ORANgE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL Season Premiere: Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy — Wednesday, October 16, 2019 Jewish composers and lyricists loom large in the creation of both the modern American musical and “The American Songbook.” During the heyday of the Broadway musical, the genre’s most memorable songs were written and composed by Jewish Americans. Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy looks back and behind the scenes, mixing ethnic cultural history with humorous and provocative perspectives from the likes of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, the Gershwin brothers and Leonard Bernstein on the origins and meaning of Broadway’s beloved songs and shows. In English. This film will be preceded by a special live performance of Broadway tunes. WEDNESDAY EVENING FILMS Westpark 8 Cinemas 3735 Alton Parkway, Irvine Introduction by screenwriter and psychologist Dr. Michael Berlin at 7:00 p.m., film to follow immediately. My Polish Honeymoon (2018) — Wednesday, December 4, 2019 Anna and Adam, a young Parisian couple descended from Polish Jews, embark on a long-delayed honeymoon to visit the village of Adam’s grandfather that the Nazis destroyed 75 years earlier. Adam is not enthusiastic about the trip, but Anna, who holds a romanticized view of the adventure, is excited to discover her roots. Believing that they are more Jewish than Polish, Adam becomes frustrated with Anna’s obsession with Poland, while Anna has an epiphany about the past that, in some surprisingly moving ways, sheds light on the present. In French with English subtitles. The Keeper (2018) — Wednesday, January 29, 2020 This true story describes how Bert Trautmann, a World War II German soldier and prisoner of war, became the goalkeeper and football icon for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Despite British postwar protests and prejudice against him, especially by the Jewish community, Trautmann refuses to return to Germany and instead marries Margaret, an Englishwoman. His disgust with Nazi war crimes, along with his decency, humility and marriage to Margaret, lessen the hostility towards him, while an open letter by Manchester’s rabbi proves the decisive act in diminishing Britain’s antagonism. While struggling to gain acceptance from those who consider him the enemy, Trautmann’s love for Margaret, along with an incredible performance during the 1956 FA Cup Final, win over even his harshest critics. Rather than being a film about sports, The Keeper is an extraordinary historical romance from German director Marcus H. Rosenmuller. In English.
Transcript
ORANgE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
Season Premiere: Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy — Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Jewish composers and lyricists loom large in the creation of both the modern American musical and “The American Songbook.” During the heyday of the Broadway musical, the genre’s most memorable songs were written and composed by Jewish Americans. Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy looks back and behind the scenes, mixing ethnic cultural history with humorous and provocative perspectives from the likes of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, the Gershwin brothers and Leonard Bernstein on the origins and meaning of Broadway’s beloved songs and shows. In English. This film will be preceded by a special live performance of Broadway tunes.
WEDNESDAY EVENING FILMS
Westpark 8 Cinemas 3735 Alton Parkway, IrvineIntroduction by screenwriter and psychologist Dr. Michael Berlin at 7:00 p.m., film to follow immediately.
My Polish Honeymoon (2018) — Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Anna and Adam, a young Parisian couple descended from Polish Jews, embark on a long-delayed honeymoon to visit the village of Adam’s grandfather that the Nazis destroyed 75 years earlier. Adam is not enthusiastic about the trip, but Anna, who holds a romanticized view of the adventure, is excited to discover her roots. Believing that they are more Jewish than Polish, Adam becomes frustrated with Anna’s obsession with Poland, while Anna has an epiphany about the past that, in some surprisingly moving ways, sheds light on the present. In French with English subtitles.
The Keeper (2018) — Wednesday, January 29, 2020
This true story describes how Bert Trautmann, a World War II German soldier and prisoner of war, became the goalkeeper and football icon for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Despite British postwar protests and prejudice against him, especially by the Jewish community, Trautmann refuses to return to Germany and instead marries Margaret, an Englishwoman. His disgust with Nazi war crimes, along with his decency, humility and marriage to Margaret, lessen the hostility towards him, while an open letter by Manchester’s rabbi proves the decisive act in diminishing Britain’s antagonism. While struggling to gain acceptance from those who consider him the enemy, Trautmann’s love for Margaret, along with an incredible performance during the 1956 FA Cup Final, win over even his harshest critics. Rather than being a film about sports, The Keeper is an extraordinary historical romance from German director Marcus H. Rosenmuller. In English.
