Saturday, March 26
6:00 PM Opening Night Party – SOLD OUT! Greenhut Galleries / 146 Middle Street / Portland
Join us for appetizers and drinks to kick off the 2011 Maine Jewish Film Festival.
8:00 PM Nora’s Will Nickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
Sunday, March 27
WOMEN FILMMAKERS FORUM 1:00 pm Camera Obscura
Nickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
After film Q&A with director, Maria Victoria Menis,via Skype. Discussion facilitated by Karin Anderson of Dala Consulting.
FREE YOUTH FILM4:00 PM Free Youth Film – Eli and Ben
Nickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
*Youth 18 and under admitted free. All seats require a ticket.
6:00 PM Precious LifeNickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
After film panel discussion -
Facilitator – Natan Kahn, M.D. is an ophthalmologist and surgeon. He is a participant in the
humanitarian organization Project Guatemala and serves on the MJFF board.
Frank Chessa, Ph.D., Director, Clinical Ethics, Maine Medical Center, Assistant Professor, Tufts
University Medical Center.
Rabbi Braun is the Rabbi of Temple Beth El in Portland and serves on the Medical Ethics and Pastoral Services
Committees at Maine Medical Center among other service in the community.
Monday, March 28
5:00 PM Arab Labor; Season 2Nickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
5:00 PM The Way Up Salt Institute for Documentary Studies / 561 Congress Street / Portland
After-film panelists:
• Yoav Kosh is an award-winning Israeli cinematographer and director of photography of closing night film Maya.
• Alexandra Daley-Clark is Director of Photography for Do1Thing.org and America 24/7.
• Dovid Muyderman is a local film-maker and community activist.
• Facilitator, Donna Galluzzo, executive director of the Salt Institute for Documentary
Studies and documentary photographer.
After film Q&A with director of The Way Up Shirly Berkovitz
Adult themes and explicit scenes of drug use.
*Youth 18 and under admitted free. Adult themes. All seats require a ticket.
The Way Up screening, Monday, March 28th at 5:00pm at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies (561 Congress Street) is advance ticket purchase only. No sales at the door. You will not be admitted without a ticket.
Seating limited for this event! Buy now at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/profile/3419
7:00 PM AnitaNickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
After film guests: Caroline Frawley and Kristina Smalley, of USM’s STRIVE U program
Tuesday, March 29
MISHMOSH 5:00 PM MJFF Shortish Film Program
1h 30m total run time
Nickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
The Worst Company in the World
In person: Neil Needleman, director of Our Family’s Glorious Legacy and Gordon Grinberg, director of
The Tailor, will join us for an after film Q&A.
Some films contain profanity and adult subject matter.
LGBT FILM FORUM5:30-6:30 PM LGBT Film Forum Reception
Salt Institute for Documentary Studies / 561 Congress Street / Portland
7:00 PM He’s My GirlNickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
Wednesday, March 30
FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY(Previously know as the Free Senior Luncheon and Matinee Program)
Maine Historical Society / 489 Congress St., Portland
12:00 PM Free Luncheon
Luncheon limited to first 60 seniors 65 years and older who reserve a seat. Call 207.831.7495 to secure a reservation. Film screening free to all people age 65 and older.
1:00 PM Simon Konianski
Adult subject matter.
5:00 PM Simon Konianski with local shorts
Nickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
with
The Lighthouse: Against the Grain
Simon Konianski contains adult subject matter and language.
7:00 PM The Klezmatics: On Holy GroundNickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
In person: Director, Erik Greenberg Anjou
9:00 PM Human Resources ManagerNickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
Thursday, March 31
5:00 PM MJFF CLASSIC PICKDuck Soup
Nickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
7:00 PM MayaNickelodeon Cinemas / 1 Temple Street / Portland
In person: Cinematographer, Yoav Kosh
2011 Maine Jewish Film Festival Films
Anita
Director: Marcos Carnevale
Country: Argentina | 2009 | Feature
Duration: 105 min.
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
View Trailer>
Anita is based on the 1994 bombing of a Jewish neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Anita Feldman, a young woman with Down syndrome, lives a happy and sheltered life, cared for by her devoted mother. One tragic morning, her mother leaves Anita alone in the family’s stationary shop. In those few minutes, her world is shattered; the nearby Argentine Israelite Mutual Association is bombed. While her brother frantically searches for her, she wanders the streets confused for days on end, unable to explain where she lives. Her loving nature deeply touches those who cross her path, from an alcoholic to a family of Asian immigrants. Alejandra Manzo, an actress with Down syndrome, gives a heartbreaking and touching performance in the title role.
