Bud Shorstein Center for Jewish Studies

Hippodrome State Theatre
25 SE 2nd Place, Downtown Gainesville

The Gainesville Jewish Film Festival is organized by the Center for Jewish Studies and made possible by: Bud Shorstein Professorship in American Jewish Culture & Society, Friends of Jewish Studies Tree of Life Fund, Gary R. Gerson Annual Lecture Series, Raymond & Miriam Ehrlich Eminent Scholar Chair in Political Science, Harry Rich Endowment for Holocaust Studies, Jewish Council of North Central Florida, Mikki & Morris Futernick Visiting Professorship, Norman & Irma Braman Chair in Holocaust Studies, Price Library of Judaica NEH Challenge Grant Endowmen

Tickets may be purchased through Hippodrome’s box office: (352) 375-4477 or online TheHipp.org

FESTIVAL TICKETS AND PASSES

• Platinum Pass: $  120 = 12 screenings
• Gold Pass: $  80 = 8 screenings
• Silver Pass: $ 40 = 4 screenings
• Single Ticket: $ 12 = 1 screening
• UF students are FREE with valid ID

SCREENINGS

• Sunday, October 2 at 7:00 pm Berenshtein
  directed by ROMAN SHUMUNOV
  Israel: Russian, German, Polish, Ukrainian | 2021 | 105 min |
  Biography, War History
  Documenting one of the great Russian-Jewish partisans, this a brilliantly made docudrama interspersing contemporary interview with reenactment. The film has the feel and intensity of a narrative World War II film, but this one with a Jewish hero.
• Thursday, October 6 at 7:00 pm Dead Sea Guardians
  co-directed by IDO GLASS & YOAV KLEINMAN
  Israel: Hebrew | 2021 | 75 min | Documentary
  The Dead Sea—the lowest place on earth and one of the wonders of the world—is dying. Three men once enemies join together on a journey to stop this catastrophe and save the sea from disappearing. A tough subject that gives us hope for friendship, peace and international cooperation.
• Monday, October 10 at 7:00 pm Apples and Oranges
  directed by YOAV BRILL
  Israel: Hebrew | 2021 | 80 min | Documentary
  The idealistic and rebellious 1960s generation was charmed by the old kibbutz ideology. As a result of the Six-Day War a wave of volunteers flocked to the kibbutzim. Anyone who has spent any time on one will love this look back on Israel’s once signature institution.
• Tuesday, October 11 at 7:00 pm That Orchestra with the Broken Instruments
  co-directed by YUVAL HAMEIRI & MICHAL VAKNIN
  Israel: Hebrew & Arabic | 2021 | 79 min | Documentary
  100 musicians meet for four days of rehearsals. They speak different languages. Hidden among the cracks of their broken instruments, we discover a lyrical and engaging take on the members of the orchestra, on what is broken and whole and on the determined attempt, if only for a moment, to create harmony in a discordant place. This is a very beautiful film. A must for anyone who loves music.
• Wednesday, October 12 at 7:00 pm Leaving Paradise
  directed by OFER FREIMAN & KOBI NATANEL
  Israel: English, Hebrew, Portuguese | 2020 | 90 min | Documentary
  Cleo fulfilled his dream: to establish a family commune on a farm in Brazil. Exploring their family-roots leads the children to discover their surprising heritage, which undermines the existence of the communal paradise. A fascinating story about the Diaspora and an attempt to resolve it.
• Monday, October 17 at 7:00 pm Masel Tov Cocktail
  co-directed by ARKADIJ KHAET & MICKEY PAATZSCH
  Germany: German, Hebrew, Russian | 2020 | 30 min | Short
  A Russian-Jewish teenager Dima gets into a school fight, and then breaks the fourth wall and passionately and ferociously talks about his views, and about the hypocritically tolerant way in which his world works. This is a funky, funny and in many ways brilliant film. It’s German filmmaking at its best.
• Tuesday, October 18 Double-Feature at 7:00 pm & 7:45 pm Unraveling
  directed by JEFF SWIMMER
  United States: English | 1939 | 39 min | Documentary Short
  Delve into memory, history, and contemporary life in Columbus, New Mexico—
  famed for being raided by Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution—as the
  filmmaker explores a rumor that Villa invaded the town seeking revenge on her grandfather for an arms deal gone bad. This is a fascinating piece of American Jewish history.
• Latter Day Jew directed by ALIZA ROSEN
  United States: English | 2019 | 85 min | Documentary
  lan Scott is a gay former Mormon now Jew by choice, cancer survivor and writercomedian preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. A moving, funny and upbeat film. It has much to say about American Jews and Judaism in the 21st century and pairs beautifully with American Birthright.
• Wednesday, October 19 at 7:00 pm American Birthright
  directed by BECKY BORDO
  United States: English, Hebrew | 2021 | 65 min | Documentary
  An intimate, deep and joyous investigation that starts by asking “why marry
  Jewish?” and ends up exploring the subtler inquiry “why be Jewish?” American Birthright is a journey of self-discovery and self-education: it is both spiritual and inspiring, a wonderful counterpoint to Latter Day Jew.
• Tuesday, November 1 at 7:00 pm Albert Speer Goes to Hollywood
  directed by VANESSA LAPA
  Israel: English, French, German | 2020 | 97 min | Documentary, Bio
  How did a man in charge of 12 million slaves become “the good Nazi”? A cautionary tale about Albert Speer’s 1971 attempt to redeem or some say whitewash his past with a Hollywood adaptation of his bestselling wartime memoir, Inside the Third Reich.
• Wednesday, November 2 at 7:00 pm Xuete Island
  co-directed by OFER LASZEWICKI, DANI ROTSTEIN, FELIPE WOLOKITA
  Spain: Catalan, Spanish, English | 2021 | 63 min | Documentary
  The Xuetas (pronounced Chuetas): a unique group of families on the Balearic
  island of Majorca who are believed to be descendants of the island’s Inquisitionera Jewish population. The story follows Dani Rotstein, a Jewish-American activist and filmmaker whose investigations have helped reinvigorate this community.
• Thursday, November 3 at 7:00 pm Peron and the Jews
  directed by SERGIO (SHLOMO) SLUTZKY
  Hebrew & Spanish | 2021 | 73 min | Documentary
  Sergio Shlomo Slutzky’s father is accused of having been another reactionary Jew who supported the 1955 military coup that deposed the government of Juan Perón. When Slutzky investigates his father’s political DNA he discovers a young Jewish generation full of idealism.
• Wednesday, December 7 at 7:00 pm A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff
  directed by ALICIA J. ROSE
  United States: English | 2021 | 75 min | Musical Memoir
  A creative hybrid of docudrama and narrative fantasy, the film tells the story of Madoff’s corruption through the eyes of musician/poet Alicia Jo Rabins. A vivid, and engaging work of art.
• Thursday, December 8 at 7:00 pm Hester Street
  directed by JOAN MICKLIN SILVER
  United States: English, Yiddish | 1975 | 89 min | Drama Romance
  One of the most powerful portraits of immigrant life in America the screenplay was adapted from the 1896 Cahan novella Yekl. The film was a widely acclaimed addition to American Jewish cinema. Released in the 1970s and recently restored, the film can now be fully appreciated as it was meant to be by viewing it on the silver screen.