JCC Calendar

 
6th Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival
March 9 - 21
Funded in part by the JCC Patrons of the Arts
 
  The Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival, a collaborative venture with the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and new this year the Holocaust Museum Houston
exposes the community to current documentary, feature and short films with meaningful
Jewish or Israeli content as well as Israeli-made films with contemporary themes.

View the Brochure
  

PURCHASE INDIVIDUAL TICKETS
$8 JCC Member/Patron of the Arts & MFAH Film Buffs • $10 Public
$1 Discount for Students & Seniors
Mini-Package: Buy Two Tickets Get One Free!
(for JCC screenings only) 
  
PURCHASE A FESTIVAL PASS
$88 JCC/Patron of the Arts & MFAH Film Buffs • $100 Public
$5 Discount for Students & Seniors 
 
Once online purchasing ceases, tickets will still be available at the door.
The Box Office will open 45 minutes prior to each screening. 
Click the links above or call 713-551-7255 to purchase a film festival pass or tickets.
 

Opening Night: THE FIRST BASKET

Tues, Mar 9
7:30 PM • JCC 
 
Director: David Vyorst
USA, 86 min
English
Documentary 

This jaunty documentary about Hebrew hoopsters is a valuable reminder that before LeBron and Kobe, there was Inky, Hank and Ossie! For nearly three decades, basketball was dominated by Jewish players - and coaches who found the sport an ideal vehicle for assimilation in the United States. The First Basket rounds up many Jewish veterans, some now deceased, to tell stories of a sporting tradition that continues in Israel today. Full of vivid anecdotes and distinctive characters, this film is slam dunk March madness entertainment for the whole family.
 
Reception prior to the film
 

SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN (Sheva Dakot BeGan Eden)

Wed, Mar 10
7:30 PM • JCC
 
Fri, Mar 19 
1:00 PM • JCC
 
Director: Omri Givon
Israel, 2008, 94 min
Hebrew with subtitles
Thriller

In this powerful mystery thriller, a young Israeli woman (Reymond Amsalem, Three Mothers) struggles to reclaim her memory after a terrorist bomb that claims her boyfriend’s life leaves her body – and her psyche – severely scarred. A year after the attack, an unfamiliar necklace, a handsome stranger and the newfound knowledge that she was clinically dead for seven minutes may help her unlock the key to her past. A haunting profile about terrorist trauma, Seven Minutes in Heaven stays with you long after the film’s startling conclusion.  

PIZZA IN AUSCHWITZ (Pizza B’Auschwitz)

Thurs, Mar 11
7:30 PM • JCC
 
Director:
Moshe Zimmerman
Israel, 2008, 62 min
Hebrew with subtitles
Documentary

Full of chutzpah and grit from its title to its theme, Pizza in Auschwitz is a Holocaust survivor’s road trip like no other. Israeli Danny Chanoch persuades his grown-up children, Miri and Sagi, to retrace his unthinkable journey from farm to shtetl to concentration camp. Tensions build when Danny divulges his ultimate goal: to spend a night in his old barracks in Auschwitz. A roller coaster of irreverent black humor and "joie de vivre," this intimate, defiant documentary uncovers a family coping with the demons and shadows that haunt their lives.
 

 
OFFICIAL WEBSITE 
 
READ REVIEW 
 

FRANKIE MANNING: NEVER STOP SWINGING

Fri, Mar 12
1:00 PM • JCC
 
Director: Julie Cohen
USA, 2009, 30 min
English
Documentary

Legend meets Lindy Hop in this 30-minute “documentary of dance” featuring Frankie Manning, a man who, in the words of director Julie Cohen, “truly LIVED every moment of his life.”
 
Frankie made his mark at Harlem’s legendary Savoy Ballroom, which was the vision of Moe Gale, a Jewish man, and Charles Buchanan, a black man. One of the first racially integrated public places in the country, the Savoy was known as “the world’s finest ballroom.”  
 
It was there that Frankie became a member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, the energetic, immensely talented group that made the Lindy Hop a national phenomenon. Frankie’s dance sequence in Hellzapoppin, which today lives on via YouTube, is still considered the greatest swing dance number of all time.
 
