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The Jewish Film Festival of Dallas provides a window to the Jewish experience and allows us to explore contemporary and historical themes in many different global settings. Some films will make you laugh and others will make you cry…all will provide you with a life lesson.
In our 24th festival, we are delighted to present six compelling films. After many of the films we will have a Talk Back with an expert on the subject matter at hand to enhance the viewing and learning experience for our audience and to strengthen our sense of community.
GIVE IT BACK
Winner of the 2020-21 Jewish Film Festival of Dallas Emerging Filmmaker Prize in Memory of Dr. Peter Marcus z”l
Film Available: Wednesday, May 19 at Noon to Sunday, May 23 at Midnight
Virtual Ticket: FREE to attend
Talk Back: Sunday, May 23 at 1:00 pm CT
Olivia (12), just moved with her family from New York and arrives for her first day of school. She struggles to find her place within the hierarchy of her new school. Finding herself caught between the popular students and her shy classmate, Alem, Olivia must ultimately make a choice about who she is and how she will navigate her newfound circumstances.
Please join us for the Talk Back on Zoom featuring our prize winner, Ruchama Ehrenhalt joining us from Israel in conversation with Rabbi Adam Roffman of Congregation Shearith Israel, Dallas.
The Jewish Film Festival of Dallas Emerging Filmmaker Prize
in memory of Dr. Peter Marcus z"l
Each year the Jewish Film Festival of Dallas will award a cash prize to a young filmmaker that shows merit in creating a short film containing Jewish content or theme. The winner will be chosen by a select committee after an application period for entries. More than one award may be given depending on number of applicants and value of works submitted.
For more information, please contact Producer Rachelle Weiss Crane at rweisscrane@jccdallas.org.
Past Events
IS THAT YOU?
Viewing period: Tuesday, January 19 – Thursday, January 21
Online Registration deadline: 4:00 pm on January 19 after that time please email aweinberg@jccdallas.org or rweisscrane@jccdallas.org with your phone number and we will attempt to contact you for ticket purchase.
Drama/Romance / 2014 / 83 minutes / English
Israeli teenage sweethearts Ronnie and Rachel made a promise that, no matter what life held in store for them, they would celebrate her 60th birthday together. Now, many years later, Ronnie finds himself unemployed, and decides to search for Rachel – his long-lost first love – who lives somewhere in America. Accompanying him on his journey to upstate New York is an unlikely partner, a young American film student who is working on a documentary about “regrets.” This touching film starts with an individual’s quest to recapture what was lost—but becomes a wider commentary on the “what ifs” of life, with vignettes that are poignant and funny in equal measure. Written and directed by acclaimed Israeli filmmaker, Dani Menkin, whom we are thrilled will be on hand to discuss his incredible movie.
Dani Menkin Bio
Currently living in Los Angeles, California, Dani Menkin is the twice Israeli-Academy-Award-Winning filmmaker of 39 POUNDS OF LOVE and IS THAT YOU? 39 POUNDS OF LOVE was sold to HBO Documentary Films and shortlisted for the American Oscar Awards.
Menkin’s award-winning film DOLPHIN BOY (co-directed with Yonatan Nir) was sold to over 20 countries around the globe and was bought by Walt Disney Pictures for adaptation. His documentary ON THE MAP is being distributed by Lionsgate in North America.
Dani Menkin is a speaker and film juror at International Festivals around the world, as well as a film professor in universities in the U.S.
AULCIE
Viewing period: Monday, January 25 – Wednesday, January 27
Online Registration deadline: 4:00 pm on January 25 after that time please email aweinberg@jccdallas.org or rweisscrane@jccdallas.org with your phone number and we will attempt to contact you for ticket purchase.
Talk Back: Wednesday, January 27 at 7:00 pm with Dani Menkin, Ori Eisen, and Morton Meyerson
Dani Menkin Bio
Currently living in Los Angeles, California, Dani Menkin is the twice Israeli-Academy-Award-Winning filmmaker of 39 POUNDS OF LOVE and IS THAT YOU? 39 POUNDS OF LOVE was sold to HBO Documentary Films and shortlisted for the American Oscar Awards.
