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The 12th annual Boulder Jewish Film Festival features 13 films from around the world and our always popular shorts program, inviting audiences to engage in a meaningful conversation about the Jewish experience. All films this year are in the Boedecker Theater or the Grace Gamm Theater at the Dairy Arts Center. Tickets to the festival go on sale Oct. 22. Showings do sell out; purchasing early is advisable.
The festival opens on Sunday, November 10 with two screenings of a surprise hit comedy from Sundance, and more recently Telluride, “A Real Pain,” starring Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg – who also wrote and directed – as rancorous cousins looking for their roots in Poland.
The festival closes Sunday, November 17 with the most popular film currently on the festival circuit, “Seven Blessings.” Focused on a Moroccan wedding celebration, this comic family drama concludes our three-film series exploring Sephardic life and culture.
Join us before the screening for our Sephardic-themed closing night reception, 5:30-6:30 in the Dairy Lobby.
The Centerpiece, our traditional mid-week special event, is now the Community Centerpiece, featuring a film selected by the festival’s newly formed program committee. We think you are going to really enjoy “Running on Sand,” a highly relevant, crowd-pleasing comedy of mistaken identity from Israel.
A good time will also be had by all at “The Catskills,” a nostalgic new documentary told with flair by director Lex Gillespie, whose “Mamboniks” closed the 2019 festival. Join us at 6:30 Saturday night on November 16 for this tribute to the storied mountain getaway that served as refuge for Jewish immigrants fleeing poverty as well as a lavish playground for affluent Jewish families.
Our guest list usually includes writers, directors, filmmakers, and actors. This year we have a major league baseball catcher joining us for a discussion following “Israel Swings for the Gold,” a follow-up to “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel” (BJFF 2019). Ryan Lavarnway, who now lies in Denver, played on Team Israel at the World Baseball Classic and at the Olympics and will discuss those personally transformative experiences with the audience on Tuesday, November 12 at 6:30.
THE 2024 SCHEDULE
“CALL ME DANCER“
Sunday November 10, Noon in the Boe
Thursday, November 14, 6:30 pm in the Boe
Israel/2023/In English and Hindi/84 minutes/Documentary
This touching and uplifting documentary is a story of hope, heartache, and hard work as a street dancer in Mumbai achieves his dream of becoming a ballet dancer under the tutelage of his Israeli teacher.
https://vimeo.com/877612865?share=copy
“A REAL PAIN“
Sunday, November 10, 3 pm and 6:30 pm in the Boe
US/2024/In English/90 minutes/Feature Film
In this surprise hit at the Sundance Film Festival, writer, director and star Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin play odd-couple cousins who honor their beloved grandmother by taking a Holocaust tour of Poland. What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYPJIOF0ys4
“TELLING NONIE” – Veteran’s Day Program
Monday, November 11, 3 pm in the Grace Gamm
Israel/2024/In Hebrew and English/50 minutes/ Documentary
An elderly Israeli secret service agent confronts Palestinian activist Nonie Darwish, a prominent voice against radical Islam, with a shameful secret.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWiOw4Gk-fk
“KIDNAPPED: THE ABDUCTION OF EDGARDO MARTARA“
Monday, November 11, 6:30 pm in the Grace Gamm
Italy/2023/Italian and Hebrew with English subtitles/134 minutes/Feature Film
Set in 1858 Italy, this sumptuously directed drama depicts a scandalous true story of Church-sponsored antisemitism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQAK0yBHQZ8
“STELLA: A LIFE“
Tuesday, November 12, 3 pm in the Boe
Germany/2023/In German with English subtitles/121 min/Feature Film
Based on a true story and set in Nazi Germany, this morally complex drama examines the fine line between victims of evil and those compelled to participate in the same horror.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x03OCPQ6_XM
“ISRAEL SWINGS FOR THE GOLD“
Tuesday, November 12, 6:30 pm in the Grace Gamm
US/2023/English/77 min/Documentary
At once disturbing and inspiring, this stunning documentary follows Israel’s baseball team as it confronts antisemitism at the 2021 Olympics.
Ryan Lavarnway, the major league catcher who played on both Israeli teams, appears in person with the screening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3tm7PLvwa8
“AUCTION“
Wednesday, November 13, 3 pm in the Boe
France/2024/In French with English subtitles/91 Minutes/Feature Film
An auctioneer discovers a work of Nazi-looted art in this French drama illuminating the largest property theft in human history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeqBwlBihQY&t=8s
“RUNNING ON SAND” – Community Centerpiece
Wednesday, Nov 13, 6:30 pm in the Grace Gamm
Israel/2024/In Hebrew with English subtitles/104 minutes/Feature Film
In this mistaken identity comedy, a young Eritrean refugee deported from Israel is mistaken for the new foreign player of a struggling football team, and his survival depends on the team’s success.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnxdAOQXOjo
SHORTS: PEACOCKS, POPS, PEPCHOOK
Thursday, November 14, 3 pm in the Boe
Friday, November 15, 3 pm in the Boe
Featuring narrative, documentary, and animated films from Israel, the UK and the USA, this year’s program of 7 shorts curated by Judith Dack and the Shorts Committee will surely leave you smiling.
“HERE LIVED“
Friday, November 15, noon in the Boe
United States/2024/English/79 Minutes/Documentary
This moving documentary focuses on the “Stolpersteine” (stumbling stones) project originated by German artist Gunter Demnig commemorating Jewish lives stolen during the Holocaust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1lS2bv0W6g
“THE CATSKILLS“
Saturday, November 16, 6:30 pm in the Grace Gamm
US/2023/In English/86 min/Documentary
The rise and fall of the Borscht Belt is captured in all its glory in this delightful documentary featuring a cast of characters endowed with the gift of gab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX2n_I0azXY
“SONG OF ASCENT”
Sunday, November 17, noon in the Grace Gamm
A USA/2024/English/86 minutes/Documentary
This powerful documentary/concert film follows acclaimed singer-songwriter Matisyahu, who finds himself at the center of a cultural storm in the wake of the October 7th massacre in Israel.
https://vimeo.com/1005362327
“THE BLOND BOY FROM THE CASBAH“
Sunday, November 17, 3 pm in the Grace Gamm
France/2023/In Arabic and French with English subtitles/126 minutes/Feature Film
This loving portrait of the once-thriving Sephardic community in Algiers dramatizes the story of the filmmaker’s youth before exile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeCOgHKCv8Q
SEPHARDIC CLOSING NIGHT RECEPTION
Sunday, November 17, 5:30-6:30 pm in the Dairy Lobby
“SEVEN BLESSINGS” – Closing Night
Sunday, November 17, 6:30 pm in the Grace Gamm
Israel/2023/Hebrew, French, Moroccan with English subtitles/108 minutes/Feature Film
Winner of ten Israeli Academy Awards, this raucous family dramedy focuses on a boisterous Moroccan clan that gathers for a wedding in Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMO-ZzX4t-Q