This delightful film features footage of Frankie’s dancing from the 1930s to 2009, along with his last major interview before his death in 2009. Also featured is a reunion between Frankie and 92-year-old Ruthie Rheingold. With her partner Harry Rosenberg, they were the only white members of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers.  
 
NY Emmy Award nominee for Best Historical/Cultural Special
   
Director Julie Cohen in attendance.
  

FLAME AND CITRON (Flammen & Citronen)

Sat, Mar 13
6:00 PM • MFAH
 
Sun, Mar 21
3:00 PM • MFAH
 
Director: Ole Christian Madsen
Denmark, 2008
130 min
Danish, German
with subtitles 
Drama

"Based on a true story, this is a companion piece of sorts to Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Danish Nazi hunters Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and Citron (Mads Mikkelsen) relentlessly go after anyone who has ever pledged allegiance to Das Führer. When it seems they might be assassinating innocent people, they strike out on their own and put together a renegade team of hit men.
 
Adding to the drama is the fact that Flame has trouble separating himself from his girlfriend Ketty (Stine Stengade), whom he suspects could be a sympathizer. Featuring a veteran group of Danish actors and actresses, director Ole Christian Madsen’s film is one of the highest grossing Danish movies of all time.”
– Cleveland Scene
 

AJAMI

Sat, Mar 13
8:45 PM • MFAH
 
Sun, Mar 14
3:15 PM • MFAH
 
Directors: 
Scandar Copti &
Yaron Shani
Israel, 120 min
Hebrew, Arabic
with subtitles
Drama

Ajami is a brave, apolitical look at Jews, Christians and Muslims living in Jaffa’s multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood.  The film is a searing debut by Israeli and Palestinian co-directors, whose balanced perspective and use of non-professional local actors portray an authenticity to this complex, cross-cultural drama: 13-year-old Nasri and his older brother live in fear after their uncle wounds a prominent clan member; a young Palestinian refugee Malek works illegally in Israel to pay for the surgery that will save his mother; Binj, a wealthy Palestinian, dreams of a bright future with his Jewish girlfriend; and Jewish policeman Dando seeks revenge when his brother is found murdered in the West Bank. As their stories intersect and the film’s narrative shifts back and forth in time, we witness a dramatic collision of different worlds and the tragic consequences of enemies living as neighbors.
 
Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film 
 

THE JEWS OF NEW YORK

Sun, Mar 14
10:30 AM • JCC
 
Wed, Mar 17
1:00 PM • JCC

Director: Julie Cohen
USA, 2008, 80 min
English
Documentary

The symbiotic relationship between a people and a city is nostalgically portrayed in The Jews of New York.  As narrator, Tovah Feldush weaves a tapestry of a Jewish community from its earliest immigrants through the present day. We see how this evolution has impacted the secular face of New York – from medicine to politics, from finance to Broadway and from real estate to retail. The film includes interviews with “Hizzoner” Ed Koch; Joe Stein and Sheldon Harnick (the playwright and lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof); David and Drew Schiff (the great-grandson and great-great-grandson of Jacob Schiff); Dr. Arthur Aufses of Mount Sinai Medical Center; Hasidic Rabbi Haskel Besser; and three generations of the Russ and Daughters Delicatessen who represent the quintessential “flavor” of New York. 
  
Director Julie Cohen in attendance
 

Be’Tay Avon Senior Adult Lunch Program
THE JEWS OF NEW YORK

Wed, Mar 17
1:00 PM

Lunch and a movie with the Be’tay Avon Crowd 
 
$8 JCC Member / $10 Public
RSVP required. Call Esther Bethke at
713-729-3200 ext. 3258.
 

HEY HEY IT’S ESTHER BLUEBURGER

Sun, Mar 14
1:00 PM • MFAH
 
Director: Cathy Randall
Australia, 2008
103 min
English
Comedy 

Written and directed by Cathy Randall, Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger is a charming, original, coming-of-age comedy that explores what it’s really like to be an outsider in your own world. Thirteen-year-old Esther is not like other girls. She befriends a duck, talks to God through the toilet and break-dances at her Bat Mitzvah. Life changes when Esther meets Sunni (Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider), learns that it’s okay to be different, and discovers that being true to yourself is more important than fitting in. Also starring Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine and 2010 Golden Globe winner for The United States of Tara).
 

