“I must feel certain that, not only at the moment of my death, shall I be able to account for the time I lived. I ought to be ready at every moment of my life to confront myself and say, ‘This is what I’ve done.'” ~Yoni Netanyahu
By any measure, Yonaton “Yoni” Netanyahu is the kind of larger-than-life character that would seem unbelievable in a novel. But he is an historical figure, the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister. Already possessing a distinguished military record in his twenties, he was called upon to lead the 1976 raid that freed 100 hijacked hostages held by terrorists in Entebbe, Uganda. Follow Me crosscuts a day-by-day account of the hostage crisis with archival photos and home movies of Yoni’s life, drawing heavily on the eloquent letters he wrote to loved ones.
“A portrait of an intelligent, charismatic natural leader.” ~Chuck Bosen, Slant Magazine
Can one be a Catholic priest and an Observant Jew at the same time?
Twelve years after he was ordained as a Polish Catholic priest, Romuald Waszkinel discovers that he was born to Jewish parents, and that his name was Jacob Weksler.
The film follows his amazing journey: from conducting mass in a church in Poland to life as an observant Jew in a religious kibbutz in Israel. Romuald is torn between two identities, between being Romuald Waszkinel or Jacob Weksler. He is unable to renounce either and therefore faces a life-altering choice.
Just another tune played at weddings and bar mitzvahs? Or perhaps one of the world’s best-known pieces of music? Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Regina Spektor and more, Hava Nagila (The Movie) follows the ubiquitous party song on its fascinating journey from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the kibbutzim of Palestine to the cul-de-sacs of suburban America.
High on fun and entertainment, Hava Nagila (The Movie) is also surprisingly profound, tapping into universal themes about the importance of joy, the power of music and the resilient spirit of the Jewish people.
“Watching Roberta Grossman’s brilliant “Hava Nagila (The Movie)” in the Castro Theatre last week with more than a thousand other festival goers on opening night was, if not a religious experience, certainly a celebration of Jewish community. As we followed, together, the transnational migrations of what has become the quintessential bar-mitzvah song, we recalled our own experiences and shared something profound — a recognition of our common Jewishness.” ~Sue Fishkoff, JWeekly.com
Foreign Letters is a film about the healing power of friendship. Set in the pre-email era of the 1980s, young Ellie, newly arrived to the United States from Israel, anxiously waits for letters from her best friend back home. Suffering from homesickness, language difficulties and rejection at school, life brightens when she meets Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee her age. As the two bond and become inseparable, they share secrets, eventually hurt each other, and Ellie must find a way to restore their trust.
Footnote is a story of insane academic competition and the very complicated relationship between a father and son. Eliezer and Uriel Shkolnik are both eccentric Talmudic scholars, dedicated to their work. The father, Eliezer, fears the establishment and has never been recognized for his work. Uriel, the son, is an up-and-coming star endlessly seeking recognition. When Eliezer learns that he is to be awarded a valuable honor for scholarship, his vanity and desperate need for validation are exposed. In a darkly funny twist, Uriel is forced to choose between his own career and his father’s. Will he sabotage his father’s glory?
