The Boston Jewish Film Festival hits theaters Nov. 6-20, with in-person and virtual screenings—and lots more. The curated roster of films is just the beginning, though: there are also events at Jewish hubs like Lehrhaus and Mamaleh’s Kibitz Corner; workshops and interactive amusements for the whole family. Here’s what to know about the event, from executive director Susan Adler and special programming director Joey Katz.
It’s extremely diverse. “These are really films that are right for the times we’re living in. We’ve got eight feature films, six documentaries, eight short films. We’re bringing in 30 guests. We’ve got a lot of films made by women. We’ve got seven films with LGBTQ content, which is exciting. We’ve got seven countries represented, and we’re premiering 20 films, which is great,” Adler says.
This year, it’s more than movies. The festival has expanded with pop-up, post-screening events, beyond chats with filmmakers. Attend a dance performance before the screening of “The Performance,” where a Jewish American tap dance troupe unwittingly gets booked to perform for the Führer (based on a short story by Arthur Miller). Take in some flamenco guitar before “Pepi Fandango,” where a Holocaust survivor sets out to write a fandango to process grief and trauma. Or enjoy a drag show performance before the screening of “Sabbath Queen.” That film follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie as the heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, torn between accepting his ancestral destiny or becoming a drag queen rabbi. There’s even a challah-making class at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, an offshoot of a short film on the topic (students can watch the film while waiting for their bread to rise).
There’s a thematic focus on family. The lineup is diverse (drag queens, interfaith dating, interracial civil rights protests), but there is a common thread: “The importance of Jewish families is something that is prevalent in a lot of these films, whether they’re documentaries or fiction or features. The dynamics of Jewish families in different cultures is a very big part of the festival—how people overcome generational differences and find commonalities between their experiences,” Katz says.
Community unites all of the films. “It’s so important for people to be able to come together. We’ve had opening night after an election before, and I think the festival does have something for everyone. It’s kind of an antidote. We have some lighter films, we have some comedies, we have things that are thought-provoking. We’re not trying to promote any particular message but really being in community,” Adler says. “We encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to be part of the festival. I think there’s a need for connection, and thinking about things that maybe are not in the headlines.”
It’s a selective process. Katz culled selections from 300 submissions to 13 features, many of which will only be shown in a festival setting.
“There are some films that were left on the cutting-room floor, unfortunately. But I think the program that we ended up with is really emblematic of what Boston Jewish Film does really well, which is highlighting the best Jewish film from around the world,” he says.
Kara Baskin is a writer for JewishBoston.com. She is also a regular contributor to The Boston Globe and a contributing editor at Boston Magazine. She has worked for New York Magazine and The New Republic, and helped to launch the now-defunct Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Email her at kara@jewishboston.com.