Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies
Film Festival
Youngstown Area Jewish Film Festival
The Youngstown State University Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies Program has been hosting the Youngstown area Jewish Film Festival for a number of years. The Youngstown Area Jewish Film Festival screens films with Jewish themes promoting films about Jews and Jewish life around the world. Films selected emphasize Jewish themes including those which deal with Israel, Jewish life inside the United States, the Holocaust and Jewish life in areas outside of Israel and the United States. The next Youngstown area Jewish Film Festival in September 2012 and the following films will be shown.
KADDISH FOR A FRIEND (KADDISCH FÜR EINEN FREUND)
USA Cinema, 930 Great East Plaza, Niles
Feature Film directed by Leo Khasin
Germany, 2010, 94 minutes, Arabic, German, Russian with subtitles
A Russian Jewish WWII veteran and Palestinian teen form an unlikely friendship in the tragicomic KADDISH FOR A FRIEND, a stirring debut by Moscow-born German filmmaker Leo Khasin. Growing up in a Lebanese refugee camp, 14-year-old Ali (Neil Belakhdar) has learned to hate Jews before escaping with his family and relocating to public housing in Berlin’s Kreuzberg quarter. He tries to gain acceptance among his Arab peers by targeting an elderly Russian Jew, Alexander (Ryszard Ronczewski), vandalizing the old man’s apartment and defacing the walls with anti-Semitic graffiti. Threatened with deportation, the teen is forced to apologize, sparking a feisty relationship with Alexander, which evolves from mutual distrust to codependence. Based on actual events and embodying the spirit of building bridges of understanding, KADDISH FOR A FRIEND unfolds with gritty realism and a light touch.
Winner - Audience Award - Boston and Washington D.C. Jewish Film Festivals
BROTHERS
Sunday, September 9, 7:00 pm
Temple El Emeth, 3970 Loganway, Youngstown
Feature Film directed by Igaal Niddam
Switzerland, 2008, 116 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles
Two Jewish brothers, whose choices and values have driven them apart, meet again in Israel after many years of silence. Dan has been living on a secular kibbutz for 25 years, working the land. His deeply religious brother, Aaron, is a distinguished lawyer and Torah scholar based in New York. He is invited to Jerusalem to defend a group of Yeshiva students who have refused military service in the IDF. Enter Shelly, the driven, fiercely secular public prosecutor determined to see justice done. The conflict between the two brothers and the legal struggle between prosecutor and defence lawyer reflect a society torn between its religious and political principles. This film opens a subtle yet essential debate on the question of the separation of state and religion in Israel. Nuanced acting, a complex story that shies away from stereotyping and an ambiguous conclusion lend this film an air of profound authenticity at a time when Israelis are increasingly struggling with what it means to be a Jewish state.
Winner – Audience Award - Best Feature Film San Diego Jewish Film Festival
NICKY’S FAMILY
Wednesday, September 12, 7:00 pm
USA Cinema, 930 Great East Plaza, Niles
Documentary directed by Matej Minac
Czech Republic-Slovak Republic, 2010, 96 minutes, English
The story of a unique and courageous figure, Sir Nicholas Winton and his remarkable rescue mission that remained untold for nearly half a century. Called “Britain’s Schindler” by former PM Tony Blair, Winton was the brains and organisational force behind the Czech Kindertransport that saved 669 children in the first six months of 1939, running operations from a hotel room in downtown Prague until the start of the war forced the end of the programme. A modest English stockbroker of German-Jewish heritage, Winton’s incredible story has only come to light in recent years. Slovak director Matej Minac, whose mother was one of Winton’s Kinder, has made a powerful part-dramatisation, part-documentary film that revisits the topic that won him an International Emmy in 2002 (All My Loved Ones). Fresh from its Audience Award success at this summer’s prestigious Karlovy Vary IFF, NICKY’S FAMILY is an unashamedly heart-on-its-sleeve tale of tragedy, hope and bravery against the odds.
ASH AND SMOKE: THE HOLOCAUST OF SALONIKA
Thursday, September 13, 7:00 pm
YSU DeBartolo Hall, Room 132 This is a free screening followed by a dessert reception honoring Dr. Saul Friedman, founder of the Judaic and Holocaust Studies program at Youngstown State University.
According to the records of the Greek government, 56,500 Jewish citizens lived in the city of Salonika on the eve of the Holocaust. By December 1944 only three remained. This is their story–and by extension–it is the story of the Jews of Greece.
MABUL (THE FLOOD)
Thursday, September 20, 7:00 pm
USA Cinema, 930 Great East Plaza, Niles
Feature film directed by Guy Nattiv Israel, 2011, 100 minutes, Hebrew with subtitles
Featuring tour-de-force performances and lyrical imagery, MABUL is the critically acclaimed Israeli drama centering on a troubled boy and his dysfunctional family as they struggle to stay afloat amidst crisis. Rich in biblical metaphors, the story is sensitively told with humor and irony through the eyes of a gifted but underdeveloped 13-year-old (Yoav Rotman) from a ramshackle coastal farming community in central Israel. Taunted by classmates for his small stature, Yoni’s Bar Mitzvah looms as his parents (Ronit Elkabetz and Tzachi Grad) are on the brink of divorce. His broken home life is further strained by the unexpected return of an institutionalized autistic brother (Michael Moshonov) and the revelation of long repressed secrets. MABUL is a touching family drama about painful truths and hidden strengths that bind the family together.
MABUL was nominated for six Israeli Academy Awards and won Best Film honors at the Haifa and Berlin International Film Festivals.
FOLLOW ME: THE YONI NETANYAHU STORY
Sunday, September 23, 7:00 pm
Temple El Emeth, 3970 Loganway, Youngstown
Documentary directed by Ari Daniel Pinchot & Jonathan Gruber
USA, 2011, 84 minutes, Hebrew, English
The story of the so-called Operation Entebbe by an elite squad of Israeli Defense Forces has been told numerous times, but perhaps never with the poignancy or insight of Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot's new documentary FOLLOW ME: THE YONI NETANYAHU STORY. The high-risk mission to save Israeli hostages held by Arab terrorists at the Entebbe, Uganda airport has been hailed as an almost miraculous success, but it’s sometimes forgotten that it was not without casualties. Gruber and Pinchot tell the story from the perspective of squad leader Yoni Netanyahu, older brother of the current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The filmmakers masterfully tell the parallel narratives of the planning and execution of the raid alongside Yoni’s life story. Personal testimonials from family members (including surprisingly intimate and heartfelt words from Benjamin), Israeli leaders, and comrades add context to the gripping archival footage. But the words of Yoni himself, taken from his letters to family and the women he loved, are what give the story a poetical beauty, enduring power and universal truth.
Best of the Fest: 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2012 Charleston Film Festival
Best Documentary: 2012 Palm Beach International Film Festival, 2012 LA Jewish Film Festival
For further information, you can contact the Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies office at Youngstown State University at 330-941-1603 or email to judaic AT ysu DOT edu. Advanced ticket sales can be purchased at the Jewish Community Center. You may also order passes and individual tickets online and print them from your home printer by visiting the Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies website at www.ysu.edu/class/judaic or www.yajff.com. You will be taken to a search page. Click on Judaic and Holocaust Studies, then on Events and Programs to reach the Marketplace. Have your credit card ready. Tickets will also be sold at the door prior to each film screening.
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