Menkin’s award-winning film DOLPHIN BOY (co-directed with Yonatan Nir) was sold to over 20 countries around the globe and was bought by Walt Disney Pictures for adaptation. His documentary ON THE MAP is being distributed by Lionsgate in North America.
Dani Menkin is a speaker and film juror at International Festivals around the world, as well as a film professor in universities in the U.S.
Ori Eisen Bio
Ori Eisen has spent the last two decades fighting online crime, and is respected for his business knowledge and leadership.
Prior to founding Trusona, Mr. Eisen founded 41st Parameter – the leading online fraud prevention and detection solution for financial institutions and e-commerce. 41st Parameter was acquired by Experian in 2013.
Prior to 41st Parameter, Mr. Eisen served as the Worldwide Fraud Director for American Express focusing on Internet and counterfeit fraud. During his tenure, he championed the project to enhance the authorization request to include Internet specific parameters.
Prior to American Express, Mr. Eisen was the Director of Fraud Prevention for VeriSign/Network Solutions. By developing new and innovative technologies, he skillfully reduced fraud losses by over 85 percent in just three months.
Mr. Eisen is often quoted by industry insiders, and receives numerous invitations to keynote industry events and conferences. Mr. Eisen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Montclair State University and he holds over two dozen cybersecurity patents.
In his free time, Mr. Eisen volunteers with Thorn, the digital defenders of children. He founded Ball to All, a charity that donates free soccer balls around the world to children who have never had one. He is a founding member of Security Canyon – Arizona’s Cyber Security Coalition. He resides in Scottsdale and is married with two children. Mr. Eisen has dedicated his life to fighting online crime.
Morton H. Meyerson Bio
MORTON H. MEYERSON
Morton H. Meyerson, founder and chair of 2M Companies, LLC, a family company, and of The Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation, devotes his time to the giving programs of The Meyerson Foundation and The Marlene Nathan Meyerson Family Foundation, collectively known as the Meyerson Family Foundations, and to investing through 2M Companies. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and he currently serves on the board of the Dallas Symphony Association and is Vice Chairman Emeritus for the National Park Foundation.
INCITEMENT
Viewing period: Monday, February 1-Wednesday, February 3
Online Registration deadline: 4:00 pm on February 1 after that time please email aweinberg@jccdallas.org or rweisscrane@jccdallas.org with your phone number and we will attempt to contact you for ticket purchase.
Drama/2019/123 minutes/Hebrew with English subtitles
Directed by Yaron Zilberman
This chilling drama provides a fascinating look into the mind of the young Orthodox student, Yigal Amir, who assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin in 1995. His actions are played out against the backdrop of Rabin’s attempt to orchestrate a comprehensive peace settlement with the Palestinians, despite protests from the extreme Right. When we first meet him, Amir seems to be a typical college student, dealing with conflicts with his parents and girlfriend, as well as with the disturbing political climate in the country. What then caused him to change from being a hothead political activist to a vicious murderer? This disturbing film is based on four years of research by writers Yaron Zilberman and Ron Deshon.
Awards: Ophir Award for Best Film and Best Casting
Nominated for Ophir Award for Best Actor
Dr. Patterson Bio
He eearned degrees in philosophy and comparative literature in an effort to engage the “big questions,” often to no avail. In his teaching, in the midst of what he can recall a “meaning famine” that plagues academia, he strives to offer his students bread, and not a stone. His interest in teaching and scholarship is to pursue what is higher in higher learning in a time when nihilism, in various forms and disguises, is fashionable.
His current research interests include (1) ways in which the Shoah affects our reading of the Torah and how the Torah shapes our reading of the Shoah, (2) Elie Wiesel’s legacy as a Hasidic Jew, and (3) ways in which Jewish thought informs problems of Holocaust representation.
In their research, study, and scholarship, he encourage students to work on topics that transform them into witnesses and help them to meet their responsibility to humanity for elevating this world.
