JFHNA is excited to partner with the Mobile Area Jewish Federation (MAJF) to bring a Jewish film festival to our community for the first time!
Seven of the best Jewish films of recent years can be viewed from the comfort of your home through the month of March, with movies and related programming wrapping up just in time for Passover. Each film airs sequentially for a three-day period, and can be viewed at your convenience online.
Thanks to the generosity of the MAJF in partnering with us, profits from ticket sales in the North Alabama region will benefit our community and may help make it possible for JFHNA to offer cultural events and programs like this again in the future!
NEW! In-Person Movie Screenings! https://www.jfhna.org/filmfestival/in-person/
The Lineup
The opening night film is The Keeper, featured by the MAJF. The Keeper tells the true story of Bert Trautmann, a decorated ex-Nazi paratrooper and prisoner of war who secures the position of Goalkeeper on the Manchester City soccer team, where he catches the eye of the club manager’s daughter, Margaret. His arrival rouses the post-war ire of fans, but with unexpected support from a local rabbi, he wins over his critics, famously playing the 1956 FA Cup Final with a broken neck. Winner of 10 audience awards from Jewish film festivals across the United States.
Crescendo is a German-language drama directed by Dror Zahavi. When a world famous conductor tries to create an Israeli-Palestinian orchestra, it takes all his skill and resources to overcome the discord and get them to play in harmony. Loosely inspired by Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the musicians form two parties who deeply mistrust each other, on and off-stage, resulting in a tense and emotional finale.
Directed by Dani Menkin, Picture of His Life is a documentary about Amos Nachoum, one of the greatest underwater photographers of all time. Fascinated by the most fearsome creatures on Earth, he has developed a unique approach, that puts him face to face with his subjects, without any protection. He swam with crocodiles and killer whales, with anacondas and with great white sharks but one major predator has always eluded him, the polar bear. He tried before and barely escaped, but now, as he nears the end of his career, he is determined to give it one last shot. As the journey unfolds, Amos contemplates the series of unspoken events that drove him here, to the end of the world. It has been a long and painful journey, after serving in an Elite Commando unit and witnessing the horrors of war, but where others find fear, Amos finds redemption.
The fourth film, Incitement, is a psychological thriller that dramatizes the political and personal motivations behind Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. The watershed tragedy is told through the perpetrator’s eyes, Jewish extremist, Yigal Amir. As peace efforts mount to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the young zealot is egged on by national leaders, religious orthodoxy, and right-wing media, their ultranationalist rhetoric seamlessly interwoven through archival footage. Featuring an unsettling central performance by Yehuda Nahari Halevi, this rigorously researched portrayal won the top Ophir Award for Best Picture.
Aulcie, our sponsored selection, also directed by Dani Menkin, is the true story of Aulcie Perry, a basketball legend from Newark who moved to Israel and led Maccabi Tel Aviv to an upset victory over the Soviets in the European Championship in 1976. About more than just sports, this documentary examines his conversion to Judaism, relationship with supermodel Tami Ben-Ami, and struggles with drug addiction. He is currently a youth basketball coach in Israel. Aulcie is an uplifting story of redemption and winner of an Ophir Award.
Another notable selection is Here We Are. Set in Israel, Nir Bergman’s warm and moving tale of parental devotion focuses on divorced dad Aharon , who has given up his artistic career to look after his autistic son Uri. They live a quiet life, and as the boy reaches young adulthood, his mother decides that he needs to be placed in a boarding facility more equipped to cater to his needs. Resistant at first, Aharon runs away on a road trip with Uri. But this break from their routine quickly leads to difficulties. With gentle humor, this beautiful film—winner of multiple Ophir Awards, including Best Director—examines the intricacies of love, disability and community, and change.
The film festival will close with Shared Legacies: The African American – Jewish Civil Rights Alliance. This film explores the longstanding relationship between Black and Jewish communities in the United States. With a coalition forged on a recognition of mutual suffering due to segregation, violence, and bigotry, this documentary revisits the crucial lessons of Black-Jewish cooperation during the Civil Rights movement and serves as an urgent call for renewed solidarity in times of rising intolerance. The story is told through first and second-hand accounts of Holocaust survivors, members of the King family, and prominent political and religious figures such as Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young, Georgia Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, Rabbi Peter S. Berg, and Rabbi Alvin Sugarman.
The Schedule
Each film will be available for three days, beginning on the date listed.
- The Keeper (3/5)
- Crescendo (3/8)
- The Picture of His Life (3/11)
- Incitement (3/14)
- Aulcie (3/17)
- Here We are (3/20)
- Shared Legacies (3/23)
Trailers for all of the films can be viewed on the Mobile Jewish Film Festival webpage.
Multiple special programs are planned in conjunction with the films, and will be screened via Elevent. See sidebar for details.