It’s time to see a Jewish film
Who better than the Chief Executive of UK Jewish Film to guide you through the festival
Michael Aloni in a fight for survival, a family reunion in Poland for Jesse Eisenberg, and a musical set in the wake of the Six-Day War. Only the UK Jewish Film Festival delivers such an eclectic and intriguing roster of must-see movies. Chosen with heart and expertise, its chief executive Michael Etherton has given Life his personal list, so you can make your own…
“It disrupted family life, there’s no way to say that it didn’t, and unfortunately quite a few of the girls got divorced. They suddenly found they had a voice and they were real people.” Barbara Oberman Katz
Barbara Oberman Katz is one of the plucky and determined British and Irish Jewish women who, in the 1970s and ’80s, took on the USSR to stand up for Soviet Jewry. The ‘35s’, as they were known, fought for the rights of the Refuseniks and their story is told in the wonderful new documentary Iron Ladies.
In this dark year since October 7, many of us have found that our voices as British Jews have been silenced or erased. That’s why it feels so important to me that this year’s UK Jewish Film Festival embraces those voices – hard-fought for by the 35s and many others – and provides a home through film for the rich diversity of Jewish stories that deserve to be heard.
The Opening night film for this 28th festival is A Real Pain, a title not to be taken literally because the film is a real pleasure and I’m a huge fan. Directed by Jesse Eisenberg who also stars, this outrageously funny and achingly wistful road-trip drama, sees New-Yorker David (Eisenberg), and his charming but meshuga cousin Benji (Kieran Culkin), hoping to repair their once-close relationship by visiting the Polish birthplace of their beloved grandmother. Both actors give sensational performances in this witty but quietly elegant film, which begins with a kind of crazy energy, then blossoms unexpectedly into a poignant exploration of Jewish families, love and loss.
Families is also the theme of Benny Fredman’s powerful Israeli drama, Home, which explores a strictly-Orthodox family from Jerusalem that decides to open a computer business in their neighbourhood. The new venture is a runaway success, but the local rabbinate feels threatened and tries to scupper the venture. Based on a true story, Fredman’s film provides a compelling look at the darker side of communal politics in religious neighbourhoods.
Meanwhile, lively real-life documentary Rabbi Capoeira follows Miki Chayat, who has opened a popular martial arts studios in B’nei Brak. With his strictly-Orthodox female business partner, they question whether they can change local people’s minds, hearts and, not least, their bodies.
In New York, the comedy Yaniv follows the highly enjoyable story of young secondary school teacher, Barry Bernstein, who needs to raise $10,000 to fund his class’s musical production of Little Shop of Horrors. When the school’s arts budget is cut, Barry looks for money in an Orthodox underground gambling ring. Based around the card game ‘Yaniv’, it’s crazy entertaining escapism.
Michael Aloni is one of the few Israeli actors with real star power and he excels as Dr Nahum Werbin in the powerful true-story drama Stronghold. Werbin is a reserve combat medic fresh out of medical school, who arrives at a desolate outpost in Sinai on the eve of Yom Kippur, 1973. When war breaks out, many of his fellow soldiers get killed or wounded and medical supplies are short. When the Israeli army fails to reach the outpost – now under Egyptian siege – against the wishes of the outpost’s commander, Werbin tries to convince his fellow soldiers to surrender – the dishonourable but only way to save their lives.
Victory, meanwhile, is a colourful musical homage to La La Land as well as a tribute to Israeli film through the decades. Set in the wake of the Six-Day War, Neta Agmon (Yael Sztulman) abandons her life on a kibbutz to pursue her dream of fame in Tel Aviv. The film contrasts the flamboyant lives of actors and director in the big city to the shared lives of the kibbutzim, traumatised soldiers and bereaved families. While Victory is, in some ways, a light-hearted romp, there is much to compare with current times and the psychological and human damage of war is a recurring theme.
By way of a warm-up to this year’s festival, we will be hosting special pre-festival previews, including An Officer and a Spy. Based on Robert Harris’s best-selling novel of the same name, Roman Polanski’s masterpiece is a powerful study of – and a rallying cry against – blind prejudice and racism. An Officer and a Spy is an account of one of the most significant political events in the history of France and European Jewry. It follows the humiliating military degradation and imprisonment of Captain Alfred Dreyfus – who was wrongly accused of spying for Germany in 1894 – and the relentless efforts of newly-promoted counter-intelligence commander, Georges Picquart, to prove his innocence. It will be followed by a Q&A with the author.
For the calendar
Iron Ladies: Sun 10 Nov 4.45pm, JW3
A Real Pain:Thu 7 Nov, 6.30pm Curzon Mayfair
Home: Sun 10 Nov, 6.30pm, Phoenix
Rabbi Capoeira:Sun 10 Nov, JW3, 7.15pm)
Yaniv: Wed 13 Nov, 6.30pm, Phoenix
Stronghold:Thu 14 Nov, Phoenix
Victory : Sat 16 Nov, Phoenix
UK Jewish Film Festival 7-17 Nov at cinemas across London http://ukjewishfilm.org
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