World of Jewish Flicks – April

 Aril is another busy month for Jewish film festivals. With the conclusion of the Passover holidays, several major Jewish film festivals get under way. The Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival (April 23-30, 2009) opens with Patrick Swayze’s latest film “Jump” and concludes with a fascinating documentary about the Warner brothers, “The Brothers Warner”. For further information go to www.lajfilmfest.org.

 Toronto, Canada hosts one of the biggest Jewish film festivals in the world in April (April 18-26, 2009). This Festival will be screening 91 films from 23 countries this year and features a wide variety of narrative films, documentaries and shorts. The festival kicks off with a beautiful film from Argentina, “Camera Obscura” and ends with a rare screening of the restored “What Makes Sammy Run”.

 Other highlights at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival include the winner of the David A. Stein Award, given annually to the best documentary making its Canadian premiere at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. This year the recipient of that award is Yariv Mozer for his film, “My First War”. Other outstanding films include the Swiss production, “Brothers”, and the Israeli documentary, “The Green Dumpster Mystery”. Also watch for the very charming “Galilee Eskimos” and the Israeli-American co-production, “The Little Traitor”. (www.tjff.com)

 In the world of DVD releases, there have been a number of great Jewish films being made available for the home market.

An old TV movie, “A Woman Called Golda”, has finally made its way onto DVD. This is the marvelous film that features Ingrid Bergman as Golda Meir, in a dramatic rendering of Golda’s remarkable life.

Another exciting new DVD release is a wonderful accompaniment to the recent theatrical film, “Defiance”. “The Bielski Brothers” is a documentary record of the real Bielski Brothers and their adventures in the forests of eastern Europe during the Holocaust. It is a must see for anyone wanting more information about the Jewish partisans during World War II.

 Other recent DVD releases includes an excellent film that played in the theatres a few years ago, “Va, Vis et Deviens”, which is also known as “Live and Become”, which tells the story of a young African boy who becomes part of the Israeli airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. The film follows this boy as he grows up and becomes acclimatized to Israeli society and who also suffers a continuing longing to be reunited with his mother.

 Also recently released is “The Reader”, the film that won a Best Actress Academy Award for Kate Winslet. The film focuses on a woman who has an affair with a teenage boy and who later turns out to have been a guard at a concentration camp during the War. But it tells the story in a way that is sympathetic to the German woman. The performances are outstanding, but the whole premise of the film is somewhat problematic for many people.

Talk to you soon with more great information about the World of Jewish

Flicks.

Larry Anklewicz ia the Programme Coordinator for the Toronto Jewish Film

Festival, He has written and lectured on Jewish films for many years and is the author of “A Guide to Jewish Films on Video”.