2016 Boston Jewish Film Festival Recap

I’m not Jewish, however my fiancé is, so as someone who was raised Catholic, I want to learn more about her culture, her identity, and her experience living in Israel, where she spent two and a half years. Watching Jewish films gives me that opportunity, and movies from the Boston Jewish Film Festival specifically, really help me get to know her because they illustrate a broad range of Jewish experiences. Seeing the festival’s films together not only strengthens our bond as a couple, but it offers her an exciting chance to share her culture with me, one rewarding enough that she requests it as an early Hanukkah present. Given the festival’s run in November, I’m happy to oblige and get started early on the gift-giving.

At the 2016 Boston Jewish Film Festival, I saw a wide variety of films from narrative and documentary shorts, to feature length narratives and documentaries. Below you’ll find a recap of the films I saw with mini reviews, and at the end, a list of my favorites from the festival. I’ll tackle feature length narratives, followed by documentaries and shorts.

One Week and a Day

One Week and a Day is an Israeli dramedy by writer/director Asaph Polonsky that concentrates on couple grappling with the loss of their child. Eyal (Shai Avivi) and his wife Vicky (Evgenia Dodina) finish shiva (their week of mourning) for their son, but Eyal isn’t quite ready to get back to his daily routine. So he heads back to the hospice where his son passed away in search of a blanket he left behind. Although Eyal doesn’t find the blanket, a dying patient gives him a bag of medical marijuana, which he decides to take home and smoke. Since he has no experience with drugs, Eyal enlists the help of his twentysomething neighbor Zooler (Tomer Kapon) to roll some joints. After smoking together, they embark on a series of adventures that remind Eyal there are still plenty of things worth living for.

Two years ago when I reviewed Asaph Polonsky’s short Samnang, I remarked about its great lead performance by Jonathan Dok. Now that I’ve seen One Week and a Day, I can say that Dok’s performance wasn’t strictly a product of great acting ability, since Polonsky demonstrates a talent for working with actors, through the amazing performances coaxes out of his leads in this movie (his feature length directorial debut). Eyal, Vicky, and Zooler all come across as real people with nuanced personalities and genuine chemistry that you enjoy spending time with.

Polonksy’s film is incredibly funny despite its grim premise, yet it always strikes the perfect balance between comedy and drama to tell an affecting story. Polonsky also uses unique shots to communicate humor or grief, like his hilarious scene where we see the back of Eyal’s head as Zooler bounds around air-guitaring to music or his heartbreaking closeup of Vicky’s tearful face at the dentist, which changes angles mid-shot. With its brave humor, charming performances, and talented direction, One Week and a Day is the perfect blend of comedy with tragedy in an uplifting film that’s a pleasure to watch. By the time it ends, you’re happy that Eyal and his wife are on the path to recovery, but a little sad that you can’t spend more time with these characters who you’ve grown to love.

The Origin of Violence (L’origine de la violence)

The Origin of Violence is a French narrative drama about a teacher named Nathan (Stanley Weber) who is prone to sudden violent outbursts. On a research trip to Buchenwald, he discovers the photo of a prisoner in the concentration camp who looks just like his father did as a young man. When asked about it, his father is dismissive, which piques Nathan’s curiosity and prompts him to dig deeper into the mystery. That’s when he uncovers Jewish lineage that his family has hidden from him. The more Nathan learns about the photo and the man in it, the stronger his desire becomes to confront the painful past that his parents and grandparents worked so hard to bury. When that desires reaches its peak, everything comes to a head.

Although writer/director does Élie Chouraqui not make a strong enough connection between Nathan’s violent nature and his past, he crafts an affecting tale of love and betrayal set during the Holocaust. Chouraqui spends a fair amount of time telling the story of Nathan’s grandfather through flashbacks, which is effective in building tension and groundwork for the present day struggles that Nathan faces in confronting his family about its secrets. Nathan’s quest to tell his grandfather’s story becomes a noble one since he decides to turn it into a book, and his relationship with a German woman whose family members were Nazis becomes poignant for its commentary on forgiving without forgetting. The film goes on just a tad too long with an unnecessary subplot about Nathan’s father exacting revenge on a Nazi doctor, but overall Chouraqui tells a solid story worth watching.

A Grain of Truth (Ziarno prawdy)

A Grain of Truth is a Polish thriller about a star prosecutor named Teodor Szacki (Robert Wieckiewicz), who divorces his wife and leaves Warsaw for the picturesque town of Sandomierz. Teodor is called in to investigate a strange murder case, where a woman’s body is found outside a former synagogue. As he tries to get a grip on local politics, Teodor stumbles upon more victims, and in his efforts to solve the mystery, he looks into a love triangle, ancient Jewish rituals, and Nazi symbols. When it seems that the murders are connected to alleged historical Jewish ritual killings, the town is hit by a wave of anti-Semitic hysteria. Teodor must combat this hysteria by sharing the findings of his work—that some legends are pure fantasy, without a grain of truth.

