JCC MetroWest | Maurice Levin Theater

Limited tickets may be released closer to the screening.  To be added to the wait list, please call 973-530-3417.    This adaptation of the epic memoir by celebrated French novelist Romain Gary — a Lithuanian Jew born in Vilna in 1914 who became a diplomat, film director, and war hero — tells the story of a man who was driven to greatness and of his profound love for his mother that was his very life. Director Eric Barbier offers…

  How to Swim   Abigail is heavily pregnant and terrified about the imminent birth. While waiting on line in the doctor’s office, she spots an intriguing woman and pretends to be a friend from her past. The two have one adventurous afternoon, with some painful truths emerging. Audience Choice Award, XChange Film Festival 2018 Run time: 15 min Genre – Short Narrative Director – Noa Gusakov Year – 2018 Country – Israel Language – Hebrew Topics – Motherhood, Black…

 With both tragic and comic overtones, the film tells of octogenarian Ali Ungar, who sets out to take revenge on the SS officer who executed his parents in Slovakia. Instead, he finds the Nazi’s 70-year-old son, Georg, who had avoided his father all his life and offers to be Ali’s interpreter. The two men embark on a bittersweet journey to meet surviving witnesses of the wartime tragedy, on the way discovering their own identity. Official Entry (Slovakia)—Best Foreign Language…

Travelogue Tel Aviv A young art student from Switzerland arrives for six months in Tel Aviv, documenting his experiences in an animated journal. His sensitive drawings capture not only the local color and characters but the city’s personality and ever-changing atmosphere. Winner—Best Student Film, Manchester Animation Festival 2018 Run time: 6 min Genre – Short Documentary Director – Samuel Patthey Year – 2017 Country – Switzerland Language – Without dialogue Topics – Animation, Israel, Travel, Student film   The Unorthodox…

Due to the inclement weather, the Teen Film Fest has been rescheduled for March 31.   CELEBRATE YOUNG FILMMAKERS FROM THE GREATER METROWEST AREA WITH A NIGHT OF SHORT FILMS The Teen Film Fest is a new project of the New Jersey Jewish Film Festival. We aim to engage teens aged 13–18 living in the Greater MetroWest area to express themselves and showcase their talents through short films. Finalists will be celebrated on March 31, 2019. FREE DESSERT RECEPTION TO…

Just days before the laureates are announced, a leading contender for the Nobel Prize in Economics is found dead in his bed. His four closest friends decide to keep him “alive” a bit longer for the one thing he wanted more than anything. Fluctuating between broad comedy and sharp character drama, Stockholm explores lifelong bonds formed among friends and the secrets intertwined inside of them, an endearing portrait of comradeship in the twilight years. PURCHASE TICKETS Tickets: $11 Run time…

 Menachem, a former frontman for a rock band, is now religious and the father of a six-year-old who has been diagnosed with cancer. Desperate to find a way to fund the expensive treatments, he reunites his band for one last tour. The quest to save his daughter exposes old wounds and leads him to understand that only a new connection to his past and to his music can pave the way to his own redemption. Winner—Best Actor (Moshe Folkenflik)…

 17-year-old Asher has always been a troublemaker at school. He can’t concentrate in class, and he is driven by large doses of rage and violence. Yet, he is also endowed with a considerable amount of charm and street wisdom. While his strict father sees him as a natural successor to the family’s scaffolding business, Asher finds a different kind of role model in his sensitive literature teacher and forges a special connection with him. Torn between two worlds, Asher…

 In this endearing comedy-drama, two male misfits connect under the pressure of each one’s family circumstances and support each other. Simon’s wife, a rabbi, is about to give birth to their child. But how can this unusual young man take care of his baby when he can’t take care of himself? His encounter with Théodore, a cantankerous teen, will seriously test his self-respect and resolve as the two men set out on a wild and woolly quest through Paris.…

As war rages on in Syria, wounded soldiers and civilians, many unconscious, are secretly brought over the border to Israeli hospitals. Many of the Syrians are terrified when they awaken, certain they are in enemy hands. But the patients and doctors forge deep relationships, as the suffering Syrians benefit from Israel’s world-renowned medical care. Post-screening discussion   PURCHASE TICKETS Tickets: $11 Run time: 61 min Genre –Documentary Director – Racheli Schwartz Year – 2017 Country – Israel Language – Hebrew,…

