The 27th New York Jewish Film Festival features documentaries, dramas and romcoms about the Jewish experience around the world, including about civil disobedience, food, immigration and war, plus a tribute to the multi-talented Sammy Davis. Jr.
The New York Jewish Film Festival features nearly 40 films from Israel, France, Morocco, South Africa, Romania, Belgium, Italy and Argentina, including several world, U.S. and New York premieres.
As always, you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this annual festival of international films with universal themes.
Get tickets now for screenings, Jan. 10 to Jan. 23 in Lincoln Center.
On any given day there are as many as five different films and shorts screened, starting in the early afternoon. Tickets are $12 each, $11 for students and seniors. Expect subtitles for the foreign films.
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Some stand-out screenings include:
The world premiere of a new restoration of Alexander Rodnyanskiy’s The Mission of Raoul Wallenberg, 27 years after it premiered in the very first NYJFF
The New York premiers of An An Act of Defiance, based on the true story of the Rivonia Trial in apartheid South Africa, which led to the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and nine of his black and Jewish compatriots
The world premiere restoration of Michał Waszyński’s 1937 classic The Dybbuk, one of the finest films ever produced in the Yiddish language, presented in conjunction with the U.S. premiere of main slate title The Prince and the Dybbuk, a documentary about Waszyński’s life.
The U.S. premiere of Nabil Ayouch’s mesmerizing Razzia, which follows five Moroccans pushed to the fringes in Casablanca by their extremist government.
The U.S. premiere of Amos Gitai’s latest documentary, West of the Jordan River, a powerful look at West Bank citizens, both Israeli and Palestinian, who have risen to act in the name of civic consciousness and peace.
Ofir Raul Graizer’s tender debut feature The Cakemaker, about the relationship that forms between a gay German baker and the Israeli widow of the man whom they both loved.
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me is Sam Pollard’s exhilarating tribute to the legendary entertainer
The U.S. premiere of Chen Shelach’s Praise the Lard, an exploration of the Israeli pork industry;
Radu Jude’s haunting The Dead Nation, which consists entirely of photographs from Romanian photographer Costica Acsinte and audio of diary excerpts from Jewish doctor Emil Dorian, which both span the period from 1937 to 1944;
The U.S. premiere of Daniel Najenson’s The Impure, which investigates institutionalization of Jewish prostitution in Argentina in the early 20th century.
Tzahi Grad’s morally complex, darkly comic The Cousin, about a progressive Israeli actor who comes to the defense of his Palestinian handyman when he’s accused of assault
Francesco Amato’s comedy Let Yourself Go, about a detached psychoanalyst who finds his life recharged by the presence of a young, attractive, and undisciplined personal trainer.
A tribute screening of Amos Gitai’s One Day You’ll Understand in memory of Jeanne Moreau, one of the many celebrities we lost in 2017.
Drawing the Iron Curtain, a special program of Soviet animated shorts, followed by a conversation with author/professor Maya Balakirsky Katz and film critic J. Hoberman;
The New York Jewish Film Festival is a collaboration between the Jewish Museum and the Lincoln Center Film Society.
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