Writer/director Borys Lankosz crafts a good looking film with creepy music that’s punctuated by occasional moments of dark humor. Unfortunately his movie is too long, its pacing is too slow, and its action scenes lack in tension. Lankosz nobly tries to tackle Polish-Jewish relations by commenting on crimes against Jews and on how easily the fires of anti-Semitism can be stoked by people like the film’s killer who use the Jews as a scapegoat for their own crimes, but that commentary becomes muddled by mainly tangential connections to the Jews. If it had been more directly about Jewish characters, A Grain of Truth would be much more engrossing and poignant.

The Last Laugh

The Last Laugh is a tremendous documentary that explores humor and the Holocaust by examining whether it is acceptable to make jokes about this tragedy, and what the implications are for other off-limits topics in a society like the United States, where free speech is highly valued. The documentary explores these tough questions through interviews with prominent Jewish entertainers including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Gilbert Gottfried, Judy Gold, Robert Clary, Etgar Keret, Jeff Ross, David Cross, and Harry Shearer. It also investigates them by chronicling Holocaust survivor Klara Firestone’s travels to speak with other survivors about coping with the atrocity and her brave efforts to educate young people about the Holocaust.

As a huge fan of comedy, The Last Laugh is probably my favorite documentary of the festival because writer/director Ferne Pearlstein spends quality time with so many of my favorite entertainers and features fascinating conversations that deconstruct humor. These conversations are intercut with clips from hilarious movies and television shows that are too numerous to name. What makes The Last Laugh more than just a talking head documentary though, is its emphasis on Klara Firestone. Seeing her talk about the Holocaust, respond to humor about it, and to bare her soul to the audience is an incredibly moving experience that rounds out what could otherwise be a much shallower piece.

The Freedom to Marry

The Freedom to Marry is a thrilling documentary that centers on the nonprofit Freedom to Marry, the LGBTQ advocacy group that campaigned for same sex marriage and brought the case that prompted the US Supreme Court to rule in 2015 that same sex marriage is constitutional in all 50 states. The documentary focuses the organization’s Jewish founder Evan Wolfson, other Jewish members of the organization, the lead attorney arguing the case Mary Bonauto, and the same sex couple suing for the right to marry. It also displays the strategies and tactics that Freedom to Marry used to rally the nation behind its cause and win the case.

Learning the backstory on the unique activists at the center of this groundbreaking organization is compelling, but what makes this documentary by director Eddie Rosenstein more engaging is the way it explains the strategies the group uses to turn people from opponents of same sex marriage into supporters. Seeing the mechanisms used by Freedom to Marry is a unique, educational experience. The documentary’s narrative is exciting too because it’s set up like a thriller, counting down to the arguments in the US Supreme Court case, and capturing the suspense in the following weeks while everyone is waiting to hear the Court’s ruling. This storytelling style adds a sense of anxiety for the viewer, as you stress out about the case’s outcome. These combined elements in The Freedom to Marry will tug on your heartstrings and stimulate your mind, while keeping you on the edge of your seat at the same time.

Who’s Gonna Love Me Now

Who’s Gonna Love Me Now is a challenging documentary that follows Saar, a 39-year-old ex-Israeli army paratrooper living in London, who is estranged from his religious family because he’s an HIV positive gay man. After 19 years living abroad, the documentary explores Saar’s struggle to reconcile with his family members and to decide if he wants return to Israel, to spend his remaining years.

At points, this documentary by Barak Heymann, Tomer Heymann, and Alexander Bodin Saphir can be heartbreaking due to Saar’s plight as an HIV-positive gay man—with the intense side effects of his medication, the difficulties his diagnosis presents with dating, and the outdated myths that his family believes about HIV. Seeing Saar have raw emotional conversations with his family about their perception of him and how they’ve acted toward him is tough as well.

Despite these factors, the documentary isn’t a downer. It’s inspiring because of the progress that Saar makes with his family, especially with his parents, who grow to accept him and become interested in learning about his identity as a gay man. The doc is also inspiring for the way Saar becomes a more confident individual over the course of the film, who is more in touch with himself. Additionally, the directors inject the right amount of levity into the proceedings through performance interludes by the London Gay Men’s Chorus, of which Saar is a member. This arduous, yet uplifting journey reminds you that even when you least expect it—people can change when they have open minds and open hearts.

Disturbing the Peace

Disturbing the Peace is a feature length documentary that focuses on a group called Combatants for Peace, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters—who have come together to break the cycle of violence between their people and to find a peaceful resolution to their differences. The film profiles the organization and traces its members’ transformational journeys from soldiers committed to battle to non-violent activists dedicated to peace.

