ALMOST
Director: Raanan Tessler
Israel, 2005 | Narrative 42 min. | Hebrew with subtitles
It’s love at first sight for young printer, Motti, when Naomi walks in to watch her first poetry book being printed. A romantic spirit fills the printing house, which affects the elderly owner, Haim, and his relationship with Motti.  Naomi’s appearance reminds both men that they need to believe in their dreams.
Supported by Congregation Beth Israel

ARRANGED
Director: Diane Crespo and Stefan Schaefer
USA 2007 | Narrative 90 min. | English
Two young women, one an Orthodox Jew and the other a Muslim, meet and become friends as teachers in a Brooklyn public school.  They learn they have a lot in common – including the fact that both are expected to take part in arranged marriages!
In person: Imam Mohamed-Umer Esmail and Rabbi Alan Freedman hosting an inter-religious discussion sponsored by The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Community Association of Austin

BLUES BY THE BEACH
Director: Joshua Faudem
Israel/USA 2004 | Documentary 75 min. | Hebrew/English/Czech with subtitles
In 2003, an American filmmaker was filming at the Tel Aviv blues bar, Mike’s Place, when a suicide bomber entered, killing three and wounding many.  Although the film tells of the attack and its aftermath, it manages to shine as a testament to the tremendous spirit and resilience of the survivors.
In person:  Ami Pedahzur, University of Texas Associate Professor and expert on terrorism and suicide bombings.
Sponsored by Congregation Agudas Achim/AgudasARTS

THE BUBBLE
Director: Eytan Fox
Israel 2006 | Feature 117 min. | Hebrew/Arabic with subtitles
A close-knit group of friends live their lives in search of fun, love and happiness, in the midst of Tel Aviv’s dangerous reality. Israeli Noam meets Palestinian Ashraf and they begin an affair.  All is well until Ashraf must return home for his sister’s marriage to a Hamas extremist who doesn’t take kindly to gays or Israelis.
Supported by Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF)

Contains nudity and explicit sexual scenes. Not suitable for persons under 17.

CHEFTZI ON AIR
Director: Eliraz Dalit
Israel 2007 | Narrative 22 min. | Hebrew with subtitles
Cheftzi is a religious radio broadcaster who offers romantic advice to her female callers. One night, she decides to propose marriage to her boyfriend live on the radio.  To Cheftzi’s surprise, her theories don't work in practice.

A DIFFERENT DISH
Director: Shay Hamias
UK 2006 | Animated 10 min. | English
A Jewish Moroccan mother who can’t accept her son being gay and a son who has rejected the traditions of his culture learn to overcome their prejudices with the help of a mischievous rabbi.
Supported by aGLIFF

THE GIRLS FROM BRAZIL
Director: Nili Tal
Israel/Brazil, 2007 | Documentary 90 min. | Hebrew/English/Portuguese with subtitles
There are not enough children for adoption in Israel. During the 80`s, approximately 3,000 Israeli families flew to Brazil to adopt a child. Today, these children are grown and searching for their birth mothers. Nili Tal follows four young Israeli women on their moving journeys.
In person: Director Nili Tal
Arbor screening on Jan. 29 supported by Adoption Knowledge Affiliates.
UT screening at Garrison Hall 0.102 on Jan. 30 sponsored by the Schusterman Center For Jewish Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

JELLY FISH
Director: Shira Geffen & Etgar Keret
Israel/France 2007 | Feature 78 min. | English/Hebrew/French with subtitles
Three lives intersect at a wedding in Tel Aviv. A bride breaks her ankle, ruining her honeymoon. A waitress finds a girl on the beach, and a foreign caretaker feels guilty for leaving her son behind. Jellyfish weaves these stories together with visual poetry, magical moments and a humorous sense of melancholy. Expect the unexpected! Golden Camera Award winner at 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
Sponsored by the Jewish Community Association of Austin

LOCAL CALL
Director: Arthur Joffe
France 2004 | Comedy 102 min. | French with subtitles
Felix’s father died two years ago and so did his faith as a Jew until his father begins to call collect from the Great Beyond. Unfortunately, they can be very expensive calls! Things move fast in this absurd Parisian farce as Felix’s life begins to completely unravel. Old faith and a new romance help to turn things around.
Supported by Alliance Française d’Austin

