MOBILE JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
The Mobile Jewish Film Festival celebrated its 12th year with an expanded number of venues and community partners. The festival, sponsored by the Mobile Area Jewish Federation and the University of South Alabama, showed 7 films at 8 different venues during its evening festival. Below is a list of films shown. Our 13th Annual Mobile Jewish Film Festival will take place in January, 2014.
2013 MOBILE JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP
Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story
After leading the dramatic raid to free the hostages at Entebbe, Yonatan Netanyahu,
brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, becomes the “impossible mission’s” most tragic
casualty. With his death, Yonatan became an international hero. This is a
deeply moving story of a man who was both a soldier and a poet and may well
have been Israel’s prime minister had he lived.
An Israeli political update from Larry Voit followed the film.
Nicky’s Family
This is the nearly forgotten story of Nicholas Winton, an Englishman who organized
the rescue of 669 Czech and Slovak children just before the outbreak of World War II.
Winton, now 102 years old, did not speak about these events with anyone for more than half a
century. Today the story of this rescue is know all over the world. Winton was knighted by Queen
Elisabeth II and the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 583 recognizing his remarkable deed.
Nicky’s Family has earned rave reviews from audiences and critics around the world, winning over 29 awards – including 12
audience awards from U.S. film festivals!
Dr. Donald Berry, Director of the Gulf Coast Centre for Holocaust and Human Rights Education introduced this remarkable film.
Kaddish For A Friend
A Russian Jewish World War II veteran and a Palestinian teen form an unlikely friendship in the tragicomic
Kaddish For A Friend. Growing up in a Lebanese refugee camp, 14-year-old Ali has learned to hate Jews
before escaping with his family and relocating to public housing in Berlin. He tries to gain acceptance
among his Arab peers by targeting an elderly Russian Jew, vandalizing the old man’s apartment. Threatened
with deportation, the teen is forced to apologize, sparking a feisty relationship with Alexander. Based on
actual events and embodying the spirit of building bridges of understanding, Kaddish For A Friend unfolds with gritty realism and a light touch.
Rabbi Donald Kunstadt introduced the film.
Remembrance
A Polish political prisoner and a Jewish woman fall in love in a Nazi death camp in German occupied Poland during
World War II, but lose sight of each other for decades after they manage to escape. After she sees him on television,
she embarks on a quest to find him that could change her entire life.
Author and journalist Roy Hoffman lead a discussion after the film which was followed by a dessert reception.
Hava Nagila (The Movie)
A documentary romp through the history, mystery and meaning of the great Jewish standard. Featuring
interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Regina Spektor and more,
the film follows the ubiquitous party song on its fascinating journey from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the kibbutzim of Israel to the cul-de-sacs of America. High on fun and entertainment, Hava Nagila (The Movie) is also surprisingly profound.
The film was followed by dessert and Israeli folk dancing.
As Seen Through These Eyes
As Maya Angelou narrates this powerfull documentary, she reveals the story of a brave
group of people who fought Hitler with the only weapons they had: charcoal, pencil
stubs, shreds of paper and memories etched in their minds. These artists took their
fate into their own hands to make a compelling statement about the human spirit, enduring
against unimaginable odds.
Art therapist, Jacqueline Glover, spoke following the film.
Co-Sponsored by Centre for the Living Arts
Torn
Twelve years after he was ordained as a Polish Catholic priest, Romuald Waszkinel
discovers that he was born to Jewish parents, and that his name was Jacob Weksler.
The film follows his amazing journey: from conducting mass in a church in Poland
to life as an observant Jew in a religious kibbutz in Israel. Romuald is torn
between two identities. He is unable to renounce either, and therefore, is rejected
by both religions and the State of Israel.
Post film discussion was led by Jerry Darring, author and curator of the Agnes Tennenbaum Holocaust Library.
Co-Sponsored by the Mobile Public Library and the Christian-Jewish Dialogue