FOUR SEASONS LODGE

Sun, Mar 14 
6:00 PM • HMH
 
Sun, Mar 21
1:00 PM • MFAH
 
Director:
Andrew Jacobs
USA, 2008, 101 min
English
Documentary

You will laugh and you may shed a tear at this touching and inspiring documentary about a group of Holocaust survivors who gather at the Four Seasons Lodge every summer since 1979 to celebrate life with a captivating "joie de vivre" and bracing sense of humor.
 
Filmed in the lush Catskill Mountains, this documentary recalls the survivors’ collective memories, close friendships and rich traditions as their favorite retreat is about to close. Beautifully photographed by Albert Maysles (Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens) and Justin Schein (No Impact Man), this counterintuitive film takes on topics like aging and the legacy of the Holocaust in a uniquely life-affirming way – and through the lens of tightly-bonded friendships and laughter that triumph over haunting memories. “This is our revenge on Hitler,” exclaims camper Fran Lask, 82, a survivor of Bergen-Belsen. “To live this long, this well, is a victory.”
  

THE CASE FOR ISRAEL

Sun, Mar 14 
7:30 PM • JCC
 
Director:
Michael Yohay
USA, Israel, 2008
77 min
English
Documentary

Presenting a vigorous case for Israel - for its basic right to exist, to protect its citizens from terrorism, and to defend its borders from hostile enemies, Alan Dershowitz engages leaders from Israel and North America in discourse on critical challenges facing Israel and the West. Utilizing archival footage and compelling interviews with top experts, the film presents a stirring rebuttal to growing criticism from the media, academic and international communities. In particular, Dershowitz challenges former President Jimmy Carter and his provocative book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, which was criticized for characterizing Israeli policy in the territories as apartheid.
 

Documentary Double Feature
WAVES OF FREEDOM

Mon, Mar 15
7:30 PM • JCC
 
Director:
Alan Rosenthal
Israel, 2008, 52 min
English
Documentary

In one of the least known, but most dramatic stories of American heroism and support of Israel, 27 returning U.S. veterans, just home from WWII are asked to again put their lives on the line. They are secretly recruited by the Aliyah Bet (Haganah underground) to purchase and man a fleet of barely seaworthy ships, load them to the brim with displaced Jewish persons, break the British naval blockade and smuggle them into the port of Haifa, Palestine. Undaunted by warnings that they could be hanged if caught by the British Navy, they set sail across the Atlantic to pick up their precious human cargo. 
 
Through poignant, insightful and sometimes humorous firsthand recollections, interspersed with archival footage, director Alan Rosenthal brings to life the journeys and battles of the small ship that sailed across the “waves of freedom” and played a significant role in the saga that led to the modern State of Israel. 
 

Preceded by: LEAVING THE FOLD

Director: Eric Scott  
USA, 2007, 52 min
English, French, Hebrew with subtitles
Documentary

For the five Jews featured in Leaving the Fold, a beautifully shot and seamlessly woven documentary by director Eric R. Scott, the need to flee from their particular Ultra-Orthodox Jewish enclaves in Montreal, New York and Jerusalem, thus severing ties with their families and communities, is both their spiritual destiny and their lives’ greatest dilemma. In a poignant part of the film, a father works hard to come to terms with the fact that two of his eight children have fallen out of line with a faith he holds so dear.
 

ELI & BEN

Tues, Mar 16
7:30 PM • JCC
 
Director: Ori Ravid
Israel, 2009, 89 min
Hebrew with subtitles
Drama

A 12-year-old boy is challenged by real-life ethical dilemmas and his love for his father in Eli & Ben, a coming-of-age drama that wins the hearts of teens and adults alike. Eli has his sheltered world turned upside down after his beloved father, Ben, (Lior Ashkenazi, Walk on Water) the city architect, is arrested for accepting bribes. Forced to question everything he believes in, Eli sets out to restore his father’s reputation while navigating questions of love, friendship and the ultimate truth.

