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Saturday, March 13

OPENING NIGHT FILM &
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE

AJAMI

Saturday, March 13 at 7:45 PM Intros | 8:00 PM Film (doors open 7:30) | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | Israel | 2009

Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category, AJAMI is a gritty, urban crime drama that tells the interwoven stories of Jewish, Muslim and Christian neighbors living in bloody disharmony in Israel's impoverished Jaffa neighborhood. Co-written, directed & edited by a Jewish Israeli and Palestinian Israeli/Arab Christian. Think: Crash meets Traffic in Israel.

Sunday, March 14

Featured Sephardic Film

LEON/SEFARAD - A NEW ENCOUNTER

Sunday, March 14 at 11:30 AM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | Spain | 2008

The northern Spanish town of Leon has a rich but little-known Jewish history, revealed through fascinating personal accounts, historical footage and haunting pieces of music and writing created by artists heralding from the region.

LOOK INTO MY EYES

Sunday, March 14 at 1:30 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | Israel | 2008

Rabbi-turned-filmmaker Naftaly Gliksberg travels through two continents interviewing subjects on the topic of anti-Semitism to investigate whether it remains a pervasive global problem or has evolved into a buzzword. A revealing and chilling look under the surface of polite European society and collective history.

WHERE I STAND: THE HANK GREENSPUN STORY

Sunday, March 14 at 3:20 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | United States | 2008

Stranger than fiction, WHERE I STAND chronicles the life of the charismatic Hank Greenspun, a former Brooklyn kid who became a courageous "give em' hell" newspaperman, Vegas icon and real-life Zelig, known for winning every battle he ever fought even with formidable opponents like the mob and McCarthy.

KILLING KASZTNER: THE JEW WHO DEALT WITH THE NAZIS

Sunday, March 14 at 5:50 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | United States | 2008

HERO OR TRAITOR? Rezso Kasztner, the Hungarian Jew who faced down Eichmann, saved thousands and paid with his life. True stories rarely contain a historic mystery, a courtroom drama, a political murder, and a family saga, but all can be found in this amazing tale. Photo: Rezso Kasztner in Switzerland (courtesy Kasztner Family).

WEDDING SONG | Le Chant des Mariées

Sunday, March 14 at 8:45 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | Tunisia | 2008

Set in 1942 Tunis, WEDDING SONG is a fearless and poetic exploration of female sexual awakening and Jewish-Arab coexistence as seemingly powerless women find a way through friendship to reclaim their destinies.

Monday, March 15

AMNON'S JOURNEY

Monday, March 15 at 6:30 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | United States | 2009

The fascinating and inspiring story of master violin maker, Amnon Weinstein, who lovingly restores instruments played during the Holocaust to give voice to a lost generation. AMNON'S JOURNEY features stirring musical performances by international virtuosos such as Shlomo Mintz, Yair Dalal and Cihat Askin, and culminates with a breathtaking concert in Jerusalem.

JAZZ BARONESS

Monday, March 15 at 8:00 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | United Kingdom | 2009

Filmmaker Hannah Rothschild explores the little-known, unlikely story of her great aunt, Pannonica (Nica) de Kkoenigswarter nee Rothschild - the granddaughter of Britain's first Jewish member of Parliament, and muse and patroness to jazz musician Thelonius Monk, resulting in at least 12 different jazz songs named after her.

Tuesday, March 16

HEY, HEY IT'S ESTHER BLUEBERGER

Tuesday, March 16 at 6:30 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | Australia | 2008

This quirky, coming-of-age comedy explores what it's like to be an outsider in your own world, and stars Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine) and Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider).

ZRUVABEL

Tuesday, March 16 at 8:30 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | Israel | 2008

A family of Ethiopian emigres is torn between love for their homeland and assimilation within Israeli culture in ZRUVABEL, the first Ethiopian Israeli feature film.

Wednesday, March 17

VOICES OF EL-SAYED

Wednesday, March 17 at 7:30 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | Israel | 2008

Nestled in the Negev Desert, El-Sayed is home to a Bedouin village with the largest community of deaf people in the world. Through the generations, a unique sign language has evolved and a father must decide whether to get his son cochlear implants in spite of resistance from a community where the hearing and deaf comfortably coexist.

JAFFA

Wednesday, March 17 at 9:15 PM | SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL | Israel | 2009

The complexities of contemporary multi-ethnic Israel are explored in this modernized version of Romeo and Juliet relocated to the port city of Jaffa where Muslims, Jews and Christians live side by side. A young Jewish woman is having a secret relationship with an Arab mechanic, who works at her father's garage, until tragedy strikes shattering the symbolic promise their relationship embodies of Jews and Arabs living together in peace.

