
USA, 2008
57 minutes
English

A home of one’s own: that’s the American dream.

At Home in Utopia traces the fascinating history of the United Workers Cooperative Colony—a.k.a. “The Coops”—one of four cooperative apartments built in the Bronx in the 1920s by visionary Jewish garment workers. Goldman’s documentary is a portrait of secular Jewish values, Black-Jewish integration, Communists and immigrants catapulting out of tenement life.

In the mid-1920s, thousands of immigrant Jewish garment workers managed to catapult themselves out of urban slums and ghettos by pooling their resources and building four cooperatively owned and run apartment complexes in the Bronx. They believed that owning one’s home went a long way toward controlling one’s fate. At Home in Utopia focuses on the United Workers Cooperative Colony – aka the Coops – the most grass-roots and member-driven of the Jewish labor housing cooperatives, where many of the residents were Communists. It seemed they would live their dream, until they were slammed by the Great Depression. They could no longer pay their mortgage. They believed they were watching the death of capitalism. And in its death throes, they saw opportunity: they would change America. In the 1930s they opted to racially integrate their own cooperative house. An epic tale of the struggle for equity and justice across two generations, the film tracks the rise and fall of one community from the 1920s into the 1950s, paying close attention to the passions that bound them together and those that tore them apart. Along the way, At Home in Utopia bears witness to lives lived with courage across the barriers of race, language, and sometimes even common sense. History may not repeat itself, but given the current economic melt-down and the recent presidential election, the story of the Coops has powerful echoes today.

At Home in Utopia will be introduced by Riv-Ellen Prell. Riv-Ellen Prell, an anthropologist, is Professor of American Studies and affiliated with the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of many books and articles about American Jewish life, and most recently edited Women Remaking American Judaism.

Ellen Brodsky, Co-producer of At Home in Utopia will be present to discuss the making and background of the film.

After spending ten years working in public health and education. Brodsky has co-produced several short films including, Dental Farmer an award-winning 15-minute documentary about a free dental clinic on an organic farm in West Virginia. She is currently working on a short about two three year-olds and how they fight and make peace.

Director: Jamie Kastner
Canada, 2007
82 minutes
English

At once a mischievous provocation and a thoughtful essay, Kike Like Me is filmmaker Jamie Kastner's idiosyncratic exploration of what it means to be perceived as Jewish in the world today. Kastner receives a shotgun bar mitzvah from Hasids in Brooklyn, and gets kicked out of Pat Buchanan's Virginia mansion. He causes a near-riot in a Parisian suburb simply by asking what people think about Jews. He meets the "dominatrix" behind Berlin's largest memorial to dead Jews, and enjoys lunch at the hot dog stand at Auschwitz. This film is as apt to make you cry as laugh in its unique, surprising and universal revelations about identity. (Summary courtesy of the Washington Jewish Film Festival, 2008)

A discussion panel, featuring Professor Rick McCormick and a number of speakers from the University of Minnesota, will follow the film. 

Mike's Hike (Short)

A blind hiker's journey on the Appalachian Trail. Mike Hanson’s journey started with training at the Jewish Community Center, and will end atop Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

After the film, Mike Hanson will be discussing his trek along the Appalachian Trail.

Circumcise Me: The Comedy of Yisroel Campbell

Director: David Blumenfeld and Matthew Kalman
USA, 2007
48 minutes
English

“Is it hot in here, or am I the only one dressed for Poland in the 17th Century?” Hasidic comedian Yisrael Campbell was not always one of the funniest Jews in Israel. In fact, he started out as Chris Campbell, son of an ex-nun and a Catholic schoolteacher, growing up in Philadelphia. After three conversions to Judaism—Reform, Conservative and finally Orthodox—he found what he had always been in search of: a religion he believed in and a plethora of material for his stand-up comedy routine. (Summary courtesy of the Washington Jewish Film Festival, 2008)

Rabbi Sim Glaser will introduce this film with his own stand-up routine!  And following the film, he will lead a discussion titled: "What are you laughing at?  Reflections on Jewish Humor".

Wednesday, March 11 at 8:15pm
Sabes Jewish Community Center

Welcome the Stranger (Postville Short)
Presented by Jewish Community Action

Director: Steven Date
USA, 2009
15 minutes
English and Spanish with English subtitles

On May 12, 2008, approximately 900 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) agents entered the Agriprocessors Kosher Meatpacking Plant in the small town of Postville, Iowa and arrested nearly 400 workers. Instead of charging the undocumented workers with immigration violations, for the first time, many were charged with felonies and sentenced to 5 month prison terms plus deportation.