International Latino Film Festival of Los Angeles, Best Film and Audience Award, 2009
Arab Labor; Season 2
Director: Roni Ninio
Country: Israel | 2009 | TV Show
Duration: 4 episodes, 23 min. per episode
Language: Arabic, Hebrew with English subtitles
View Trailer>
Arab Labor deals with the status of Arab citizens of Israel in Israeli society, the daily controversy surrounding issues of identity, and the sensitivities of both populations. Amjad is a Palestinian journalist, married to Bushra and Maya’s father. In order to become accepted by Jerusalem’s Ashkenazi elite, Amjad is willing to lie, flatter, and conceal his Palestinian identity. His love-hate relationship with Israel is a source of criticism from his parents, and his wife mocks him. Amjad’s only ally is his friend Meir, an Israeli Jew and colleague, and a sworn bachelor who is in love with the lawyer Amal, Bushra’s feminist Arab friend. Arab Labor has met harshly critical reviews from Israel’s Palestinian citizens and global Arabic press, but is beloved by many Israeli Jews.
Camera Obscura
Director: María Victoria Menis
Country: Argentina | 2008 | Feature
Duration: 86 min.
Language: Spanish, Yiddish with English subtitles
View trailer>
Gertrudis grows up a shy and self-conscious young woman, and her family marries her off to a wealthy Jewish rancher. As the years pass, she finds comfort in the simple beauty of everyday life. When a nomadic French photographer takes a Surrealist family portrait, Gertrudis truly sees herself for the first time. Camera Obscura employs a number of visual innovations including original Surrealist-inspired photographs and black-and-white films, archival World War I photographs, and hand-drawn color animation.
Duck Soup
Director: Leo McCarey
Country: USA | 1933 | Comedy Musical
Duration: 68 min.
Language: English
View Trailer>
A timeless slapstick comedy performance that pokes fun at the powers that be, Duck Soup was originally released in 1933. As a subversive comedy it ruffled plenty of feathers, with American audiences dismayed by its cynical take on war and nationhood. Duck Soup has lost none of its relevance over the years, its hilarious criticisms of militarism, wealth, politicians, and power as lucid as ever.
Eli and Ben
Director: Ori Ravid
Country: Israel | 2008 | Feature
Duration: 89 min.
Language: Hebrew with English subtitles.
View trailer>
Eli is 12 years old – interested in girls and awkwardly navigating the adolescent social scene – when his world is turned upside down. His father Ben, the city planner of Tel Aviv’s affluent suburb Herzliya, is charged with taking bribes. Ben is taken into custody right before Eli’s eyes and the news of his arrest jumps into the public’s eye, making Eli’s school life even more difficult than before. Eli, convinced of his father’s innocence, draws on the full reserves of his mischief to see to it that his father is released.
The Eisenberg Brothers
Director: Ben van Bergen
Country: USA | 2010 | Short Dark Comedy
Duration: 15 min.
Language: English
View Trailer>
When you have three boys, one babe, two parents, and one determined boyfriend in a family deli, can there be a happy ending? This short film was shot in one of the few remaining authentic New York City delis.
For the Children
Director: Phyllis Graber Jensen
Country: USA | 2010 | Short
Duration: 6 min.
Language: English
A mother addresses her feelings of guilt by reading a poem each year.
Hasan Everywhere
Director: Andrew Kavanagh
Country: Ireland | 2009 | Animated Short
Duration: 7 min.
Language: English
Both living in New York, Dorit was a rising star among Israeli novelists and Hasan was a gifted Palestinian artist. A passionate, impossible friendship flourished between these exiles abroad. Hasan’s colorful artwork is the catalyst for the film’s animation, and Dorit’s written account of their friendship guides the narrative.
He’s My Girl
Director: Jean-Jacques Zilbermann
Country: France | 2009 | Feature
Duration: 85 min.
Language: French, Yiddish, Arabic with English subtitles
View trailer>
In a wry Parisian comedy, clarinetist Simon Eskenazy’s homosexuality, family, and religion come together to turn his life upside down. He can’t finish his record. His over-bearing mother is sick and wants to move into Simon’s apartment. His ex-wife Rosalie and their 10-year-old son have suddenly reappeared, bringing with them their entire Orthodox Jewish family.
Human Resources Manager
Director: Eran Riklis
Country: France, Germany, Israel, Romania
Duration: 103 min.
Language: English, Hebrew, Romanian with subtitles.
View trailer>
When a worker at a Jerusalem industrial bakery turns up dead, it falls to the bakery’s human resources manager to return her remains to her next of kin in remote Romania. He is accompanied by a motley crew of characters as they trek across a frozen post-Soviet landscape. Will the human resources manager discover his own humanity in this quirky, seriocomic crowd-pleaser?
The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground
Director: Erik Greenberg Anjou
Country: Germany, Hungary, Israel, Poland, USA | 2010 | Documentary
Duration: 105 min.
Language: English
View trailer>
A groundbreaking fusion of world music and klezmer, The Klezmatics have been redefining Jewish music for more than 20 years. Against the backdrop of lead vocalist Lorin Sklamberg’s passion for the Yiddish language as a cornerstone of klezmer music and Jewish identity, the film reveals the personal dramas underneath the music as the band members struggle to maintain lives as artists while raising families and facing middle age. Their energy, infectious live performance, and on-camera candor create an invigorating, eye-opening behind-the-scenes music documentary.
Maya
Director: Michal Bat Adam
Country: Israel | 2009 | Narrative
Duration: 89 min.
