JCC MetroWest | Maurice Levin Theater

 In this sensational adaptation of French writer, Romain Gary’s beloved memoir, Charlotte Gainsbourg (Melancholia) and Pierre Niney (Yves Saint Laurent) star in this story of a man driven to greatness while in search of maternal approval. Director Eric Barbier offers a sweeping narrative that takes us from Gary’s childhood in Poland to his years as a student in Paris, and his training as a pilot during World War II. “A film that lives up to the original masterpiece novel.”…

Total Run Time: 85 min How to Swim   Abigail is heavily pregnant, But something is missing. Terrified about the imminent birth, she kidnaps a comforting partner in crime for one afternoon. Run time: 15 min Genre – Short Narrative Director – Noa Gusakov Year – 2018 Country – Israel Language – Hebrew Topics – Motherhood, Black Comedy In Her Footsteps   After 10 years of dealing with breast cancer, her mother’s only wish was to be buried in Omer.…

Oscillating between comedy and tragedy, Martin Šulík’s road movie focuses on two old men weighed down by the unresolved conflicts that have plagued their lives who are now trying to free themselves from this oppressive burden. Jiří Menzel plays the role of the gloomy and worldly-wise Ali, Peter Simonischek is the maverick Georg. Run time: 114 min Genre – Narrative Director – Martin Šulík Year – 2018 Country –Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Austria Language – German, Slovakian Topics – History,…

Total Run time: 100 min   Travelogue Tel Aviv A young art student from Switzerland arrives for six months in Tel Aviv. Through drawing, he will learn to analyze, understand and free himself to this contrasted environment. 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 The Unorthodox is the first feature film directed by Eliran Malka, best…

Fluctuating between broad comedy and intelligent character drama, Stockholm is a hilarious and touching miniseries about lifelong bonds formed and the secrets that have intertwined themselves inside of them. Director Daniel Syrkin and his accomplished cast, including award-winning actor Sasson Gabai (also at the Festival in The Other Story), strike the perfect balance in tone, lending chutzpah to the comedy behind serious topics. Playing like a Jewish version of The Big Chill for an older demographic, Stockholm is, above all,…

Menachem, a former frontman for a rock band, is now religious, and a father to a six-year-old. When his daughter is diagnosed with cancer, he must find a creative solution to fund the expensive treatments. He reunites his band for one last tour. The journey to save his daughter exposes old wounds and allows him to reconnect with his secular past. Menachem understands that only a new connection to his past and to his music can pave the road to…

17-year-old Asher has always been the impulsive troublemaker at school. Whilst his powerful and strict father sees him as a natural successor to the family’s scaffolding business, Asher finds unexpected solace in his inspiring literature teacher. Torn between the two worlds, Asher looks for a chance for a new life and new identity. An impressive debut from the first-time director Matan Yair, who explores his troubled protagonist with tenderness and depth. Run time:  90 min Genre – Narrative Director –…

In this new, very touching French comedy-drama by director Mikael Buch (Let My People Go), Félix Moati gives a moving performance as Simon, an emotionally-troubled man about to become a father with Rivka, his wife who works as a rabbi. He wonders how he can care for his baby when he can barely take care of himself. But his encounter with Théodore, a rebellious teen studying for his Bar Mitzvah, forces him to question his uncertainties. The two misfits set out on…

Under cover of darkness soldiers transfer wounded Syrians into Israel. Military ambulances bring these unknown wounded from the Syrian border. Most of them are unconscious. Maged has lost the lower part of his face. He is brought immediately to the operating room of Dr. Eyal Sela, the director of the ENT unit, he had operating him for nine hours. Majad begins to draw paintings for Dr. Sela, The two develop a special relationship. Shacha, a 35-year-old woman, from Syria and…

Total Run time: 118 min Post-screening discussion A Perfect Day for Banana Leaves Bananas are grown in the north of Israel and destined for Gthe aza Strip. They make their journey south through the Israeli landscape and cross the separation wall to reach the Palestinian neighbors. How do the merchants on two sides of the divide manage to work together? Who profits and who loses in this cooperation and what the bananas must go through before they reach their destination?…

In the 1950s, a group of free-spirited, mostly Jewish dancers from New York City fell in love with a sultry dance from Cuba called the mambo, earning them a nickname: the mamboniks.  Set in New York, Miami Beach, the Catskills, and Havana, The Mamboniks features the infectious sounds of Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Mongo Santamaria. Run time: 86 min Genre – Documentary Director – Lex Gillespie Year – 2015 Country – USA Language – English Topics – History, Dance, Culture Community Partner: Margulies Senior Center Sponsors:

Told through a combination of archival footage, photographs, and masterful reenactments, the film is a stirring paean to these prescient individuals and a celebration of their optimism, persistence, and grit. Under the inspired leadership of community organizer Emanuel Ringelblum, Oyneg Shabes operated in the shadows of Self Help, the social services organization Ringelblum founded, which ran soup kitchens and provided all manner of necessary services to the ghetto’s increasingly destitute population. In the words of historian Samuel Kassow, whose book…

After landing a promotion at work that would elevate her career to the next level, twenty-something Orna (Liron Ben- Shlush, Next to Her) is elated. As a wife and the primary breadwinner for her family of four, an opportunity like this doesn’t come around too often. However, it isn’t long before Orna realizes that her career advancement has come with a hefty price tag. Her married boss, Benny (Menashe Noy, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem), cannot keep his hands to himself,…

Yair Lev, a Israeli documentary filmmaker turns a detective and sets on a journey to uncover the true identity behind the man who stole his grandfather's identity and later on became the president of a Jewish community in Austria.   Run time: 92 min Genre – Documentary Director – Yair Lev Year – 2018 Country – Israel, Austria Language – Hebrew, English, German, Serbo-Croation Topics – Holocaust, WWII, History, Mystery Community Partners: Sponsors: Post-screening discussion with filmmaker, Yair Lev