Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival
A Showcase of 33 International Movies
January 20 – February 12, 2019
The upcoming 29th annual The Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival will present movies from around the world, opening with PAPA, a heart-warming movie about an adopted son searching for his biological parents, and featuring an all-star cast including Ann-Margret, Frankie Avalon, Mischa Barton, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Vincent Pastore, David Proval, Eric Roberts and Paul Sorvino.
The Festival will present a total of 33 memorable, audience-satisfying movies at four different cinemas throughout Palm Beach County, including:
AMC CityPlace 20 in West Palm Beach
Cinemark 14 in Boyton Beach
Cinepolis Shoppes in Jupiter
Cobb Theatres in Palm Beach Gardens
Presented by the Mandel Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches, the Film Festival will close with the Southeast United States Premiere of PROSECUTING EVIL: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz and Awards Presentation. Both the opening and closing films of the Festival will be shown at AMC CityPlace 20.
One highlight of the coming Film Festival will be the world premiere on February 5 of GOLDA’S BALCONY, THE FILM, which will include a special appearance by the movie’s star, the award-winning stage-screen-TV actress Tovah Feldshuh.
Other much-anticipated films include THE CATCHER WAS A SPY starring Paul Rudd as Moe Berg; the Palm Beach Premiere of THE LAND OF MILK AND FUNNY; the documentary SAM SPIEGEL: Conquering Hollywood; Hal Linden in THE SAMUEL PROJECT; and the thought-provoking WHY THE JEWS?
“The 33 different films chosen to be shown at The Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival 2019 represent a variety of different genres and come from all over the world,” says Festival Director Ellen Wedner. “They are extraordinarily diverse and very engaging; you don’t have to be Jewish to be thoroughly entertained and enthralled, you just have to appreciate and enjoy good films.”
Here is what's showing:
93 QUEEN, from USA
Director: Paula Eiselt (English. 2018; 86 minutes)
Screening: Cinemark 14 on 2/8
ABOVE THE DROWNING SEA, from Canada – Palm Beach Premiere
Directors: René Balcer & Nicola Zavaglia (English, Chinese with subtitles. 2017; 90 minutes)
Awards: Best Documentary, Ferrara Film Festival; Best Documentary, Hamilton Film Festival; and Honorable Mention, New Jersey International Film Festival.
Screenings: Cinemark 14 on 2/5; AMC CityPlace 20 on 2/12
BUDAPEST NOIR, from Hungary
Director: Éva Gárdos (Hungarian with subtitles. 2018, 95 minutes)
Screening: Cinemark 14 on 2/6
THE CATCHER WAS A SPY, from USA
Director: Ben Lewin (English. 2018; 98 minutes)
Screening: Cobb Theatres on 1/29
DARK INCLUSION, from France & Belgium – South Florida Premiere
Director: Arthur Harari (French with subtitles. 2016; 115 minutes)
Screenings: Cobb Theatres on 1/28; Cinemark 14 on 2/7
A DAY IN ROME (Iom Romì ), from Italy & USA – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Rubi Gat (Hebrew, English, Czech with subtitles. 2017, 74 minutes)
Screenings: Cobb Theatres on 1/30; Cinemark 14 on 2/3
A FORTUNATE MAN, from Denmark – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Billie August (Danish with subtitles. 2018, 162 minutes)
Screening: Cobb Theatres on 1/31
Golda's Balcony, The Film
GOLDA’S BALCONY, THE FILM, from USA – World Premiere
Director: Scott Schwartz (English. 2019, 86 minutes)
Special Guest: Tovah Feldshuh at Cobb Theatre on 2/5
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/24; Cobb Theatres on 2/5; Cinemark 14 on 2/5
HENRI DAUMAN: LOOKING UP, from USA – Florida Premiere
Director: Peter Kenneth Jones (English & French with subtitles. 2018)
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/23; Cinemark 14 on 2/3; AMC CityPlace 20 on 2/11
THE INTERPRETER (Tlmočník), from Slovak Republic, Czech Republic & Austria – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Martin Šulík (German & Slovakian with subtitles. 2018, 114 minutes)
Awards: 2019 Academy Awards Official Slovakia Entry Best Foreign Language Film; Winner, Film Critics Circle Award, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival; Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival.