Language: Hebrew with English subtitles
View trailer>
Maya is a semi-autobiographic psychodrama from actress-turned-screenwriter Michal Bat Adam. Bat Adam tells the story of a struggling young actress’ descent into madness as she checks herself into a psychiatric hospital to prepare for a role. While the role itself has dangerous implications for Maya’s health, so too does a friend’s personal crisis and her budding relationship with the play’s chauvinistic director.
Nora’s Will
Director: Mariana Chenillo
Country: Mexico | 2008 | Feature
Duration: 92 min.
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
View Trailer>
Set in Mexico City, this wry comedy begins as Jose discovers the body of Nora, the woman to whom he’d been married for 30 years until it ended in divorce. Nora’s death was a deliberate, mischievous act designed to reunite family and friends for a final Passover Seder. She leaves behind detailed instructions for the occasion but inadvertently forgets to destroy a mysterious, incriminating photograph.
-Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, Jury Award, 2009
-Mexican Academy of Film Ariel Awards, Best Picture of the Year, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best First Film, 2009
Precious Life
Director: Shlomi Eldar
Country: Israel | 2010 | Documentary
Length: 90 min.
Language: Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles
View trailer>
Precious Life tells the story of Mohammad Abu Mustafa, a four-month-old Palestinian boy from Gaza. Mohammad was born without an immune system and requires a bone marrow transplant, a treatment only available in an Israeli hospital. In the midst of the Gaza War, Raida, his mother, Shlomi Eldar, the Gaza reporter for Israel Channel 10 news, and an Israeli pediatrician try to get treatment for Mohammad. Eldar demonstrates the profound dilemma and impossibility faced by those in the Gaza Strip seeking medical treatment and those in Israel who want to provide it. An extraordinary and at times tenuous relationship is forged between mother, doctor, and director as they navigate the devastating and dangerous terrain between Gaza and Israel.
-Israel Film Academy Ophir Awards, Best Documentary, 2010
-Telluride Film Festival, Best Documentary, 2010
Our Family’s Glorious Legacy
Director: Neil Ira Needleman
Country: USA | 2010 | Short
Duration: 8 min.
Language: English
In every mishpocha, there’s a family historian, a self-designated storyteller. The narrator in this film spins a yarn of the family’s three-millennium history. But how do we know where truth ends and legend begins?
Simon Konianski
Director: Micha Wald
Country: Belgium, France, Canada | 2009 | Feature
Duration:97 min
Language:French and Hebrew with English subtitles
View Trailer>
After being dumped by his shiksa girlfriend, 35-year-old Simon returns home to live with his ailing father Ernest. They, along with Simon’s siblings and son, drive each other crazy in this quirky multi-generational comedy. Like all good Jewish families, they bicker about finding Simon a nice Jewish girl, finding Simon a good job, and grandpa’s war stories. Funny, crass, surreal, and shocking, Belgian director Micha Wald has crafted a distinctly Jewish take and a modern variation on the classic generational comedy theme, emphasizing differences in Jewish attitudes to the past and expectations for the future.
The Way Up
Director: Shirly Berkovitz
Country: Israel | 2009 | Documentary
Duration: 52 min.
Language: Hebrew with English subtitles
View trailer>
The Way Up is the incredible true story of a young lesbian on the fringes of Israeli society. During Ceausescu’s regime in Romania, abortions were illegal and orphanages were overflowing with unwanted children. Young Lian grew up in such a place until the age of four, when an Israeli couple adopted her. At 14 she ran away from her adopted home and found herself living in the streets. The film depicts a street girl’s fight for survival against all odds, guided by the dream of her true family. Director Shirly Berkovitz follows Lian for three years and in the process, reveals the cruel world of Tel Aviv street kids.
-Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival, Honorable Mention, 2009
-Romania International Film Festival, Women in Cinema, Best Documentary Award, 2009
The Lighthouse: Against the Grain
Director: Dovid Muyderman with Kate Kaminski and Betsy Carson
Country: U.S. | 2011 | Short Documentary
Duration: 6 minutes
Language: English
Local filmmaker Dovid Muyderman explores his turbulent past as homeless teens on the streets of Portland, Maine. Poignant and sharply funny, The Lighthouse: Against the Grain
The Tailor
Director: Gordon Grinberg
Country: USA | 2010 | Short Comedy
Duration: 7 min.
Language: English
Two Hassidic boys in new suits encounter two nuns – one wise and one naïve – on a Brooklyn street.
Yiddish Hillbillies
Director: Eric Krasner
Country: USA | 2008 | Short Musical
Duration: 3 min.
Language: English
A mash-up of vintage film and the music of Mickey Katz comes to a tremendous conclusion.
The Worst Company in the World
Director: Regev Contes
Country: Israel | 2009 | Documentary
Duration: 50 min.
Language: Hebrew with English subtitles
Director Regev Contes attempts to rescue his father’s failing Tel Aviv insurance company – which he runs with his middle-aged divorced friends – from going bust, but along the way learns the importance of friendship and family over profits.
