Traditionally screened at various locations throughout Tidewater, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, offers a range of cinema experiences, from compelling documentaries to poignant comedies that engage and spark conversations.

 

 

 

32nd Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film
February 16-26, 2025

As one of the longest-running Jewish film festivals in the country, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, educates and engages diverse Tidewater communities, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, by presenting world-class film premieres, repertory cinema, and associated programs that are inspired by Jewish or Israeli history, heritage, and values. Our vision is to create shared experiences and connections through film and cultural programs inspired by Jewish legacy and values.

 

 

No refunds or exchanges

 

 

Trailer - 32nd Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film

 

 

Film Festival Ticket Pricing

 

  • Full Festival Pass: $70 (Must Purchase by Saturday, February 1) 
  • The BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film: $30
  • Tickets for all other films: $14
  • No refunds or exchanges

Child Care 

 

Kids Night Out babysitting is available at the Simon Family JCC for the BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film (February 22). Registration is required in advance. Space is limited. Register at JewishVA.org/KNO

 

 

Running on Sand

Director Adar Shafran ● 104 min ● Israel ● 2023 ● Hebrew with English subtitles ● Drama

Sunday, February 16 • 2:30 PM
Kramer Family Theater at Cape Henry Collegiate

1320 Mill Dam Road, Virginia Beach

 

Details

 

Aumari, a young Eritrean refugee living in Israel, is about to be deported back to his home country. After a spontaneous escape attempt at the airport and a case of mistaken identity, Aumari is assumed by Maccabi Netanya fans to be their new Nigerian soccer star. With no sporting talent, but hailed as a hero, he unites and uplifts the floundering squad, all while hiding his true identity. Amid their quest for victory, he finds himself falling for the team owner's daughter, risking exposure.

 

Awards:
NOMINEE, 4 Categories | Israeli Academy Awards 2023
WINNER, Best Debut Film | Haifa International Film Festival 2023
WINNER, Best Film | Israeli Film Festival in Paris 2024

 

 

 

Yaniv

Director Amnon Carmi ● 85 min ● United States ● 2024 ● English (Captioned) ● Comedy

Thursday, February 20 • 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM
Cinema Cafe Kemps River

1220 Fordham Drive, Virginia Beach

 

Details

 

A high school teacher in the Bronx loses funding for the school musical and convinces his fellow statistics teacher, secretly a recovering gambling addict, to help him cheat at an underground card game run by the Hasidic Jewish community. The plan goes awry with mounting consequences, but help comes at an unexpected time from the least likely people.

 

 

 

 

Midas Man

Director Joe Stephenson ● 112 min ● United Kingdom ● 2024 ● English (Captioned) ● Biography, drama

Saturday, February 22 • 7:00 PM
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art

2200 Parks Avenue, Virginia Beach

 

THE BIG SATURDAY NIGHT CELEBRATION OF JEWISH FILM! Hors d’oeuvres, cocktail hour & open galleries beginning at 6:00 PM. Dessert reception to follow, featuring live music and karaoke from John Lennon Tribute Star Tim Beasley!

 

 

Details

 

On Thursday, November 9, 1961, a man named Brian descended the stairs to a cellar in Liverpool and changed the world forever. When Brian Epstein watched The Beatles perform, he saw something no one else could – a glimmer of gold. Being Jewish, closeted, and having grown up as an outsider who had failed at pretty much everything, he was a 26-year old with something to prove and who wanted to tear up the rulebook.

 

Awards: WINNER, Best Film in Festival | Birmingham Film Festival 2024  

 

Sponsored by Harry Laderberg, Linda (Laderberg) & Leigh Baltuch, and Mallory (Stark) & Romney Laderberg, in memory of their dear brother, William Laderberg.

 

 

October H8te

Director Wendy Sachs ● 100 min ● United States ● 2024 ● English (Captioned) ● Documentary

Sunday, February 23 • 2:30 PM
Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center at Virginia Wesleyan University

5817 Wesleyan Drive, Virginia Beach

 

Followed by a panel discussion. 

