The Boston Jewish Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The Boston Jewish Film Festival
(BJFF) is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world. The festival presents features, shorts, documentaries, and conversations with visiting artists in order to explore the Jewish identity, the current Jewish experience and the richness of Jewish culture in relation to a diverse modern world.
has grown from 10 screenings to more than 40 throughout Boston
and Brookline
venues – the Museum of Fine Arts
and the Coolidge Corner Theatre
– and additional screenings throughout the Greater Boston
area. In the past 19 years, the Festival has presented nearly 600 films - many of them US or Massachusetts premieres – and welcomed more than 150,000 audience members. Many of the films that have been shown have gone on to be nominated for or win Academy Awards
, including The Pianist
(winner, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay, 2002), Nowhere in Africa
(winner, Best Foreign Film, 2002), and The Personals (winner, Best Short-Subject Documentary, 1998). Visiting artists are brought in from around the world to introduce their films, answer audience questions, and participate in panel discussions. The Festival also offers many live events, from pre-screening music, to new scores to accompany silent films, to full-fledged post-screening concerts and dance performances.
has also grown from presenting films once a year at the annual festival to a flourishing year-round arts organization, with programs and screenings taking place nearly every month. Since 1998, the Festival has presented more than 275 films and welcomed another 75,000+ audience members outside the November Festival.
works with other film festivals throughout the year to bring quality films to the Boston area. Some recent and ongoing partners include the Boston French Film Festival, the Boston LGBT Film Festival, the Independent Film Festival of Boston
, the Roxbury International Film Festival and many more.
curates a special series either independently or in conjunction with another organization. These series are often thematically-based, and have included in the past a series focusing on the question of censorship and freedom of expression as part of the New Center for Arts and Culture’s multi-disciplinary city-wide exhibition Words on Fire, as well as a series celebrating pioneering Jewish women in America in conjunction with Jewish Women’s Archive.
for an annual Encore series. The series begins in late May, continuing to early July.
curates a special series of films-on-video in conjunction with the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center Summer Institute.
was named “Best Film Series” by the Boston Society of Film Critics
.
In 2003, Artistic Director Kaj Wilson and Executive Director Sara Rubin were honored with Image Awards for Vision and Excellence by Women in Film & Video in New England.
In 2004, it hosted the 4th Conference of Jewish Film Festivals, welcoming Jewish Film Festival directors from around the globe to Boston.
In 2006, Executive Director Sara L. Rubin was recognized and honored for her career and her dedication to French culture by the French Minister of Culture
by being introduced into France's Order of Arts and Letters
, with the rank of Chevalier (Knight).
In 2007, departing Artistic Director Kaj Wilson was honored for her work by a commendation from the Boston Society of Film Critics
.
In 2009, the Festival received the “Cat’s Meow” award from the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film
. The award notes that The Boston Jewish Film Festival
is “not just a great Boston film event, it’s a great champion and friend to all Boston things film related...”
The Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
(BJFF) is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world. The festival presents features, shorts, documentaries, and conversations with visiting artists in order to explore the Jewish identity, the current Jewish experience and the richness of Jewish culture in relation to a diverse modern world.
History
Founded by filmmaker Michal Goldman in 1989, The Boston Jewish Film FestivalThe Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
has grown from 10 screenings to more than 40 throughout Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and Brookline
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
venues – the Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
and the Coolidge Corner Theatre
Coolidge Corner Theatre
Coolidge Corner Theatre, a cinema in the Coolidge Corner section of Brookline, Massachusetts, is the "only operating not-for-profit Art Deco theatre in the Boston area and is one of the top ten arthouse film exhibition theaters in the county." Among recipients of this venue's annual Coolidge Award...
– and additional screenings throughout the Greater Boston
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
area. In the past 19 years, the Festival has presented nearly 600 films - many of them US or Massachusetts premieres – and welcomed more than 150,000 audience members. Many of the films that have been shown have gone on to be nominated for or win Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, including The Pianist
The Pianist (2002 film)
The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...
(winner, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay, 2002), Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa is a 2001 German film directed by Caroline Link and based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Stefanie Zweig. It tells the story of a Jewish family that emigrates to Kenya during World War II to escape the Nazis and run a farm...
(winner, Best Foreign Film, 2002), and The Personals (winner, Best Short-Subject Documentary, 1998). Visiting artists are brought in from around the world to introduce their films, answer audience questions, and participate in panel discussions. The Festival also offers many live events, from pre-screening music, to new scores to accompany silent films, to full-fledged post-screening concerts and dance performances.