MAKING TROUBLE
Director: Rachel Talbot. Produced by the Jewish Women’s Archive
USA 2006 | Documentary 85 min. | English
What is it that makes funny Jewish women so funny...and so Jewish? Get ready to laugh-out-loud at three generations of legendary women comics: Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Wendy Wasserstein and Gilda Radner!  It’s an exhilarating mix of contemporary performance, interviews and rare archival footage.
In person: Director Rachel Talbot
Arbor screening on Jan. 27 sponsored by the Jewish Community Association of Austin.  UT campus screening at Garrison Hall 0.102 on on Jan. 28 sponsored by the Schusterman Center For Jewish Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

A MOTHER'S JOURNEY
Director: Ross Wilson
Scotland 2006 | Documentary 102 min. | English
Yoni Jesner, a medical student from Scotland, is killed during a suicide bombing in Israel and his organs are donated. His mother soon learns his kidneys went to a Palestinian girl. She travels to Israel and meets the grateful recipient, but is still faced with the moral dilemma that her son's death helped the 'people' who killed him.

MY FATHER MY LORD
Director: David Volach                                  
Israel 2006 | Narrative 74 min. | Hebrew with subtitles
This powerful and heartbreaking film looks at the price that may be paid by rigid observation of religious tenets. A respected rabbi in an ultra-Orthodox community must balance the demands of his faith with the welfare of his family.  Full of quiet, intense moments, the film is a modern parable of Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac. Top winner in the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
Sponsored by Austin Film Society

OUT OF SIGHT
Director: Daniel Syrkin
Israel, 2005 | Narrative 86 min. | Hebrew with subtitles
The young heroine of this gripping psychological mystery is beautiful, brilliant, independent and totally blind. This doesn’t prevent her from investigating the shocking suicide of her cousin and inseparable childhood best friend as she boldly discovers the dark secret that the sighted around her choose not to “see.” Winner of an Israeli Academy Award in 2005.

Contains mature themes that may not be suitable for children.

SHABBOS MOTHER
Director: Namdar Inbar
Israel, 2004 | Narrative 32 min. | Hebrew with subtitles
Three sisters gather at their widowed mother’s house for Sabbath. One is an unmarried career woman who has abandoned her traditional roots, another is a religious middle-class woman in her ninth month of pregnancy, while the third one is struggling to conceive a child. Old wounds intensify and new issues develop during their homecoming.

SILVER JEW
Director:  Michael Tully
USA 2007 | Documentary 51 min. | English
Silver Jew is an intimate portrait of reclusive poet/musician David Berman, the guiding force behind one of indie rock's most revered bands, the Silver Jews. In the midst of their first ever world tour, Berman and the rest of the group traveled to Israel to play in Tel Aviv and visit Jerusalem – events that helped connect him to his faith.
In person: Producer Matthew Robison
Jan. 29 screening at Hillel supported by Hillel-Texas.

SIXTY-SIX
Director:  Paul Weiland
UK 2006 | Comedy 93 min. | English
In the summer of 1966, Bernie wants a lavish Bar Mitzvah reception more than anything. Unfortunately, his father’s business is going under and the family's finances lurch from one disaster to another. To make matters worse, England is playing in the football World Cup finals, so most of the guests make excuses not to come to the Bar Mitzvah so that they can watch the game!

STEAL A PENCIL FOR ME
Director: Michèle Ohayon
USA 2007 | Documentary 94 min. | English/Dutch
1943 Holland is under Nazi occupation when Jack meets and falls for Ina. Unfortunately, Jack is already married to Manja. When the Jews are deported, the husband, wife, and lover find themselves living in the same concentration camp barracks. Manja objects to the girlfriend so Jack and Ina write secret love letters. This true and compelling story is about the power of love. www.stealapencil.com

STEEL TOES
Director: David Gow & Mark Adam
Canada 2006 | Narrative 90 min. | English
A neo-Nazi skinhead awaits trial after killing an immigrant shopkeeper in an unprovoked attack. The court-appointed lawyer defending him, Oscar-nominee David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck), is Jewish. An intense and fiery relationship develops between the two men.
In person:  Director David Gow will attend opening night, Jan. 26. The Jan. 27 screening will be followed by an interactive discussion “What Does Hatred Look Like?” led by Roberta S. Clark, Austin Community Director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Contains scenes of violence and racist language.