Directors Stephen Apkon and Andrew Young’s piece serves an important purpose: to tell people about a fascinating group that they might not know exists. The documentary also illuminates the complex dynamics of Israeli/Palestinian relations by showing both perspectives. A great example is displayed in news footage played side by side about the same events, which is covered very differently by Israelis and Palestinians. To tell this story, Apkon and Young leverage interviews with a panel from Combatants for Peace. The documentary’s most moving segment is when each major player describes the moment they realized that the enemy was a human being too, and the life-changing event that prompted them to break the cycle of violence.

While this story is an important one that deserves to be told, Apkon and Young lose necessary background for the uninitiated by using archive footage of Israeli/Palestinian conflicts that isn’t presented with clear context for when things happened. Additionally, they don’t always go into the depth required to give the organization’s mission significant weight. A difficult conversation between a Palestinian member and his wife, who doesn’t want her children to be part of this organization, scratches the surface of the tough conversations needed to convince people that nonviolence is the right approach, but Apkon and Young don’t present enough of these conversations to help you understand what’s needed to make actual progress toward peace.

Women in Sink

Women in Sink is a standout documentary short written and directed by Iris Zaki. It takes place in small hair salon in the Arab part of Haifa, an ethnically diverse city in Israel known as a model of coexistence for the disparate groups that peacefully cohabitate there. The documentary’s setup is a fascinating one: Zaki works as a hair washer at the salon, positioning her camera over the sink, so she can interview neighborhood women about politics, life, and love in Israel.

Zaki’s film is intellectually engaging due to the unique angle she shoots these interviews with, the challenging conversations she has with her subjects on relations between Jews and Muslims, and her exclusive emphasis on women’s perspectives. It’s also compelling because she’s she’s not afraid to include herself in the documentary or to expose how it’s made. She sits down at the sink to be interviewed, includes parts where she is focusing shots, and shows how the camera rig was built during the closing credits. This bold, honest style of filmmaking makes Zaki a promising talent to watch in the future.

And Then, Violence

And Then, Violence is an unsettling French black and white narrative short written and directed by Jordan Goldnadel. In the wake of the terror attacks that targeted the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, a French police officer, and clients of a Kosher supermarket, the film follows Rebecca (Léa Moszkowicz), a secular Jewish Parisian Law student, trying to reconnect with her more religious ex-boyfriend Jonathan (Goldnadel), who is back in Paris after studying in the US. The violent aftermath of the attacks and rampant anti-Semitism in France that has intensified over the past few years, makes their families fearful and forces them to grapple with whether they should stay in France, where they’ve had strong ties for generations, or to leave for a more secure place, where they don’t have to live in fear.

Although it’s just a 15-minute short, Goldnadel’s film is an emotionally intense outing because it vividly captures the fear that Jews experience in Paris, and how that feeling intensified in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. One particularly suspenseful scene occurs when Rebecca’s parents are watching a news report about a young woman who was brutally attacked on the street, while Rebecca is walking alone at night with men on the street harassing her. This juxtaposition coupled with the film’s black and white tone add to the terror of this section.

In addition to the topical subject matter it explores, Goldnadel’s piece showcases some artful shots, but ultimately the scenes where Rebecca is studying law are a bit disconnected from the plot, and her relationship with Jonathan isn’t quite as clear as it should be. Its plot feels a bit incomplete, which could be a result of the limitations of it being a short, however the film is still worth seeing for the complex themes it explores and the disturbing atmosphere it creates.

Jewish Blind Date

Jewish Blind Date is a charming French romantic comedy short written and directed by Anaëlle Morf, that focuses on Mary-Lou (Estelle Darnault), a young Jewish woman who decides to reconnect with her religious roots by marrying a practicing Jew. In order to do that she decides to go see a shidduch (matchmaker), where she hopes to meet her future husband, however after she arrives, she learns that her match isn’t who she expected.

It’s hard to comment on this short without spoiling that Mary-Lou’s true match puts his Christian friend up to appearing in his place, which leads to many hilarious misunderstandings. One particularly funny moment comes when the young Christian man, appropriately named Chris, tries to tell Mary-Lou his secret and accidentally smashes his plate, which leads everyone in the room to believe they’re engaged.

Even though Chris isn’t a Jew, he convinces Mary-Lou to go on a date with him anyway because he’s kind and very attracted to her. The fact that she agrees to date a gentile could be an incendiary decision given how hard Jews have worked to perpetuate their culture through intermarriage, although Morf handles it delicately with remarks by Chris that he’ll do whatever it takes to be with Mary-Lou (including conversion). When the two walk off at the end, you’re not sure if they’ll be together forever, but you do feel happy that they took a chance on each other.

My Favorites from the 2016 Boston Jewish Film Festival

Short Film: Women in Sink

Feature Length Documentary: The Last Laugh

Feature Length Narrative: One Week and a Day