Film Submission Criteria
The Annual Festival is a non-competitive event, although since 2002 it has offered audience members the opportunity to cast ballots for favorite Documentary and Feature film and, in 2006, Favorite Short Subject. It screens International and American independent films and videos that highlight the Jewish experience; deal with themes of Jewish culture/heritage/history; and films of particular interest to the Jewish community. The Festival also presents narrative, documentary, animated and experimental works. Projects must be completed in 35mm, 16mm, Beta or 1/2 inch. They can be of any length, but must not have previously been screened in the Boston area.Year-Round Programs
The The Boston Jewish Film FestivalThe Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
has also grown from presenting films once a year at the annual festival to a flourishing year-round arts organization, with programs and screenings taking place nearly every month. Since 1998, the Festival has presented more than 275 films and welcomed another 75,000+ audience members outside the November Festival.
Annual Festival
A fourteen plus day event each November showcasing the best contemporary films from around the world on Jewish themes, accompanied by visiting filmmakers, panel discussions, musical events and more.Work-in-Progress Event
A special screening and reception that brings a filmmaker to present and discuss his/her work from a new, "work-in-progress" film. This event is offered as a thank-you to those who buy Friends Passes early.Fall Gala
The Fall Gala event is the pre-festival kick-off that includes an elegant dinner and a unique film experience.Pre-Release and Word-of-Mouth Screenings
The Festival often presents a special advance screening, sometimes with a visiting filmmaker or actor. Other times, members are offered free tickets to word-of-mouth screenings at a local theater. These screenings are chances to see films before the general public.Co-presentations
The The Boston Jewish Film FestivalThe Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
works with other film festivals throughout the year to bring quality films to the Boston area. Some recent and ongoing partners include the Boston French Film Festival, the Boston LGBT Film Festival, the Independent Film Festival of Boston
Independent Film Festival of Boston
The Independent Film Festival of Boston is a not for profit film festival in Boston, Massachusetts.- History :The Independent Film Festival of Boston was created in 2003 by the non-profit organization the Independent Film Society of Boston. The festival takes place each April in the Boston area's...
, the Roxbury International Film Festival and many more.
Curated Series and Programs
From time to time, The Boston Jewish Film FestivalThe Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
curates a special series either independently or in conjunction with another organization. These series are often thematically-based, and have included in the past a series focusing on the question of censorship and freedom of expression as part of the New Center for Arts and Culture’s multi-disciplinary city-wide exhibition Words on Fire, as well as a series celebrating pioneering Jewish women in America in conjunction with Jewish Women’s Archive.
Annual Encore Series
Each spring, with the support of the Dorot Foundation, several of the past year’s fall Festival hits are brought back to the Museum of Fine Arts, BostonMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
for an annual Encore series. The series begins in late May, continuing to early July.
Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center Summer Institute
Every year between June and August, The Boston Jewish Film FestivalThe Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
curates a special series of films-on-video in conjunction with the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center Summer Institute.
Recognition
In 1999, The Boston Jewish Film FestivalThe Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
was named “Best Film Series” by the Boston Society of Film Critics
Boston Society of Film Critics
The Boston Society of Film Critics is an organization of film reviewers from Boston, Massachusetts, United States, based publications.The BSFC was formed in 1981 to make "Boston's unique critical perspective heard on a national and international level by awarding commendations to the best of the...
.
In 2003, Artistic Director Kaj Wilson and Executive Director Sara Rubin were honored with Image Awards for Vision and Excellence by Women in Film & Video in New England.
In 2004, it hosted the 4th Conference of Jewish Film Festivals, welcoming Jewish Film Festival directors from around the globe to Boston.
In 2006, Executive Director Sara L. Rubin was recognized and honored for her career and her dedication to French culture by the French Minister of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
by being introduced into France's Order of Arts and Letters
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
, with the rank of Chevalier (Knight).
In 2007, departing Artistic Director Kaj Wilson was honored for her work by a commendation from the Boston Society of Film Critics
Boston Society of Film Critics
The Boston Society of Film Critics is an organization of film reviewers from Boston, Massachusetts, United States, based publications.The BSFC was formed in 1981 to make "Boston's unique critical perspective heard on a national and international level by awarding commendations to the best of the...
.
In 2009, the Festival received the “Cat’s Meow” award from the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film
The Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film is a Boston-area non-profit organization that teaches audiences to view films actively through discussion, formal and informal education, discourse, film festivals, special screenings and collaboration. Their focus is on international and independent film...
. The award notes that The Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...
is “not just a great Boston film event, it’s a great champion and friend to all Boston things film related...”
