Spirituality & Religion
Back to Topics
Addes
This comic yet heartfelt documentary chronicles the controversial renovation of a 100-year-old Syrian synagogue in Jerusalem. When the beadle makes a unilateral decision to remove memorial plaques that have hung in the synagogue for years, the congregation takes matters into its own hands, threatening to spark a conflict of almost biblical proportions.
Chosen Ones, The
Wendla Nolle travels to Manhattan in search of the face of young Jewish music and serves up a sampler of this hip new generation.
Ezekiel's Wheels
Renowned American-born, Jerusalem-based poet Shirley Kaufman gives an electrifying reading of her new work, a contemplation of longing and the nature of true seeing. The elegiac poem ("wheels and their turnings/can the mind provide/what the eye will/never") is inspired by Kaufman's struggle with loss of sight as eye surgery left her experiencing visions like those of the exiled prophet Ezekiel.
Film Fanatic
Film Fanatic is a captivating portrait of Yehuda Grovais, an energetic Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jew who has made over 50 feature films geared toward members of his community (who are prohibited from watching mainstream movies, but watch his films on disc). Screening with Yoel, Israel and the Pashkevils.
Just an Ordinary Jew
A journalist in Hamburg wrestles with the contradictions of being a Jew in modern Germany in this tour-de-force monologue from the director of Downfall.
Ladino - 500 Years Young
Yasmin Levy, an electrifying Israeli singer, is trying to preserve the musical culture of Ladino, the ancient language of the Jews of Spain, now in danger of disappearing.
Longing, The: The Forgotten Jews of South America
Five hundred years after the Spanish Inquisition, descendants of crypto-Jews in South America attempt to affirm their Jewish faith against all odds.
My Son, The Hero
Ulmer's 1943 slapstick farce showcases boxer "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom and Roscoe Karns as a con man impressing his war hero son. Preceded by Max Baer's Last Right Hook.
Orthodox Stance
A fascinating journey into the two worlds of Dmitriy Salita, a strictly Orthodox young Russian immigrant in Brooklyn who is also an undefeated professional prizefighter.
Touch Away, A
If you thought smartly written, superbly acted television dramas only happen on HBO, think again: A Touch Away takes a slice of contemporary Tel Aviv life and spins out a marvelous multi-family drama. The series revolves around the forbidden love between a young Russian immigrant man and his neighbor, an Orthodox Jewish girl. Eight episodes screen over two days at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
Yoel, Israel and the Pashkevils
Yoel, Israel and the Pashkevils, an unusual documentary because of its access to a hidden community, about a printer of protest posters (pashkevils) and his zealous nemesis.