ORANgE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
Those Who Remained (2019) — Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Those Who Remained is an emotional film about the healing power of love in the midst of conflict, loss and trauma. Directed by Barnabas Toth, the movie tells the story of Aldo, a 42-year old man who survived the Holocaust and now lives a solitary life as a physician in Budapest. When Aldo meets l6-year-old Klara, who lives for the promise of seeing her parents return from the camps, the two grow closer and the joy in their lives slowly returns. However, the Soviet Empire rises to power, threatening Aldo and Klara’s pure and loving relationship. Told through the eyes of a young girl in post-World War II Hungary, the film pays homage to a man who has been totally devastated, but who pulls himself together to save another’s soul. In Hungarian with English subtitles.
Crescendo (2019) — Wednesday, April 1, 2020
No sooner does renowned conductor Eduard Sporck agree to form and lead an Israeli-Palestinian youth orchestra than he is drawn into a tempest of raw emotions. Impacted their entire young lives by war, suppression and the constant risk of terrorist attack, the musicians align behind their best violinists – the Palestinian Layla and the Israeli Ron – forming two columns of mistrust that are manifested both on- and off-stage. Can Sporck convince these talents to set aside their hatred and make music instead of war?
Loosely inspired by Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Academy Award-nominated director Dror Zahavi directs this remarkable theatrical film. In multiple languages with English subtitles.
WEDNESDAY EVENING FILMS
Westpark 8 Cinemas 3735 Alton Parkway, IrvineIntroduction by screenwriter and psychologist Dr. Michael Berlin at 7:00 p.m., film to follow immediately.
ORANgE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
Love in Suspenders (2019) — Sunday, October 20, 2019
This sentimental and touching romantic comedy introduces us to Tami, an upbeat, well-to-do former singer who still communes with her late husband, and to Beno, a tough, sarcastic lone wolf who struggles to pay the rent and, like Tami, still suffers from the loss of his spouse. In spite of lifestyle and personality differences and interfering children and neighbors, Tami and Beno eventually, inevitably, fall in love. In Hebrew with English subtitles.
SUNDAY MORNING FILMS
Westpark 8 Cinemas 3735 Alton Parkway, IrvineBagel Breakfast at 9:00 a.m. Introduction by screenwriter and psychologist Dr. Michael Berlin at 10:00 a.m., film to follow immediately.
The Tobacconist (2018) — Sunday, November 10, 2019
Expertly directed by Nikolaus Leytner, this coming-of-age story and portrayal of Sigmund Freud captures the tensions in Vienna on the eve of Hitler’s takeover. When l7-year-old Franz journeys from his sheltered village to Vienna in order to apprentice at a tobacco shop, he meets and befriends Freud, a regular customer. He also falls in love with Anezka, a music hall dancer. As political and social conditions in Austria deteriorate under Nazi occupation, Franz, Freud and Anezka are swept up in the turmoil and must decide whether to stay or flee. Superb cinematography and production design combine to bring pre-war Austria to life. In German and Czech with English subtitles.
Leona (2018) — Sunday, January 5, 2020
This semi-autobiographical film relates the story of young Ariela, a Syrian-Jewish muralist from Mexico City who finds herself torn between her family and her love for Ivan, a non-Jew. The closed-off Syrian-Jewish community doesn’t value artistic expression, but Ivan steals Ariela’s heart as he introduces her to a world of possibilities. While the film may resemble a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, it delves deeper into Ariela’s journey of self-discovery as she makes mistakes, discovers her truths and finally becomes the woman she was meant to be. Directed by co-writer Isaac Cherem, the film depicts a world where religious values and traditions can easily dictate the course of one’s life. In Spanish with English subtitles.
ORANgE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
Golda’s Balcony, The Film (2019) — Wednesday, October 30, 2019
A big-screen rendition of the longest-running one-woman show in Broadway history, Golda’s Balcony, The Film, captures Tovah Feldshuh’s performance as Golda Meir and numerous other characters. This reminiscence by a dying Meir, who retraces the main events of her 79 years, charts her rise from Russian schoolgirl to prime minister of Israel. The film recalls a Moscow pogrom, Meir’s move to Milwaukee at age seven, her activism in the Labor Zionist movement and, finally, her emigration to Palestine in 1921. The film, like the play, reaches its end as Golda Meir considers dropping nuclear weapons on the Arab armies at the height of the Yom Kippur War. Winner of numerous Best Film awards in competitive festivals, this riveting biopic was filmed in front of a live audience. In English.