Winners
| Year | Best Feature Fiction | Director | Best Documentary | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Saviors in the Night (Unter Bauern – Retter in der Nacht) | Ludi Boeken | My So-Called Enemy | Lisa Gossels |
| 2009 | Eli & Ben | Ori Ravid | Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt with Nazis | Gaylen Ross Gaylen Ross Gaylen Ross is an American actress, writer, producer and director.Ross starred in George A. Romero's 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead and later in Creepshow – and in the 1982 horror film Madman under the pseudonym 'Alexis Dubin'... |
| 2008 | Noodle Noodle The noodle is a type of food, made from any of a variety of doughs, formed into long thin ribbons, strips, curly-cues, waves, helices, pipes, tubes, strings, or other various shapes, sometimes folded. They are usually cooked in a mixture of boiling water and/or oil. Depending upon the type, noodles... |
Ayelet Menahemi Ayelet Menahemi Ayelet Menahemi is an award-winning Israeli film director, producer, writer, editor, and actor.-Life and Works:Menahemi was born in Tel Aviv in 1963... |
Holy Land Hardball | Brett Rapkin and Erik Keston |
| 2007 | Beaufort (Bufor) | Joseph Cedar Joseph Cedar Yossef Cedar is an Israeli film director and screenwriter. He has won a Silver Bear and an Ophir Award for Best Director, and an Ophir Award for writing a Best Screenplay. He also won the best screenplay award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. for his film Footnote .-Biography:Cedar was born in... |
Praying with Lior Praying with Lior Praying with Lior is a documentary about a Jewish boy, Lior, who has Down syndrome. The film follows Lior and his family as they prepare for Lior's bar mitzvah.... |
Ilana Trachtman |
| 2006 | Ira and Abby Ira and Abby Ira and Abby is a 2006 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Cary and released in the US by Magnolia Pictures. The poignant love story stars Chris Messina and Jennifer Westfeldt in the title roles, and co-stars Fred Willard, Frances Conroy, Jason Alexander, Robert Klein and Judith... |
Robert Cary | The Rape of Europa The Rape of Europa The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War is a book and a subsequent documentary film of somewhat related material. The book, by Lynn H. Nicholas, explores the Nazi plunder of looted art treasures from occupied countries, and the consequences... |
Richard Berge, Nicole Newnham, and Bonni Cohen |
| 2005 | Live and Become | Radu Mihaileanu Radu Mihaileanu Radu Mihăileanu is a Jewish Romanian-born French film director and screenwriter. He left Romania in 1980 and graduated the IDHEC cinematographic institute in Paris. In addition to his work in the cinema he published a book of poems in 1987 titled Une vague en mal de mer... |
39 Pounds of Love | http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1836981/Dani Menkin Dani Menkin Dani Menkin is an Israeli film director, screenwriter and producer.- Biography :Dani Menkin was born in Tel-Aviv in 1970. He is married to Miriam and they have one daughter. They currently live in Herzelia.... ] |
| 2004 | Wondrous Oblivion Wondrous Oblivion Wondrous Oblivion is a 2003 British film directed and written by Paul Morrison and produced by Jonny Persey.Set in suburban south London in 1960, several themes run through the film, though the main storyline concerns the friendship between a young boy, David Wiseman who is the son of European... |
Paul Morrison Paul Morrison (director) Paul Morrison is a British film director and screenwriter. He has mainly directed documentaries and drama films. His movie Solomon and Gaenor was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.... |
Watermarks Watermarks (film) Watermarks is a 2004 documentary directed by Yaron Zilberman that features women from the Viennese Hakoah swim team during the rise of fascism in 1930s Austria. The film describes the women's success as athletes leading up to the Anschluss of 1938 when the swimmers fled Austria to disparate... |
Yaron Zilberman |
| 2003 | Yossi and Jagger | Eytan Fox Eytan Fox -Biography:Fox was born in New York City and moved with his family to Israel when he was two. His father, Seymour Fox, was a Conservative rabbi and a leading professor of Jewish education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His mother, Sara Kaminker-Fox, was the head of the Jerusalem city... |
Thunder in Guyana Thunder in Guyana Thunder in Guyana is a feature film by Suzanne Wasserman released in 2003. It is a documentary about Janet Jagan , an American-born Jewish woman who moved to then-British Guiana and was later elected President... |
Suzanne Wasserman |
| 2002 | Monsieur Batignole | Gérard Jugnot Gérard Jugnot Gérard Jugnot is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.Jugnot was one of the founders of the comedy troupe Le Splendid in the 1970s, along with, among others, his high-school friends Christian Clavier, Thierry Lhermitte, and Michel Blanc... |
Strange Fruit | Joel Katz |