On July 27, 2008 Jewish Community Action, along with the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (Chicago) and St. Bridget Catholic Church (Postville), led a rally in Postville calling for immigrant and worker rights, in solidarity with those affected by the immigration raid.

Welcome the Stranger, a film currently in production by MinnPost videojournalist Steve Date and Jewish Community Action takes you to the rally in Postville to see and hear Rabbis, Christian clergy, workers and their families come together in support of worker and immigrant rights. Welcome the Stranger will explore the impact of the raid on the town and define the issues confronting workers and immigrants not only in Postville, but all over the United States.

Strangers

Director: Erez Tadmor, Guy Nattiv
Israel, 2007
85 minutes
Arabic, English, French, and Hebrew with English subtitles

An accidental meeting sparks an improbable romance linking an Israeli kibbutznik and a Palestinian woman in this critically-acclaimed exploration of nationality and the heart. Eyal and Rana (superb improvisation by actors Liron Levo and Lubna Azabal) meet serendipitously on their way to the World Cup Soccer Finals in Berlin after their bags are mistakenly swapped. A quick magnetic glance on a subway soon becomes an unbreakable bond, even as war in their homeland tests loyalties. Innovatively filmed with handheld cameras and unscripted performances, Strangers presents a strikingly realistic treatment of a complex relationship in which politics and personalities collide. (Summary courtesy of Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, 2009)

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival

Director: Laura Bialis
United States, 2007
112 minutes
English/Russian/Hebrew

Refusenik is the first retrospective documentary to chronicle the thirty-year movement to free Soviet Jews. It shows how a small grassroots effort bold enough to take on a Cold War superpower blossomed into an international human rights campaign that engaged the disempowered and world leaders alike. Told through the eyes of activists on both sides of the Iron Curtain—many of whom survived punishment in Soviet Gulag labor camps—the film is a tapestry of first-person accounts of heroism, sacrifice, and ultimately, liberation.

Much of the material used in Refusenik is unique and exclusive to this film. Interviews with key leaders in the movement are some of the first ever to be recorded. Many of the photographs and covert film footage—some of it smuggled out of the Soviet Union—have never been seen before by a large audience, and help make Refusenik a unique portrait of this amazing story.

This film will be introduced by Soviet Jewry activist Pat Kaplan.  Following the film will be a discussion with Vladimir Posse, professor of History.  Russian refreshments will be served.

Program will be translated into Russian.

Director: Ran Tal
Israel, 2007
70 minutes
Hebrew with English subtitles

Children of the first kibbutzim in Israel were born in the early 20th century to youthful parents, full of hope. They have been called “Children of the Sun”, because they considered them children of the “Sun of Nations” Revolution in Israel. They were born into a utopia and were destined to become the “New Man”. They were educated in an ideological society that aspired to replace the traditional family with the collective one, to subjugate the will of the individual in favor of the common good and a life of equality.

Children of the Sun tells the story of the journey in search of a society's memory and the concepts that have passed from the world. The film is a collage comprised of over eighty amateur films including rare footage that was shot at the kibbutzim between 1930 and 1970, rare recordings and conversations with family and friends.

The tapestry of raw materials from which the film is compiled creates both a very personal and very public story, a form of super story about one of the most fascinating myths of the Zionist movement in the Land of Israel.

Director: Barak & Tomer Heymann
Israel, 2006
55 minutes
Hebrew, Druze, and Arabic with English subtitles

In 2004, two years after the resurge of the Second Intifada riots, a group of Arab and Jewish parents decide to establish a joint bi-national, bi-lingual school in the Arab Ara village, a village in Israel`s Wadi. Some fierce debates preceded the opening of the school in September of that year. Although the initiative was idealistic and noble, the reality of it was that parents still had some major hurdles to overcome. In addition, they were forced to defend their decision in the face of opponents and skeptics. The school, which is called "Bridge over the Wadi", has room for 50 Jewish and 50 Arab students, but is located in the Arab part of the valley. In a sober manner, the filmmakers observe how students, faculty and parents struggle to coexist peacefully during the exciting first year, showing how fragile the attempt is to create an environment of co-existence against the backdrop of the complicated reality. By the end of the year, it would appear that they have succeeded in establishing a foundation, however shaky and unpredictable it may be. In 2005, twice as many students signed up to attend the school.