Thursday, March 18

AGAINST THE TIDE

Thursday, March 18 at 4:30 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | United States | 2009

This scathing indictment of US indifference to the Holocaust features a never-before-seen interview with Peter Bergson, who challenged the isolationism of the Roosevelt administration and American Jewish organizations in order to attract support from non-Jewish Congressmen and Hollywood personalities. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman.

RABBI FIRER: A REASON TO QUESTION

Thursday, March 18 at 5:30 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | Israel | 2008

Nearly 150 patients a day seek assistance from Rabbi Elimelech Firer, a 54-year-old Orthodox Jew self-educated in medicine, to help navigate their way through the tangled web of medical treatments. He can change a patient's care with a single phone call to world-renowned experts in their fields. A timely film about Jewish values and the healthcare quagmire.

SAVIORS IN THE NIGHT | Unter Bauern

Thursday, March 18 at 7:00 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | Germany | 2009

Based on the 1965 memoir of Marga Spiegel, now 97 years old, SAVIORS IN THE NIGHT tells the riveting story of the Spiegel family who found refuge with courageous Westphalian farmers during WWII after barely escaping the last of the death camp deportations. SAVIORS is a refreshingly unsentimental memorial.

BREAKING UPWARDS

Thursday, March 18 at 9:00 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | United States | 2009

A twenty-something New York Jewish couple engineer their own break-up after their four-year codependent relationship grows tedious. Based on an actual experiment devised by director/actor Daryl Wein and his girlfriend and actress Zoe Lister, BREAKING UPWARDS features comic performances by Emmy-winner Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and begs the question: Is it ever possible to grow apart together?

Saturday, March 20

SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN | Sheva Dakot be Gan Eden

Saturday, March 20 at 7:00 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | Israel | 2008

A young Jerusalem woman struggles to confront her memories of a horrific suicide bus bombing a year after the event in this well-crafted, romantic psychological thriller.

EYES WIDE OPEN | Einaym Pkuhot

Saturday, March 20 at 9:15 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | Israel | 2009

The rigidly ordered world of a butcher and married father of four is disrupted with the arrival of a lost soul who awakens dormant feelings. EYES is a restrained yet bold look at the highly controversial topic of homosexuality in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community. A quietly devastating drama.

Sunday, March 21

MATZOH MOMMA BAGEL BRUNCH & FAMILY FILM
Sponsored by BROADWAY ACROSS AMERICA

TEVYE

Sunday, March 21 at 11:00 AM Film [Brunch 10: 00 AM] | CINERAMA THEATRE | United States | 1939

A rare opportunity to see the classic Yiddish folktale by Sholem Aleichem that inspired Fiddler on the Roof and one of the greatest actors of the Yiddish stage (Maurice Schwartz) in the title role. Then you can truly enjoy Harvey Fierstein as Tevye in Seattle's upcoming Broadway production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. (May 25-30, Paramount Theatre)

HEART OF STONE

Sunday, March 21 at 1:00 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | United States | 2008

The efforts of a gutsy Newark, New Jersey high school principal to stave off gang violence and boost student morale are chronicled in this heartfelt documentary. Famed Weequahic High is known for illustrious grads like Philip Roth. In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, it churned out more PhD's than any other American high school. Younger African-American and older Jewish alums join forces to steer the school in a new, safer direction that gets results.

Being Indian, Being Israeli

RAFTING TO BOMBAY

Sunday, March 21 at 3:30 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | Israel | 2009

Past and present collide when the Laufer family travels to Mumbai to document their father's story of refuge in India during World War II and they are caught in the worst terror attack the city has ever experienced.

CAMERA OBSCURA | La Cámara Oscura

Sunday, March 21 at 5:30 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | Argentina | 2008

Set in Argentina at the turn of the last century, this enchanting and inventive saga follows a homely Jewish woman relegated to the background and made to feel like an ugly duckling until an itinerant portrait photographer reveals her true beauty for the first time. Director Maria Victoria Menis artfully blends animation, magical realism and still photography to illuminate notions of self-conscious beauty through a feminine lens.

GEFILTE FISH | short

Sunday, March 21 at 5:30 PM | CINERAMA THEATRE | Israel | 2008

A young woman's pre-wedding family tradition is to kill and prepare gefilte fish. Short plays before: CAMERA OBSCURA.

CLOSING NIGHT FILM & FESTIVITIES
Sushi, Sake, Sweets & Sumo

MATTER OF SIZE | Sippur Gadol

Sunday, March 21 at
7:30 PM Doors Open for Sushi, Sake & Sumo Reception
8:00 PM Closing Remarks & Film
Followed by Closing Night Centerpiece Cake
| CINERAMA THEATRE | Israel | 2009

An overweight, Israeli dishwasher is introduced to sumo wrestling by his Japanese co-workers and finds self-acceptance in a sport where his size is his greatest asset.