DOCUMENTARIES AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
University Synagogue 3400 Michelson Dr., IrvineIntroduction at 7:00 p.m., film to follow immediately. Tickets for all of these films will be sold at the door. Tickets are $10 per person.
Redemption (Geula) (2018) — Sunday, February 9, 2020
In this Israeli drama, ultra-Orthodox Menachem, eking out a living stocking grocery shelves, is forced to re-form his secular rock band to finance his daughter Geula’s cancer treatments. While Menachem’s former band members have moved on and are reluctant to play at Orthodox weddings, they agree to reunite once they learn of Geula’s dire condition. The journey to save Geula, which is Hebrew for ‘redemption,’ exposes old wounds and allows Menachem to reconnect with his secular past. Menachem comes to understand that only a new connection can pave the road to his own redemption. In Hebrew with English subtitles.
SUNDAY MORNING FILMS
Westpark 8 Cinemas 3735 Alton Parkway, IrvineBagel Breakfast at 9:00 a.m. Introduction by screenwriter and psychologist Dr. Michael Berlin at 10:00 a.m., film to follow immediately.
ORANgE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
The Rabbi Goes West (2019) — Wednesday, November 20, 2019
In 2007, Chaim Bruk, a young, charismatic Hasidic rabbi from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, moved his family to Bozeman, Montana, to bring Orthodox Judaism to the American West. Part of his mission was to place a mezuzah on the doorpost of every Jewish home in the state. In his travels, Bruk confronts a neo-Nazi threat and objections to his proselytizing by skeptical Jews along with the state’s Reform and Conservative rabbis, who believed that the mezuzah campaign was a ruse to lure their congregants to Bruk’s Chabad synagogue. This film gives audiences a window through which they learn much about Bruk, about Judaism in the West, and about the ways in which Chabad interacts with other branches of Judaism.
The Mamboniks (2019) — Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Award-winning filmmaker Lex Gillespie introduces us to New York City’s Jewish teenage mambo enthusiasts, known as the Mamboniks, who in the 1950s sparked a dance craze that swept the nation and the world. The film, an upbeat take on the power of music and dance to build bridges between cultures and communities, traces the mambo craze’s rise and fall – a fall prompted by the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 that cut off contact with the island. The original Mamboniks, now retired but still dancing and living in South Florida, relate their stories with humor, heart and chutzpah. A lovable collection of dancers, musicians, disc jockeys, club owners and record company moguls share personal thoughts about the appeal of music, love, friendship, adventure and a life well-lived.
After Munich 1972 (2019) — Wednesday, February 19, 2020
On September 5, 1972 – Day Ten of the Munich Olympics – the Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September stormed the Israeli athletes’ living quarters, capturing and later killing eleven hostages. In this documentary, Canadian director Francine Zuckerman recounts this horrific event through the eyes of four women – an athlete, a widow and two undercover agents. As a result of their trauma, these women’s lives were redirected and their sense of wellbeing and views of the world forever altered. After Munich 1972 is a story of intrigue, secret identities, love and death, conflict and reconciliation, and war and peace.
Crossfire (1947) — Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Adapted from the novel, The Brick Foxhole, and directed by Edward Dmytryk, this film classic stars Robert Young as a pipe-smoking detective who, after the end of World War II, is investigating the beating death of Joseph Samuels, a Jewish man honorably discharged after sustaining an injury. Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan also star. Crossfire will be remembered for the impassioned speech, delivered by Robert Young’s character, against the racism and bigotry that, half a century later, is still with us. This example of film noir, with its bleak and pessimistic tone, proves to be an indictment of anti-Semitism and a great example of Hollywood at its best: hard-hitting entertainment with a powerful social message.
DOCUMENTARIES AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONSUniversity Synagogue 3400 Michelson Dr., IrvineIntroduction at 7:00 p.m., film to follow immediately. Tickets for all of these films will be sold at the door. Tickets are $10 per person.
