St. Louis Jewish Film Festival Films
June 6-13, 2021
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Breaking Bread
Israel | English and Hebrew with English subtitles
Director: Beth Elise Hawk
Documentary: 86 minutes
Availability: Viewable within Missouri and Illinois
Watch between June 6-8
Exotic cuisine with a side of politics…
Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel was the first Israeli Muslim Arab to win the top prize in Israel’s MasterChef TV competition. She went on to found the A-sham Food Festival in Haifa, a celebration of Arab cuisine inspired by traditional dishes from the Levant food culture. A film about hope, synergy and mouthwatering fare, the film illustrates what happens when people focus on the person, rather than religion; on the public, rather than the politicians.
Sponsored by Harvey Kornblum Foundation, Nancy & Ken Kranzberg and Howard N. Lesser
Film Conversation: Available On-Demand
Local, award-winning chef and restauranteur, Ben Poremba, interviewed by Ellen Futterman, editor of the St. Louis Jewish Light
Here We Are
Israel | Hebrew with English subtitles
Director: Nir Bergman
Feature: 94 minutes
Availability: Viewable within Missouri and Kansas
A stirring and uplifting tale of fatherly love…
Aharon has devoted his life to raising his son, Uri. They live together in a gentle routine, away from the real world. But Uri is autistic and now as a young adult, it might be time for him to live in a specialized home. While on their way to the institution, Aharon decides to run away with his son and hits the road, thinking that Uri is not ready for this separation. Or is it, in fact, his father who is not ready? A story about parental love, about change, and separation; about letting go and moving on.
Sponsored by Eileen & Larry Schechter
Service to Man
USA | English
Directors: Aaron Greer and Seth Panitch
Feature: 92 minutes
How do we measure success?…
Inspired by a true story, it’s 1967, and Eli Rosenberg has a problem… only one medical school in the country will accept him: Meharry, a historically black medical school in Tennessee, a considerable distance from his life in Brooklyn. Michael Dubois has a problem… only one medical school will suffice for him: Meharry, his father’s alma mater. Eli and Michael have another problem: they are outsiders from different backgrounds inside the pressure cooker of medical school. They battle the mysteries of medicine, demanding professors and each other.
Sponsored by Barnes Jewish Hospital and Sima & Phil Needleman
Film Conversation: Available On-Demand
Led by Marylen Mann, Chairman Emeritus at OASIS Institute, with Dr. Ira Kodner and Dr. Will Ross.
This program is in partnership with the Newmark Institute at the JCRC
Love It Was Not
Austria/Israel | English and German/Hebrew
with English subtitles
Director: Maya Sarfaty
Documentary: 82 minutes
Astonishing but true…
A Nazi officer falls in love with a Jewish concentration camp prisoner, a forbidden romance with decades-long repercussions. Beautiful Helena Citron is among the first inmates to confront the dehumanizing conditions of Auschwitz. There, she captures the attention of Franz Wunsch, a high-ranking SS officer smitten by her singing voice. Risking execution if caught, their forbidden liaison continues until Helena’s miraculous liberation. The pair don’t meet again until Helena is a witness at Wunsch’s war crimes trial 30 years later.
Sponsored by Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity
Film Conversation: Available On-Demand
Film Director, Maya Sarfaty, interviewed by Warren Rosenblum, PhD, History, Politics and International Relations at Webster University
Antisemitism
Canada/France/Israel | French with English subtitles
Director: Ilan Ziv
Documentary: 80 minutes
A vitally important film covering a universal and unfortunately ongoing issue…
Tracing the insidious origins of antisemitism in France from the Middle Ages to the 1894 Dreyfus Affair to the present day, this film delves deeply and intellectually into the depiction of “the Jew” in society and how that image established an ideology of hate that eventually led to the Holocaust. In the aftermath of the war, a devastated France continued this ideology of antisemitism that set the stage for a modern wave of anti-Jewish sentiment and attacks.
Sponsored by Ellen & Dr. Ronnie Gross, The Silk Foundation and Staenberg Family Foundation
Film Conversation: Available On-Demand
Led by Karen Aroesty, Director ADL Heartland, and Dr. Mara Cohen Ioannides, Missouri State University
Aulcie
USA/Israel | English/Hebrew with English subtitles
Director: Dani Menkin
Documentary: 72 minutes
The meteoric rise and fall of a legend…
One of Israel’s greatest athletes captures the spirit of a nation. Recruited from the basketball courts of Harlem, Aulcie Perry joined Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1976, established himself a leader, and helped defeat the heavily favored Soviets to give team Israel its first European Championship. He adopted a Hebrew name, converted to Judaism, and dated an Israeli model. But the dark side of fame led to a stunning downfall. Returning to Israel after time in prison, Aulcie shares his story of redemption. Featuring electrifying game footage and insightful interviews.