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/22; Cinemark 14 on 2/4
THE LAND OF MILK AND FUNNY, from USA – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Larry Herbst (English. 2017, 87 minutes)
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/23; Cobb Theatres on 1/27; Cinemark 14 on 2/3
THE LAST CLASS IN BAGDAD, from USA – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: David Langer (English. 2018, 13 minutes)
Screenings: Short Film paired with various features at Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/23; Cobb Theatres on 1/30; Cinemark 14 on 2/7
THE LAST RESORT, from USA – Palm Beach Premiere
Directors: Dennis Scholl & Kareem Tabasch; (English. 2018,70 minutes)
Special Guests: Kareem Tabasch, Dennis Scholl
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/25, Cobb Theatres on 1/27, Cinemark 14 on 2/4
LIFE IS RICH, from USA – Florida Premiere
Director: Bonnie Rich (English. 2018, 46 minutes)
Special Guest: Bonnie Rich
Screening: Cinemark 14 on 2/6
MURER: Anatomy of a Trial (Murer: Antomie eines Prozesses) from
Director: Christian Frosch (English, German, Hebrew & Yiddish with subtitles. 2018, 137 minutes)
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/23; Cobb Theatres on 1/27; Cinemark 14 on 2/4
Opening Day Film
Papa
PAPA, from USA – Southeast United States Premiere
Director: Dan Israely; (English. 2018, 105 minutes)
Special Guests: Dan Israely, David Proval
Screening: AMC City Place on 1/20
Promise at Dawn
PROMISE AT DAWN (Promesse de L’Aube), from France – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Eric Barbier; (French with subtitles. 2017, 131 minutes)
Awards: Audience Award Special Prize COLCOA French Film Festival, nominated for four César Awards, France’s Academy Award (including Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay), Audience Award Boston Jewish Film Festival
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/24; Cobb Theatres on 1/28; Cinemark 14 on 2/7
Closing Film plus Audience Awards
PROSECUTING EVIL: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz, from Canada – Southeast United States Premiere
Director: Barry Avrich (English. 2018, 82 minutes)
Special Guests: Ben Ferencz, Dan Ferencz
Screening: AMC CityPlace 20 on 2/10
Redemption
REDEMPTION (Geula), from Israel – Palm Beach Premiere
Directors: Joseph Madmony & Boaz Yehonatan Yacov (Hebrew with subtitles. 2018, 104 Minutes)
Awards: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Winner of 2 Awards: Best Actor (Moshe Folkenflik), Ecumenical Jury Prize; Jerusalem Film Festival Winner of 3 Awards: Audience Favorite Award, Leah Award for Jewish Heritage, Van Leer Award for Music; Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival
Screenings: Cobb Theatres on 1/29; Cinemark 14 on 2/9; AMC CityPlace 20 on 2/12
SAM SPIEGEL: Conquering Hollywood
SAM SPIEGEL: Conquering Hollywood, from France – Palm Beach Premiere
Directors: Robert De Young & Stephen Wellink (English. 2018, 60-minutes)
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/22; Cobb Theatres on 1/31; Cinemark 14 on 2/5
THE SAMUEL PROJECT, from USA
Director: Mark Fusco (English. 2017, 92 minutes)
Screenings: Cobb Theatres on 2/1; Cinemark 14 on 2/3
SHOELACES, from Israel – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Jacob Goldwasser (Hebrew with subtitles. 2018, 90 minutes)
Awards: Nominated for 8 Ophir Awards (Israel's Academy Awards) including Best Picture of the Year; Ophir Awards Winner: Best Supporting Actor
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/26; Cobb Theatres on 2/2; Cinemark 14 on 2/5
STITCHERS: Tapestry of Spirit, from Canada – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Tassie Notar; (English. 2017, 16 minutes)
Awards: Best Short Film, Vancouver Jewish Film Festival.
Screenings: Short Film paired with various features at Cobb Theatres on 1/29, Cinemark 14 on 2/6
STOCKHOLM, from Israel – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Daniel Syrkin (Hebrew with subtitles. 2018, 160 minutes)
Awards: Official selection, Toronto International Film Festival
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/22; Cinemark 14 on 2/8; AMC CityPlace 20 on 2/11
THE THING ABOUT BETSY BLOOM, from Australia – Florida Premiere
Director: Benny Goodman (English. 2018, 17 minutes)
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/22; Cobb Theatres on 1/31; Cinemark 14 on 2/5
The Tobacconist
THE TOBACCONIST, from Austria – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Nikolaus Leytner (German with subtitles. 2018, 90 minutes)
Screening: Cobb Theatres on 1/30
Toman
TOMAN, from Czech Republic – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Ondřej Trojan (Czech with subtitles. 2018, 144 minutes)
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/21; Cinemark 14 on 2/6
Touching the Sky
TOUCHING THE SKY, from Israel – Palm Beach Premiere
Directors: Ilanit Bauman, Enav Shenhar, Idan Shavit &Tamar Tal-Anati (Hebrew with subtitles. 2018, 65 minutes)
Screenings: Cobb Theatres on 1/30; Cinemark 14 on 2/7
THE UNTAMABLE KIRK DOUGLAS, from France – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Hubert Attal (English., 2017, 52 minutes)
Screenings: Cobb Theatres on 1/28; Cinemark 14 on 2/4
THE WALDHEIM WALTZ (Waldheims Walzer), from Austria – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Ruther Beckermann (German with subtitles. 2018, 94 minutes)
Awards: Official Entry New York International Film Festival; Berlin Film Festival, Best Documentary; 2019 Academy Awards, Austria’s Entry for Best Foreign Language Film
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/21; Cobb Theatres on 1/31; Cinemark 14 on 2/7
WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY, from Poland & USA – Palm Beach Premiere
Director: Roberta Grossman (English, Polish, Yiddish with subtitles. 2018, 95 minutes)
Awards: San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Best Documentary.
Screenings: Cobb Theatres on 1/27; Cinemark 14 on 2/6
WHY THE JEWS?, from Canada
Director: John Curtin (English. 2018, 70 minutes)
Screenings: Cinepolis Shoppes on 1/24; Cobb Theatres on 1/29
Tickets will be available for purchase in January through the website www.PBJFF.org or by calling 877-318-0071.