SWEET MUD
Director: Dror Shaul
ISRAEL 2006 | Narrative 97 min. | Hebrew/French with subtitles
On a secluded kibbutz, 12-year-old Dvir realizes his mother is mentally ill and has been abandoned by her community. In his attempts to save her from institutionalization, Dvir reveals the secret behind his father’s death, experiences first love and discovers some truths about his friends, teachers and himself. Winner - Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals, Israeli Academy Awards.
In person: Udi ben Saadia, writer and film scholar, will speak about Israeli films through the eyes of Generation X. Supported by Camp Young Judaea-Texas.

THREE MOTHERS
Director: Dina Zvi-Riklis
ISRAEL 2006 | Narrative 106 min. | Hebrew/Arabic with subtitles
Triplet Jewish girls are born in Egypt – talented Rose, maternal Flora, and tragic Jasmine. Over three generations, their bonds of sisterhood prove stronger than their secrets, lies, deceptions, or marriages. Award winner 2006 Israeli Academy Awards and Jerusalem International Film Festival.
Supported by Temple Beth Shalom

TRUE TO LIFE: STORIES BY RAMLA YOUTH
Producer: Moshe Levinson.  Selections edited by Ziv Yoles.
Israel/Palestine 2007 | Documentary 55 min. | Hebrew/Arabic with subtitles
Israeli-Arab teens were given video cameras to document their lives. The resulting footage is raw, powerful, candid and unforgettable. It’s a compelling and realistic portrait of teens in the Middle East.

VOICE WITHOUT A FACE
Director: Assaf Basson
Israel 2005 | Documentary 52 min. | Hebrew/Arabic with subtitles
Yitzhak Basson was an Iraqi Jew who led a double life as Magdi, a renowned singer of Arabic music, and an agent for Israel’s Mossad. Because of his intelligence work, Magdi was forbidden to expose his true identity and performed only on the radio in order to maintain his anonymity.
Supported by Congregation Beth Israel

WEST BANK STORY
Director: Ari Sandel 
USA 2007 | Short 20 min. | English
A little singing, a little dancing, a lot of hummus. Set in competing falafel stands in the West Bank, an Israeli soldier falls in love with a Palestinian cashier despite the animosity between their families’ dueling restaurants. Can the couple’s love withstand a 2000-year-old conflict? 2007 Academy Award Winner.
UT screening at Garrison Hall 0.102 sponsored by the Schusterman Center For Jewish Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Tuesday, January 29th screening sponsored by Austin Jewish Academy followed by an interactive youth educational program.

WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: PLAYWRIGHT TONY KUSHNER
Director: Freida Lee Mock
USA 2006 | Documentary 98 min. | English
An intimate look at the public and private life of America’s most prodigiously talented, intellectually ferocious, politically engaged, proudly homosexual and gleefully Jewish playwright, Tony Kushner. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, and Oscar nominee, Kushner is a charismatic artist and activist whose work challenges us to “wrestle with angels.”
Supported by aGLIFF

AUSTIN FILMS, AUSTIN FILMMAKERS!
The Austin Jewish Film Festival is proud to support and encourage local filmmakers and screen their works.

DISPOSSESSION  
Director: Adam & Bobby Sud | 3 min. English
The impact of Alzheimer’s disease on their grandfather’s life.
Introduction by filmmaker.

HER STORIES, MY HANDS
Director: Bobby Pearl |10 min. English
A sculptor creates art inspired by her grandmother’s stories of the Holocaust.
Introduction by filmmaker.

NATIVE NEW YORKER
Director:  Steve Bilich
USA 2006 | Short 13 min. |English
Filmed with a 1924 hand-crank Cine-Kodak camera, Shaman Trail Scout 'Coyote' takes a journey from Inwood Park (where the island was traded for beads and booze), down a native trail, into lower Manhattan. www.nativenewyorkerfilm.com