Denver Jewish Film Festival Kicks Off January 22

Happy New Year to all my film festival friends!

It’s time to mark your calendars for the 14th annual Boulder Jewish Film Festival, which will run Sunday, October 25, through Sunday, November 1, at the Dairy Arts Center. We expect tickets to go on sale on October 8. 

The Denver Jewish Film Festival kicks off on January 22 in the Elaine Wolf Theater, and they are screening several films that we also showed.  If you missed these films in Boulder, be sure to check them out at the Denver JCC.  

The festival begins with “The Ring,” the Israeli crowd-pleaser selected by our advisory committee as the Boulder Jewish Film Festival’s Centerpiece. A hit on the festival circuit, “The Ring” is a heart-warming dramedy about three generations and the family history that reconnects them. based on the director’s Holocaust survival story.

Our audience award winner, “Tatami,” is also on DJFF’s schedule. Now available to rent and watch at home on Amazon Prime, this stunning political thriller is the first film to be co-directed by an Israeli and an Iranian filmmaker. 

“Technion 10” is a documentary about this well-known technological University that predates the founding of the State of Israel, and about the work and discoveries that still reverberate 100 years later around the world. 

One of the most “uplifting” is “Full Support,”an Israeli documentary set in a Jaffa bra shop’s fitting room, where women discuss their love-hate relationship with their breasts.

Also set in Jaffa, “Jaffa Stories” is an audacious, raucous comedy about a group of streetwise characters who talk fast, fight hard, and live by their own offbeat code.

Set in Haifa, “Halisa”is an acclaimed Israeli drama about a nurse (the fabulous Noa Koler) longing for a child that explores themes of motherhood, sacrifice, and social realities. 

A love story set in Tel Aviv,“Midlife”features two sisters exploring issues of religious identity.

Denver pays tribute to two female musicians with documentaries about Janice Ian and Diane Warren. It also celebrates the life and work of the preeminent Holocaust scholar and survivor with a screening of “Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire,”with director Oren Radavsky in person.

As always, feel free to reach out to me at bjff@boulderjcc.org.

Kathryn Bernheimer
Founding Director, Boulder Jewish Film Festival