Dr. Patterson joined the University of Texas at Dallas on 1 June 2010. With degrees in philosophy (B.A., Oregon, 1972) and in comparative literature (M.A., Ph.D., Oregon, 1976, 1978), he taught at the University of Memphis, where he held the Bornblum Chair in Judaic Studies, as well as at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oregon. He served as the visiting Sutton Chair in the Humanities at the University of Oklahoma and as a guest professor at Pepperdine University.
MRS. G
Viewing period: Monday, February 8 – Wednesday, February 10
Online Registration deadline: 4:00 pm on February 8 after that time please email aweinberg@jccdallas.org or rweisscrane@jccdallas.org with your phone number and we will attempt to contact you for ticket purchase.
Documentary/2019/55 minutes/English, Hebrew, Hungarian with English Subtitles
Directed by Dalit Kimor
The Gottex swimwear empire was founded by legendary designer, Holocaust survivor, and larger-than-life character Lea Gottlieb. She started the company in her tiny Tel Aviv apartment and navigated her way to the top of the fashion world. She spent her fortune extravagantly and lived her life like there was no tomorrow—often at the expense of those closest to her. This inspiring documentary examines her meteoric rise, her unyielding professional vision, and her complicated relationship with her daughters.
Six Minutes to Midnight
Viewing period: Monday, February 22 – Sunday, February 28
Online Registration deadline: Online ticket sales will be available through Sunday, February 28th at 6:45 pm. Viewing link distribution will depend on the day and time of your ticket purchase. Any tickets purchased prior to 5:00 pm on Monday, February 22 will be sent by 6:00 pm on 2/22. Subsequently, links will be sent 3 times daily Tuesday through Friday, and on Sunday. We will not send links during Shabbat. Links for purchases after 3:00 pm on Friday, February 26 will be sent after Shabbat on Saturday, February 27 evening at 8:00 pm. Links for Saturday evening purchases after 6:59 pm will be sent on Sunday, February 28. If you believe that you missed receiving a link please email rweisscrane@jccdallas.org with your phone number and we will attempt to contact you. We will not respond to any emails during Shabbat.
Talk Back will be Sunday, February 28 at 4:00 pm CT. Speakers: Dr. David Patterson, Hillel A. Feinberg Distinguished Chair of Holocaust Studies, Ackerman Center University of Texas at Dallas and Dr. Nils Roemer, Stan and Barbara Rabin Professor in Holocaust Studies, Ackerman Center and Interim Dean, School of Arts and Humanities University of Texas at Dallas
Drama/2021/99 minutes/English
Director: Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey, Dr. Who)
Writers: Andy Goddard, Eddie Izzard, Celyn Jones
Stars: Jim Broadbent, Judi Dench, James D’Arcy, Eddie Izzard
Summer 1939. Influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist society. A teacher there sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm. But the authorities believe he is the problem.
The film is based on actual events from 1939. Dr. David Patterson, Hillel A. Feinberg Distinguished Chair of Holocaust Studies, Ackerman Center University of Texas at Dallas remarked “Six Minutes to Midnight identifies the far reaching and clandestine plans of the Nazi regime to infiltrate British society. Groups like this were also active in the US. Exploring subjects like this are essential to understanding the Holocaust.”
This film is geoblocked and may only be viewed in Texas.
In partnership with IFC Films and Tamar Simon from Mean Streets Management
DOUZE POINTS
Viewing period: Monday, March 1 – Wednesday, March 3
Online Registration deadline: 4:00 pm on March 1 after that time please email aweinberg@jccdallas.org or rweisscrane@jccdallas.org with your phone number and we will attempt to contact you for ticket purchase.
Comedy, thriller/2020/90 minutes/English, French, and Hebrew w/ English Subtitles
Directed by Danny Sirkin
Honors
- OFFICIAL SELECTION
- Amsterdam LGBTQ International Film Festival
- San Diego Jewish Film Festival
- Rome Israeli Film Festival