Trailer - 32nd Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film
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
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
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
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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).
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
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
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:
Learn more about JFS's food assistance programs here.
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:
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
Karen and Avraham Ashkenazi
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
Lynn and Sadie Sher Cohen
Ann and Robert Copeland
Cheryl Dronzek
Barbara Dudley
Susan and Jim Eilberg
Lois and Barry Einhorn
Mona and Jeffrey Flax
Alan and Esther Fleder Foundation
Anne and Lawrence Fleder
Shari Friedman and Andrew King
Alicia and Robert Friedman
Helen G. Gifford Foundation
Fox Pest Control
Jeri Jo Halprin
Susan Alper and Steven Harwood
Connie Jacobson
Jaffe Family Fund
Carol and Joel Jason
Betsy and Ed Karotkin
Jodi and Jay Klebanoff
Teresa Knecht and Marc Lindgren
Anne and Edward Kramer
Celia Krichman Charitable Trust
Sierra and Steven Lautman
Edward Legum
Robert Lehman
Caren and Mrs. Stephen Leon
David Leon
Sandra Porter Leon and Miles Leon
Betty Ann and Scott Levin
Joan London
Robin and Matthew Mancoll
Laura and Jerry Miller
Marcia and Burton Moss
Stacie and Marc Moss
Andrew Nusbaum
Raul Palenzuela
Poole Brooke Plumlee PC
Mrs. Elinore Porter
Lisa and Howard Roesen
Sharon and Gene Ross
Sara Jo and Joel Rubin
Shikma and Danny Rubin
Deborah and Peter Segaloff
Laure and Richard Saunders
Beth Scharlop and Roger Schultz
Miriam Seeherman
Patricia and Herman Shelanski
Lynn Schoenbaum
Leslie and Lawrence Siegel
Edward Soltz
Lawrence Steingold
Renee and John Strelitz
Tidewater Jewish Foundation
Jody and Alan Wagner
Amy and Frank Zelenka
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.
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
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015