 

Details

 

From Executive Producer Debra Messing and Director Wendy Sachs, this searing documentary explores the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, on social media, and in the streets of America in the aftermath of October 7th, 2023. The film features interviews with Debra Messing, Michael Rapaport, Sheryl Sandberg, Congressman Ritchie Torres, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Dan Senor, Noa Tishby, and Bari Weiss, among others.

 

Presented as part of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, & community partners’ 14th annual Israel Today series.  

 

 

BAD SHABBOS

Director Daniel Robbins ● 84 min ● United States ● 2024 ● English (Captioned) ● Comedy

Monday, February 24 • 7:15 PM
Naro Expanded Cinema

1507 Colley Avenue, Norfolk

 

Preceded by the short film WE SHOULD EAT.

 

Details

 

Audience Award Winner at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, BAD SHABBOS is here to prove that even Shabbat can go haywire. This off-beat comedy centers around an engaged interfaith couple who are about to have their parents meet for the first time over a traditional Shabbat dinner. Things spiral faster than you can say “hamotzi” when an accidental death gets in the way.

 

Directed by Daniel Robbins and co-written by Zack Weiner, this chaotic "one-night-in-New-York" story turns family dinner into a sidesplitting disaster of biblical proportions.

 

Starring Kyra Sedgwick, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, David Paymer, Milana Vayntrub, Jon Bass, Meghan Leathers, Catherine Curtin and Ashley Zukerman.

 

Awards: WINNER, Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature | Tribeca Film Festival 2024

 

We Should Eat

Director Shaina Feinberg • 9 min • United States • 2024 • English • Comedy

 

A comedy about family, identity, and the immense anxiety over what to order for dinner.

 

Starring Alysia Reiner (Orange Is the New Black), Tovah Feldshuh (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Jackie Hoffman (Only Murders in the Building), Joel de la Fuente (The Walking Dead), Bob Ari (Kissing Jessica Stein), and Lexi Perkel (The Sack Lunch Bunch).

 

 

June Zero

Director Jake Paltrow ● 105 min ● Israel, US ● 2022 ● Hebrew, Spanish w/subtitles ● Historical drama

Wednesday, February 26 • 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM
Beach Cinema Alehouse

941 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach

 

Details

 

The 1961 preparations for the execution of Adolf Eichmann, a principal architect of the Holocaust, are revisited in a gripping and surprising new vision from American filmmaker Jake Paltrow. Entirely shot on 16mm film and based on true accounts, JUNE ZERO is told from the unique perspectives of three distinct figures: Eichmann’s Jewish Moroccan prison guard, an Israeli police investigator who also happens to be a Holocaust survivor, and a precocious and clever 13-year-old Libyan immigrant.

 

Presented in partnership with the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater

 

 

No refunds or exchanges

 

 

Support those in need while enjoying a night out!

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is supporting Jewish Family Service of Tidewater's Community Food Pantry.
Donations to the food pantry will be accepted at the check-in table for each film. 


The pantry is in need of the following items:

 

  • Cleaning products (dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, disinfectants, Clorox wipes, etc.)
  • Personal hygiene products (shampoo, body wash, bars of soap, deodorant, etc.) 
  • Toilet paper and paper towels
  • Cooking oil
  • Condiments (ketchup, mustard, pickles and relish, etc.)
  • Snack foods (cookies, crackers, pretzels, etc.)

Learn more about JFS's food assistance programs here.

 

 

 

 

Programs Inclusivity

Thanks to the generous support of the Bartel Family, in honor of their parents and grandparents, Alan & Dolores Bartel, the following accessibility accommodations are available for these community programs (depending on the program location). Accommodations must be requested at least a week prior to the event.