Wajib Over the course of one day in Nazareth, Abu and his son Shadi (played by real-life father and son Mohammad and Saleh Bakri) hand-deliver invitations for the wedding of Abu’s daughter (including to two Jewish friends of Abu’s, whom Shadi suspects of being Israel spies). Through their bickering and reminiscing, they reveal layers of their troubled relationship and the generational gaps within Arab-Israeli society. Winner—Best Muhr Fiction Feature—Best Actors Mohammad Bakri & Saleh Bakri, Dubai International Film Festival 2017…

Death Metal Grandma 97-year-old Holocaust survivor Inge Ginsberg is making her final attempt at being recognized as a Death Metal Singer by auditioning for America’s Got Talent. Inge redefines what it means to grow old and reminds us it’s never too late to follow your dream. Run Time: 2018, 15 minutes Director- Leah Galant Country - USA Language - English Topics - Biography, Music, Survivor   The Mamboniks In the 1950s, a group of free-spirited, mostly Jewish retirees fell head…

This award-winning film, based on the book by Samuel D. Kassow, tells the wrenching story of the journalists, scholars, and community leaders who risked everything to record history within the Warsaw Ghetto. Led by Emanuel Ringelblum, the clandestine group — known by the code name Oyneg Shabes — chronicled stories and left a hidden cache of writings to record the true history of the Nazis’ genocidal brutality. Mixing testimony from the archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage, and dramatizations…

 As primary breadwinner for her family, while her husband struggles to keep his new restaurant afloat, Orna is elated when she gets a major promotion at work. However, she soon realizes that her career advancement has come with a hefty price tag. The unwanted sexual advances of her married boss is making life at work unbearable. Orna feels increasingly isolated, and when her world is shattered, she must pull herself together to fight for her job and a sense…

The surprise announcement that Filmmaker Yair Lev’s mother has inherited property in London leads to an astonishing discovery. He turns detective, embarking on a suspenseful journey and charged meetings between descendants of Jews and Nazis — to uncover the truth about the man who stole his grandfather’s identity and later became president of a Jewish community in Austria. Audience Award, Docaviv International Film Festival, Tel Aviv (2018) Research Award, Docaviv International Film Festival, Tel Aviv (2018) Post-screening discussion via Skype…

 The rise of Golda Meir from Russian schoolgirl to prime minister of Israel is an amazing 20th-century story. William Gibson’s play “Golda’s Balcony”— which focuses on the period surrounding the 1973 Yom Kippur War — opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre in October 2003. Its star, Tovah Feldshuh, was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, and it became the longest-running one-woman show in Broadway history. A recently…

Boxes As Oma and her granddaughter spend the afternoon packing up the belongings of Oma’s recently deceased husband, hidden truths about their lives come to light. Oma tries her best to hide a secret life she lived before the Holocaust, while Jessica grapples with coming out about her sexuality. Director - Jeremy Borison Run Time: 13 minutes Year - 2018 Country - USA Language - English Topics - LBGTQ, Family, Secrets   Echo In this stylishly romantic and sensual exploration of…

 In 2015, the European Maccabi Games were held in Germany for the first time since World War II, at the Waldbühne Stadium, site of Hitler’s infamous 1936 Berlin Olympics. The film follows 11 Israeli motor-bikers carrying the Maccabi torch from Tel Aviv to Berlin, retracing the route of early 1930s riders who set out from the British Mandate of Palestine to spread the word about the first Maccabi Games throughout Europe. Each destination holds a chilling resonance for the…

Amit, a father of four living in Nahariya, reveals to his wife, Galit, and children that he’s about to transition into a woman. Despite personal complications and social stigmas, Galit sticks with Amit through this transgender journey, and their children remain supportive. But just when it seems that their situation has achieved some normalcy, their lives are turned upside down. Winner—Best Israeli Documentary Film, Docaviv Film Festival 2018 Post-screening discussion with Abby Stein, American Transgender Activist PURCHASE TICKETS Tickets: $11…

The Outer Circle Daniel and his fiancée, Katherine, who is midway through a stringent Orthodox conversion, and are eager to gain the blessing of his intimidatingly large and loud Iraqi-Jewish family. Director: Adam Baroukh Year - 2017 Run Time - 13 minutes Country - United Kingdom Language - English, Arabic, Hebrew Topics - Religion, Family The Other Story    By turns suspenseful, poignant, and humorous, the film introduces two rebellious young women — one fleeing the chaos of secular hedonism for…