Festival Shorts

Jews in Shorts: Animation

The past is present in this collection of innovative animated short documentary films: rediscovered letters from lovers during World War II; the walls of a Tel Aviv building from 1924 that have seen it all; the personal objects of departed parents; the reemergence of an estranged father; and the true tale of the secret agent who caught Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

Jews in Shorts: Documentaries

Truth can be found in the oddest places. This year’s collection of documentary shorts finds moments of epiphany whether it be in a fast food restaurant, performing in a death metal band, in a truck loaded with Israeli bananas traveling to Gaza, unexpected success in a Crown Heights ultra-Orthodox community, or contemplating loss while gazing at a sugar maple tree in Atlanta.

Jews in Shorts: Narratives

How do we stand in the company of others? This year’s collection of narrative shorts presents defining moments when people are confronted with personal decisions, albeit in very public settings: a Rosh Hashanah dinner gathering; the rooms of an assisted-living center; an awkward bat mitzvah in England; the living room of an Israeli family home in the midst of a chemical attack; and, finally, in an idyllic summer camp in the Catskills.

Habesha

Ethiopian Jews share their personal firsthand accounts of life in the Holy Land. Produced as part of the Jerusalem Film Workshop for young filmmakers that includes Bay Area editor Michelle Blue

I Heart NY

A short film about the creator of the infamous I Heart NY logo and his struggle to find love for the city in a trying time.

Jerusalem If I Forget You

Different backgrounds, lifestyles, and religious views paint vastly different pictures of life for female and male graffiti artists in Jerusalem. Produced as part of the Jerusalem Film Workshop for young filmmakers that includes Bay Area director Rachel Boyoung Kim

Nazi VR

What may be the last WWII Nazi trial, was also the first to use virtual reality in the courtroom. As part of the prosecution against former SS guard, Reinhold Hanning, Germany deployed VR technology to re-create Auschwitz, and prove that Hanning would have seen the atrocities taking place all around him. Like many Nazis who never faced justice, the now elderly Hanning claimed he was not aware of what was happening inside the concentration camp. And like many, he had been living a normal life in Germany since the war — until a major war crimes policy review opened the door to try Hanning as an accessory to at least 170,000 deaths

On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani and Popi

What happens to a 65-year marriage when a life-long secret is finally revealed?

212

An almost ordinary winter day in the life of 62-year-old Doron, director of a municipal elderly citizens’ home in Jerusalem – rain; someone takes his reserved parking spot, and Bela Schorr, the occupant of room 212, passed away this morning.

All The Leaves Are Brown

A short film about memory, loss, family and a sugar maple tree.

Death Metal Grandma

Death Metal Grandma follows 97 year old Holocaust survivor Inge Ginsberg's final attempt at being recognized as a Death Metal Singer by auditioning for America’s Got Talent. Inge redefines what it means to grow old and reminds us it's never too late to try anything.

The Driver Is Red

Set in Argentina 1960, this true crime documentary follows the story of secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he hunted down one of the highest ranking Nazi war criminals on the run.

The Entertainer

Toby Jones is wonderful as a party entertainer and former TV presenter who has an emotional meltdown while working at Charlotte Cohen’s Bat Mitzvah.

Five Years After the War

In this fantastical animated short, join Tim on his quest for his identity, and the place where he truly belongs. With a Jewish French mother and an absent Muslim Iraqi father, it’s no wonder that Tim feels a little lost.

Masks On

Israel 1991. A 12-year-old observes the tension rising at home as the threat of an Iraqi chemical attack on central Israel becomes more realistic, but she has a mission of her own: the pursuit for her first taste of alcohol.

The Outer Circle

Midway through a gruelling Orthodox conversion, Daniel and his fiancée Katherine are eager to gain the blessing of his intimidatingly large and loud Iraqi Jewish family. At their annual Rosh Hashanah feast, Katherine’s natural elegance and ‘English English’ heritage immediately endears her to them, but it soon becomes apparent that beneath the warm and welcoming atmosphere, some are not ready as others to accept her.

A Perfect Day for Banana Leaves

Bananas grown in the north of Israel reach their final destination in Gaza. They journey south through the Israeli landscape and toward the Palestinians across the wall as we witness from both sides how the merchants trade and ultimately who profits and who loses in this fascinating business operation.

The Red House

This beautifully animated documentary voices the tails of one unique building in Tel Aviv. The film journeys through the many stories these walls have witnessed, with love and longing for a building that is coming back to life.

Summer

Summer is short film about two teenage girls in a Hasidic sleep-a-way camp who, despite their every effort to maintain their purity, explore a forbidden book which leads them to a sexual awakening neither of them are prepared to encounter. Featuring Thea Mccartan, Juliet Brett, and Emmy Tanzy, the film is shot in situ in the heart of Hasidic Upstate New York.

A Thousand Kisses

The film tells the story of a young Jewish couple in Berlin who, separated by the fear of prosecution in 1933 Nazi Germany, make plans to reunite on the safe tropical shores of Brazil. The 15-minute animated film was inspired by the actual correspondence of the couple, recovered by their grandchildren 80 years later. A Thousand Kisses presents a love story tainted by the harsh historical context of its time, with a light touch and real-life poetry.

Triptych

A reflection on the nature of time and memory as a daughter empties her late father’s home: objects bear witness to the past and connect us to that history.

Wendy's Shabbat

The short documentary film is about a group of Jewish Senior citizens who celebrate the weekly Sabbath (Shabbat) at the local Wendy’s fast food restaurant with Hebrew blessings along with burgers and fries.

Zusha

When three ultra-Orthodox millennials started a folk band in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, they had no intention of making it their lives. Now that their first album has unexpectedly hit the World Music billboard charts, this trio of friends is forced to confront a new path towards fame.