 

Accomodations can be requested during the registration process, and include:

 

  • Closed captioning services for online programming
  • Interpreting services for Deaf or non-English speakers
  • Assisted listening services to amplify sounds
  • Preferential seating near a presenter to aid in comprehension
  • Sensory fidget tools
  • Noise-reducing headphones
  • Stand-assist devices
  • Audio recording of written materials for the visually impaired 

Thank you to the 2025 Virginia Festival of Jewish Film Screening Committee 

 

Anne Fleder, Chair, Arts + Ideas 
Beth Scharlop, Chair, Festival 
William Laderberg*, Co-Chair, Screening 
Mark Robbins, Co-Chair, Screening 
Barry Einhorn*, Festival Chair Emeritus 

Rebecca Auerbach
Rob Copeland 
Joel Flax
Nathan Goldin
Helen Goldsticker Sissel
Evalyn Horowitz 
Dorothy Hughes

Scott Levin 
Amy Levy
Pam Moss
Pati Olizewski
Neil Rose 
Judit Roth 
Gloria Siegel 
Larry Stein 
Shelly Stein 
Howard Swartz

 

*Of blessed memory

 

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS PATRONS OF THE ARTS AND SPONSORS:

Karen and Avraham Ashkenazi
Rebecca Auerbach
Linda and Leigh Baltuch
Nancy Bangel and Mark Robbins
Susan P. Barr
Wendy Jo and Ronald Brodsky
Stephanie Calliott and Don London
Armond and Rose Caplan Foundation
Billye Roy and Jeff Chernitzer
Susan and Andrew Cohen
Ann and Robert Copeland
Cheryl Dronzek
Barbara Dudley
Susan and Jim Eilberg
Mona and Jeffrey Flax
Alan and Esther Fleder Foundation
Anne and Lawrence Fleder
Fox Pest Control
Shari Friedman and Andrew King
Alicia London Friedman and Robert S. Friedman
Jeri Jo Halprin
Connie Jacobson
Jaffe Family Fund
Carol and Joel Jason
Helen G. Gifford Foundation

Betsy and Ed Karotkin
Jodi and Jay Klebanoff
Teresa Knecht and Marc Lindgren
Anne and Edward Kramer
Abbie and Steven Laderberg
Bruce Laderberg
Harry Laderberg
Sierra and Steven Lautman
Edward Legum
Robert Lehman
Caren and Stephen Leon
David Leon
Sandra Porter Leon and Miles Leon
Betty Ann and Scott Levin
Joan London
Nancy Loewenberg and Richard Marten
Robin and Matthew Mancoll
Daniel Miller
Jeanne and Julius Miller
Laura and Jerry Miller
Marcia and Burton Moss
Stacie and Marc Moss
Andrew Nusbaum
Charles and Nancy Nusbaum

Elinore PorterMarc D. Rabinowitz and Bonnie D. Gordon-Rabinowitz
      In memory of William Laderberg
Judith Rosenblatt
Sara Jo and Joel Rubin
Shikma and Danny Rubin
Gerald Sandler
Laure and Richard Saunders
Beth Scharlop and Roger Schultz
Lynn Schoenbaum
Deborah and Peter Segaloff
Patricia and Herman Shelanski
Lynn and Sadie Sher Cohen
Sandy and Norman Sher
Leslie and Lawrence Siegel
Edward Soltz
Heather Spinner
Lawrence Steingold
Renee and John Strelitz
Myrna Teck
Tidewater Jewish Foundation
Jody and Alan Wagner
Alice and Eric Werner
Steve Zahn
Amy and Frank Zelenka

 

The Big Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film is sponsored by Harry Laderberg, Linda (Laderberg) & Leigh Baltuch, and Mallory (Stark) & Romney Laderberg, in memory of their dear brother, William Laderberg.

 

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is presented by the Alma & Howard Laderberg Restricted Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and funded in part by the citizens of Virginia Beach through a grant from the City of Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission

 

 

 

FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION

Contact Hunter Thomas, Director of Arts & Entertainment at  HThomas@ujft.org or (757) 965-6137.

 

 

PREVIOUS FILMS

 

Offering shared experiences and connections through film and cultural programs inspired by Jewish legacy and values for over 30 years, here’s a look back at the most recent films the community has enjoyed, many of which are now available through various streaming services.

 

2024

  • The Boy
  • Sirens
  • Asa Turns 13
  • Dear God
  • Home
  • Remembering Gene Wilder
  • The Catskills
  • SHTTL
  • The Story of Annette Zelman

 

2023

 

2022

 

2021

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

 

2017

 

 

2016

 

 

2015