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Tickets for the 6th Annual Boulder Jewish Film Festival go on sale Monday, February 5th at thedairy.org. Tickets for our opening night film, “Keep the Change,” are available now: CLICK HERE
TICKET INFO:
Many of our films sell out. Additional screenings will be added based on audience demand. Be sure to check the schedule on boulderjcc.org and thedairy.org for the most updated screening information. Once you have purchased a ticket online, you will be added to an email list and informed of additional screenings.
Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $12 in advance; $15 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online, at the box office, or by phone. The Dairy Art Center Box Office: 303-444-7328, 2590 Walnut St, Boulder, CO 80302
Opening Night Gala
Reception 5:30-7 pm in the Boulder JCC Lobby
Featuring an Art Show Wine and Cheese Reception with Ian McLaughlin
A Community Inclusion Resource Showcase, featuring leaders from more than a dozen organizations serving the needs of people living with disabilities in Boulder, and members of the constituency they serve
“KEEP THE CHANGE“
Thursday, March 8, 7 pm at the Boulder JCC
Sponsored by: Boulder Jewish Family Service/Jewish National Fund/Nikki A Cohen, Avirom & Associates, Jane Stein and Family
Actors on the autism spectrum play the autistic characters in this audacious, charming romantic comedy by first-time director Rachel Israel. Winner of a series of top prizes at Tribeca, this intimate human drama is unlike anything you’ve seen on screen.
“It’s an ode to self-discovery and acceptance that’s as funny as it is sweet.” – Variety
Centerpiece
“WEST BANK STORY“*
AN EVENING WITH COMPOSER YUVAL RON
Monday, March 12, 6:30 pm in the Gordon Gamm Theater
Sponsored by: Sloat & Nicholson, PC/Gail and Jerry Sloat
Award-winning world music artist Yuval Ron composed the score for “West Bank Story,” which won the Oscar for best short film in 2007. Join us for a screening of the 25-minute comedy about rival Israeli and Palestinian falafel stands, followed by a musical explication of the score. The evening concludes with a short concert featuring Ron’s current work.
A composer, educator, peace activist, and record producer, Ron creates unique original film scores, music for contemporary dance, theater, museums, new media, marketing, medical and healing modalities, as well as concerts, tours and recordings of the international renowned ethnic music and dance group The Yuval Ron Ensemble.
*Part of ACE’s “Bernstein at 100” celebration
Closing Night
“THE WEDDING PLAN“
Sunday, March 18, 7 pm in the Gordon Gamm Theater
Kosher Reception at 6 pm in the Dairy Lobby
Sponsored by: The St. Julien Hotel and Spa/Larry Cohn
The first female Orthodox director to compete in the world cinema market, Rama Burshtyn (“Fill the Void,” BJFF 2015) continues to shine a loving light on her own community with this audacious, funny fairy tale of romantic woe. Israeli actress Noa Kooler charms as the eccentric would-be bride who is literally looking for a match made in heaven.
“IN BETWEEN“
Friday, March 9, noon in the Boe
Sponsored by: Nancy and Robert Mohr
Three Palestinian women striving for personal independence share an apartment in Tel Aviv in this bittersweet drama from female Arab-Israeli director Maysaloun Hamoud, currently under a fatwa for her taboo-breaking debut.
“AN ACT OF DEFIANCE“
Friday, March 9, 2:30 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Rosemarie and Jeff Foster
The role played by Jewish activists in the American civil rights movement is common knowledge; less well known is the story of a Jewish-black alliance that fought Apartheid in South Africa during the same years. Part nail-biting political thriller, part courtroom drama, this Dutch drama pays tribute to the unsung heroes who changed history with Nelson Mandela.
“DREAMING OF A JEWISH CHRISTMAS”
Saturday, March 10, 7:30 pm in the Boe
Reception at 8:30 pm featuring pianist Sheldon Sands playing holiday classics
Sponsored by: Naropa University
Immigrant outsiders audaciously enter the pop culture mainstream in this offbeat musical documentary about the Jewish songwriters who composed the soundtrack to Christianity’s most cherished holiday. With only a trace of irreverence, the film explores how Christmas provided a generation of composers the opportunity to imagine a better world through song.
“HITLER’S HOLLYWOOD“
Sunday, March 11, 1 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Jackie and Mark Wong
The Third Reich produced 1,000 films, all under the close scrutiny of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, and all with the single purpose of furthering Hitler’s goal of world domination. Learn how these early and expert Nazi practitioners of propaganda turned to Hollywood for inspiration in their quest to sway the masses with seemingly harmless entertainment.
“BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY“
Sunday, March 11, 4 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Oreg Foundation and Butch Weaver/Nicky Wolman and David Fulker
Not the film you might think it is, about a woman who was not who you thought she was. While far from a hagiography, this edgy biopic defies convention – much like the gorgeous genius herself – and pays credit where it is due.
“SAMMY DAVIS JR.: I’VE GOT TO BE ME“
Sunday, March 11, 7 pm, Gordon Gamm Theater
Sponsored by: Colorado Capital Management/Cathy Summer and Steve Ellis/Arthur Okner
The most public black figure to embrace Judaism, Sammy Davis, Jr. was a complicated human being, a talented and versatile performer, and an artist traversing shifting racial politics. This long-overdue biography of Davis deftly depicts a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory blazed across the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the 1980s.