Film will be followed by a panel discussion including teens involved in Muslim-Jewish dialogue.

Circumcise Me: The Comedy of Yisroel Campbell

Director: David Blumenfeld and Matthew Kalman
USA, 2007
48 minutes
English

“Is it hot in here, or am I the only one dressed for Poland in the 17th Century?” Hasidic comedian Yisrael Campbell was not always one of the funniest Jews in Israel. In fact, he started out as Chris Campbell, son of an ex-nun and a Catholic schoolteacher, growing up in Philadelphia. After three conversions to Judaism—Reform, Conservative and finally Orthodox—he found what he had always been in search of: a religion he believed in and a plethora of material for his stand-up comedy routine. Currently starring in a one-man, off-Broadway show It’s Not in Heaven, Yisroel will have us laughing at the truth, both in the film and live on stage when the lights come up. (Summary courtesy of the Washington Jewish Film Festival, 2008)

Berated Woman (Short)

Director: Anya Meksin
USA
14.5 minutes
English

An Orthodox Jewish woman finds herself strangely attracted to the Aryan Supermom bent on converting her to Christianity. Both women want something from the other, but what is each willing to sacrifice to achieve her goals?

Miri Talmon-Bohm will be present to introduce The Secrets and to give a teaser of her talk for Noodle at the Closing Night Reception.

Director: Yishai Orian
Israel, 2008
70 minutes
Hebrew and Arabic with English Subtitles

Director: Barak Heymann
Israel
50 minutes
Hebrew, Spanish, French, and Moroccan with English subtitles

Filmmaker Barak Heymann’s Dancing Alfonso follows a Tel Aviv senior citizen leading a dramatic life. Alfonso, the lead dancer in a flamenco class with an average age of 75, uses dance to express the alternating emotions of hope and rage of a man on the cusp of losing his wife to illness. The flamenco dance group heaves with its own drama as well, as members engage in this traditionally seductive and mysterious dance while trying to avoid developing feelings or falling into conflict with one another.

After Alfonso loses his wife, he connects with fellow dancer Sima. This causes problems with both Alfonso’s grown children and his classmates, who feel the situation is inappropriate...especially for someone his age. Dancing Alfonso offers us a privileged view into the inner lives of seniors, while underscoring the durability of the human spirit.

Director: Ayelet Menahemi
Israel, 2007
90 minutes
Hebrew & Mandarin

Winner of the prestigious Special Grand Jury Prize at the Montreal World Film Festival, Noodle is a charming and moving comic-drama about a young Israeli woman and a Chinese boy whose lives converge in the most surprising manner. At 37, El Al flight attendant Miri (Mili Avital) has been twice-widowed by war. One day, her Chinese housekeeper asks if Miri can mind her six-year-old son for an hour and walks out, never to return. The boy cannot speak English or Hebrew, and neither Miri nor her sister Gila (Anat Waxman), with whom she lives, can speak Mandarin. As Miri and Gila attempt to search for the mother of the boy, nicknamed Noodle, Miri’s well-regulated but emotionally empty existence is turned upside down. These two human beings, who are as different from each other as Tel Aviv is from Beijing, go on a remarkable journey together, one that takes them both back to a meaningful life. This is a touching film with outstanding performances where little moments speak volumes from the heart. (Summary courtesy of the Canberra International Film Festival, 2007.)

Our guest speaker will be Miri Talmon-Bohm.  Born and educated in Israel, she is a scholar of Israeli culture, cinema, media, and literature.  She has lectured at several Israeli universities, including The Open University of Israel, Tel-Aviv University (Dept of Film and Television), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Dept of Communication and Journalism), and Haifa University (Dept of Communication).  Professor Talmon-Bohm has also taught in the United States: Florida Atlantic University, FL; Wesleyan University, CT; and is currently teaching at the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Talmon-Bohm received her her Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, focusin on Israeli Cinema in its historical and social contexts.  Her book, Israel Graffiti: Nostalgia, Groups, and Collective Identity in Israeli Cinema was published in Israel by Haifa University Press and The Open University Press in 2001.