Diverse cinema
Jewish film festival has broad appeal
Jeanne Fronda Staff
Courtesy of the Max Rady Jewish Community Centre.
A flock of people pack the streets, protesting the release of thousands of Jewish people who were being held captive by Nazis inside a building. A nine-year-old boy lies on the floor beside his bed, kicking his shoes off to feel the dirt beneath his toes. These are some of the images you’ll witness if you attend the Winnipeg International Jewish Film Festival.
The festival, which is in its fifth year, features a variety of films, including documentaries, dramas and comedies.
Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School (2005), a documentary that records the effort of a gay Jewish teenager to introduce a gay-straight alliance at his school, attempts to show the obstacles that arise when someone tries to shift people’s points of view, or at least make others more open-minded.
“[The festival] reflects the Jewish experience from all over the world,” said film festival director Tamar Barr, noting that the documentary is being co-presented by Anakhnu (the name means ‘us’ in Hebrew), a Jewish GLBT group affiliated with the Rady Jewish Community Centre. “There really is broad appeal, but some people only know what they’ve seen through Hollywood.”
So don’t expect to see a train of movies that revolve around the lives affected by concentration camps and the Nazi movement, as there won’t be any re-tellings of Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning Schindler’s List.
The festival features 10 critically acclaimed, award-winning, international movies that are all subtitled in English. Developed by production companies hailing from such countries as Israel, Sweden, the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Italy, the films are in languages such as English, German, Hebrew, French and Amharic (a language that is widely spoken in the northern part of Ethiopia).
But variety is key to the festival’s appeal, and the organizers hope this will draw people to the movies, said Barr.
“I think what’s special [about our festival] . . . [is that the films] are from all over the world. There’s such a complement of themes. Each film has a beautiful message,” she said.
Also included in the schedule are the coming of age story of Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi; a comedic drama in which two neighbouring families — one Moroccan, one Indian — find their cultures colliding in Turn Left at the End of the World; a hilarious peek at the events experienced by a 14-year-old boy and his family in Nina’s Tragedies; Walk on Water, a story about an assassin’s chase of a Nazi war criminal; Rosentrasse, a tale about Aryan women who rally to fight against the incarceration of their Jewish husbands; Campfire, a story of one woman’s fight waged during the Zionist settler actions in the ‘80s, and the Live and Become, a tale about how a young boy travels to find safety in a refugee camp.
There are also two other documentaries: A Cantor’s Tale, a documentary about how Jewish cantoral musicians from the U.S. connect to their musical roots in Jerusalem, and Mixed Blessings, which records the questions faced by families of mixed religious backgrounds.
“We like to show stuff that’s different and independent and will appeal to our audience,” said Barr. “We really want people to come and enjoy diverse and international film.”
The Winnipeg International Jewish Film Festival runs from March 27 to April 5. Admission is $8.50 per film but festival passes and discount passes (Flex Passes) are also available. For more information call 477-7510 or visit www.radyjcc.com and click on Ticket Central.