THE DEBT (HaHov)

Wed, Mar 17
7:30 PM • JCC
 
Director:
Amram Jacoby
Israel, 2007, 93 min
Hebrew, German
with subtitles
Thriller

Nominated for four Israeli Academy Awards, The Debt is an enthralling cat and mouse espionage thriller, which takes place in Israel in the mid-1990’s.  In 1964, Rachel Brenner (Neta Garty, Turn Left at the End of the World) is one of three Mossad agents whose mission is to capture the “Surgeon of Birkenau,” a monstrous Nazi war criminal.
 
Once captured, the three agents wait their return to Israel in order to deliver "the surgeon” for public trial. The surgeon manages to exploit their weaknesses and escapes under Rachel’s watch. Unable to face their failure the three decide to lie and return to Israel as heroes. Thirty years later, a frail man in a nursing home in the Ukraine claims to be the monstrous surgeon.  Now, the three ex-Mossad agents need to protect their lie. When Rachel takes on the private mission she gets the chance to redeem the debt against which she built her life. Also stars Gila Almagor (Munich, Dangerous Acts, Summer of Aviya).
 

 
 
VIEW TRAILER  
 

ARAB LABOR (Avoda Aravit)

Thurs, Mar 18 
7:30 PM • JCC
 
Director: Roni Ninio
Israel, 2007, 4x24 min
Hebrew, Arabic
with subtitles
TV sitcom 

A controversial hit Israeli comedy series at its best, created by Sayed Kashua, a 32-year-old Israeli-born Palestinian journalist, Arab Labor (translated from the Hebrew “Avoda Aravit” which colloquially implies “shoddy or second-rate work”) takes a look into the life of Amjad, a Palestinian journalist and Israeli citizen in search of his identity as he attempts to gain status in the society into which he was born.
 
Arab Labor, the first show to present Palestinian characters speaking Arabic on primetime Israeli TV, has generated controversy between Arab and Israeli media. It offers a fresh perspective on Israeli-Palestinian cultural friction while presenting an wonderfully entertaining show that has made an international splash. Episodes 1, 4, 5 and 10 will be shown.
 

WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE

Sat, Mar 20
7:00 PM • MFAH
 
Directors:
Emily Kunstler &
Sarah Kunstler
USA, 2009, 85 min
English
Documentary

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe is a look into the life and legacy of William Kunstler, one of the most famous and infamous lawyers of the twentieth century. He fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr., defended the Chicago Seven, and the Central Park Jogger. Emily and Sarah Kunstler share a provocative and deeply personal journey as they paint a complex portrait of a man, their father, whose life mirrors the battles that forever define our history.
 
Director Emily Kunstler in attendance
 
Emily Kunstler graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Film and Video and has worked as a video producer for Democracy Now! She co-founded Off Center Media with her sister Sarah. Emily’s credits include 2003’s award-winning Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War which was instrumental in exonerating 35 wrongfully convicted people, and 2004’s Getting Through to the President, airing on the Sundance Channel, Current TV, and Channel Thirteen/WNET.
 
A reception in the museum galleries follows the screening.
 

A MATTER OF SIZE (Tsipor Gadol)

Sun, Mar 21 
7:30 PM • JCC
 
Directors:
Sharon Maymon & 
Erez Tadmor
 
Israel, France, Germany, 2009, 90 min
Hebrew, Japanese
with subtitles
Comedy
 

Nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture, A Matter of Size follows four overweight, working-class friends who prove life can be lived to the fullest when you accept yourself and follow your dreams.  Fed up with a diet-obsessed world and weight-loss failure, Herzl and his pals discover the one place where they can be true to themselves: sumo wrestling. Their comic, relatable tale traces a path from body shame to celebration, and from loneliness to love. A feel-good movie with a plus-size heart.

Preceded by: GEFILTE FISH

Director: Shelly Kling
 
Israel, 2008, 10 min
Hebrew with subtitles
Comedy

Shelly Kling-Yosef's Gefilte Fish tells the story of a young woman torn between her pre-nuptial family tradition to kill and prepare gefilte fish versus her sympathy for the live carp swimming in her bathtub. Although a uniquely Jewish story, the film's characters, comedy and poignancy transcend the boundaries of language and culture. From Tribeca to Hong Kong this short film has humored and endeared its audiences. 
 
Closing night reception following both films.