“THE 90 MINUTE WAR“
Monday, March 12, 4 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Susan Litt
Ten years after “West Bank Story” (showing at 6:30 pm) caught the public’s imagination with its comic riff on Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” – amusingly retold as musical feud between rival Israeli/Palestinian falafel stands – along comes this equally daring and similarly themed farce about the very serious conflict in the Middle East. Told with the same impudent charm, this biting political mockumentary imagines the fate of the region is to be decided in a single soccer match.
“MONKEY BUSINESS: THE ADVENTURES OF CURIOUS GEORGE’S CREATORS“
Tuesday, March 13, 4 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Boulder Jewish News/Barbara Steinmetz
George, the star of the most treasured children’s book series of all time, escaped the Nazis in the basket of a hand-built bicycle when its German-Jewish authors fled Paris for their lives. Hans and Margaret Rey’s subsequent life of adventure is told through interviews, archival footage, and delightful animated sequences in a style inspired by the world of Curious George – who finds his way in and out of problems and always comes out ahead.
“CAST-OFFS” & “PRAISE THE LARD“
Tuesday, March 13, 6:30 pm in the Gordon Gamm Theater
Sponsored by: Boulder Israel Engagement Team/Milk and Honey Farm at the J/Hazon
Two documentaries reveal hidden faces of Israel. “Cast-offs” observes a spontaneous recycling ecosystem, Israel’s unique entrepreneurial approach to “alte Sachen” (“old things”). “Praise the Lard” inspects a decidedly un-kosher entrepreneurial venture, as Israeli pig farmers weigh tradition against economic opportunity.
“THE INVISIBLES“
Wednesday, March 14, 3:30 pm
Four Holocaust survivors eloquently narrate their own harrowing drama of survival in Berlin – after it was officially declared free of Jews. Set in the same city just prior to the historical events depicted in “Bye Bye Germany,” this engrossing feature film brings their haunting stories to life.
“PARADISE“
Wednesday, March 14, 6:30 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Judy and Alan Megibow
Andrei Konchalovsky won the best director prize at the Venice Film Festival for this sparsely luminous story of three intertwined lives during the Holocaust. A masterpiece, this year’s must-see Holocaust film is stunningly crafted, uncommonly intelligent, and morally challenging.
“THE TESTAMENT“
Thursday, March 15, 4 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Millstone Evans Group of Raymond James/Sacha Millstone
A dedicated and principled Orthodox historian is leading a legal battle against Holocaust deniers in Austria when he discovers a family secret that shakes his faith, but not his commitment to the truth. This sharp thriller depicts an honorable man caught in a moral quandary.
“BYE BYE GERMANY“
Thursday, March 15, 7 pm in the Boe
Audrey and Andy Franklin/Marcia and Coleman Kahn
This polished and lively feature film, set in Frankfurt in 1946, captures the post-war period from the perspective of the remaining survivors reclaiming life after the camps, with deservedly unapologetic impunity. Opening night of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, this entertaining drama asks provocative questions about home, heritage and national identity.
“PERSONA NON GRATA“
Friday, March 16, 3 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Marilyn and Jerry Pinsker
This astounding tale of moral awakening pays long-overdue tribute to the only Japanese national honored at Yad Vashem. The inspiring story of “the Japanese Schindler” is well known through an Oscar-winning documentary short, a popular children’s book, and several international books and films, but Japanese-American director Cellin Gluck’s lavishly mounted production pays lasting tribute to Chiune Sugihara, the diplomat who helped more than 6,000 Jews escape to Japanese territory.
“SHALOM BOLLYWOOD: THE UNTOLD STORY OF INDIAN CINEMA“
Saturday, March 17, 8 pm in the Boe
Sponsored by: Women of the J/Dr. David Jackson
How did a group of nice Jewish girls become some of the most famous starlets during the golden age of Bollywood? As this gloriously garish, fascinatingly improbable film reveals, Indian Jewish actresses seized the opportunity to perform, while revolutionizing Indian cinema in the process.
“1945“
Sunday, March 18, 1 pm in the Gordon Gamm Theater
Sponsored by: ADL
The appearance of two Orthodox men in a Hungarian village immediately after the Holocaust unsettles the population in this haunting, poetic drama addressing individual complicity. Based on the famed, ironically titled short story “Homecoming,” this terse film touches a raw nerve of guilt and recrimination.
“MENASHE“
Sunday, March 18, 3:45 pm in the Gordon Gamm Theater
Sponsored by: Howard’s Draperies/Debbie and Howard Leibowitz
Shot in secret entirely within the Hasidic community depicted in the film, and one of the first movies to be performed in Yiddish in nearly 70 years, Menashe is a warm, life-affirming look at the universal bonds between father and son that also sheds unusual light on a notoriously private community. Based largely on the real life of its Hasidic star Menashe Lustig, the film is a strikingly authentic and deeply moving portrait of family, love, connection, and community.