Sponsored by Lindsay & Norman Druck, Sue Matlof & Michael Cohen, Merle & Marty Oberman and Stacy & Greg Siwak
Film Conversation: Available On-Demand
Director Dani Menkin interviewed by Larry Levin, Executive Director of Ozark Land Trust and former Publisher & CEO of the St. Louis Jewish Light
Kiss Me Kosher
Germany/Israel | English and Arabic/German/Hebrew with English subtitles
Director: Shirel Peleg
Feature: 105 minutes
Availability: Viewable within Missouri and Kansas
What happens with lovers who don’t fit but do belong together?…
Sparks fly when two families from different cultural backgrounds collide to plan a same-sex wedding. Israeli Shira is in love with Maria, a German. Berta, Shira’s grandmother who is a Holocaust survivor (and happens to secretly love a Palestinian!) vehemently opposes the match. While Shira’s brother eagerly documents the family chaos for a school video project, Shira and Maria discover the road to happiness is more a minefield, littered with booby traps that could detonate at any time.
Sponsored by Laurie & Lee Wielansky
Howie Mandel: But Enough About Me
Canada | English
Director: Barry Avrich
Documentary: 88 minutes
Heartwarming, funny, candid…
A touching look at the life of wildly inventive comedian and actor, Howie Mandel…a man who uses humor to cope with a world that terrifies him. This intimate portrait examines one of the most beloved and complex comedians and his invulnerable spirit. Told through his own voice and using a wealth of behind-the-scenes clips, the film examines his extraordinary life and career as well as his painful struggles with mental illness and how he manages a relentless pace in his professional and private life.
Sponsored by Aurelia Konrad Charitable Foundation, Gail Glaser, Kuhn Foundation and USA Mortgage
The Good Nazi
Canada/Israel | English and Hebrew/German with English subtitles
Directors: Yaron Niski and Ric Esther Bienstock
Docudrama: 52 minutes
The unknown tale of a Schindler-type German…
Nazi Major Karl Plagge arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania with the occupation force during WWII. The SS was determined to murder every Jew, but Plagge decided to save Jews instead. On the surface, he was commandant of the HKP forced labor camp; in reality, he was sheltering hundreds of Jewish families. With today’s government about to tear down the HKP site, scientists arrive to locate hiding places and identify mass graves. The film tracks the stories of a child survivor, an American physician whose mother was saved and Plagge himself.
The Last Supper
Germany | German with English subtitles
Director: Florian Frerichs
Feature: 80 minutes
Availability: Viewable within Missouri and Kansas
A warning letter to the world…
On the day Hitler comes to power, the German-Jewish family Glickstein has a family dinner. Most of them, however, (like so many other Germans at that time) don’t take the Nazis seriously. When young Leah reveals her plans to emigrate to Palestine, her family starts arguing. Her father can’t see any reason to leave Germany, the country of their ancestors and the country he risked his life for during WWI. But when Leah´s younger brother indicates that he is an ardent admirer of the Nazi movement, the family is on the brink of being torn apart.
Sponsored by Margie Horowitz and the Lux Family Foundation
The Starry Sky Above the Roman Ghetto
Italy | Italian with English subtitles
Director: Giulio Base
Feature: 100 minutes
Availability: Viewable within Missouri and Kansas
Indelible memories that must not be erased…
The past intertwines with the present as the discovery of a mysterious, yellowed old photograph of a little girl leads Christian and Jewish students on a search for the truth…who is she? Trying to unravel the mystery behind the portrait, the teens embark on a journey retracing a night of horror: the raid on the Roman Ghetto during the Shoah. What they learn inspires them to take a collective stance toward commitment in its many forms, because sometimes indifference is worse than hate.
Sponsored by Clarendale Clayton
The Crossing
Norway | Norwegian with English subtitles
Director: Johanne Helgeland
Feature: 96 minutes
Availability: Viewable within Missouri and Kansas
Uncompromising loyalty and great courage…
Set in Norway during WWII, this is the story of 10-year-old Gerda, an intrepid young girl with an adventurous spirit. When she and her more cautious older brother witness the arrest of their parents for their role in the Resistance, the event justifiably shakes the two. Then they meet two Jewish children who are hiding under Gerda’s parents’ protection. Gerda decides the four youngsters should venture into the Nazi-controlled countryside in an attempt to reunite their new friends with their parents.
Sponsored by Elaine & Jeffrey Korn and Gloria & Sanford Spitzer
Ma’abarot
Israel | Hebrew with English subtitles
Director: Dina Zvi-Riklis
Documentary: 84 minutes
Overlooked Israeli history…
Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa reveal the discrimination and harsh conditions which awaited them when they came to 1950’s Israel. Arriving during a time of poverty and austerity, Jews seeking shelter in the Promised Land instead were forced into shantytowns known as ma’abarot. Thrown together from different cultures, already demoralized immigrants waited days for food, showers and toilets. The troubling testimony of camp refugees is illustrated with never-before-seen archival materials.
Egg Cream
USA | English
Directors: Nora Claire Miller and Peter Miller
Documentary: 15 minutes
Chocolate syrup + milk + seltzer = an egg cream…
A short film about the enduring meaning of a beloved chocolate soda drink born on the Jewish Lower East Side. The egg cream contains neither eggs nor cream – it was a product of necessity and hardship, but a source of joy and sweetness. Through a tour of egg cream establishments led by a filmmaker and his young daughter, exhaustively researched archival imagery, and even a song by Lou Reed, the film examines the Jewish experience in America and the mythology of a simpler time.