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Our Tribute:
Experimenter
“Celebrating
Elaine May”
Nonprofit. Film. Education. Community.
Westchester Jewish Film Festival 2016
MARCH 30–APRIL 20
All Festival Tickets: $10 (members), $15 (nonmembers) unless otherwise noted.
A Letter From This Year’s
Festival Programmer
I’ve been a passionate fan of the
Jacob Burns Film Center since
it opened 15 years ago, and I’ve
even had the chance to introduce
some wonderful documentaries
over the years. Now I’m thrilled
to return in a more formal role,
as the new programmer of the
Westchester Jewish Film Festival.
It was exhilarating to put this year’s
offering together, and I thank Brian
Ackerman and Karen Goodman,
who gave me free rein.
This year we’ll feature 34 films
from Israel and around the
world—both documentaries and
narratives—along with a rich
slate of guests. We’re excited to
include a special look at the films
of the hilarious, uncompromising,
and brilliant director Elaine May,
who will join us on March 31.
And don’t miss the sensational
Presenting Princess Shaw, which
kicks things off on Opening Night!
— Bruni Burres
Presenting Princess Shaw
OPENING NIGHT with Q&A and Reception
Presenting Princess Shaw
Mar. 30, 7:00
The sensational Presenting Princess Shaw, directed by former JBFC Artist-in-Residence
Ido Haar and coproduced by none other than our own JBFC Founder Steve Apkon, kicks
off this year’s festival. It’s the extraordinary Cinderella story of an artistic collaboration
between an Israeli remix artist, Kutiman, and an obscure, supremely talented New
Orleans–based vocalist, Princess Shaw. Kutiman practices his art by sampling bits from
amateur YouTube postings—a little girl’s piano recital, a cellist playing Bach, an electric
guitar solo—and assembling them into original works in a project called “Thru You” that’s
earned millions of hits. The film has thrilled audiences virtually everywhere it has played
along its triumphant festival route: at Jerusalem, Toronto, Amsterdam, and others.
2015. 80 m. Ido Haar. Israel. NR.
OPENING NIGHT Q&A coproducer/JBFC Founder Steve Apkon and RECEPTION
Tickets: $20 (members), $25 (nonmembers)
ALSO SHOWING: Apr. 2, 2:30 • Apr. 7, 1:00
New York Premiere!
Fauda
Part I: 144m. Mar. 23, 7:00*(Preview) • Apr. 1, 7:30
Part II: 146 m. Apr. 3, noon • Apr. 6, 7:45
Part III: 139 m. Apr. 10, 4:45 • Apr. 17, noon
For over 20 years, Bruni Burres has
worked at the intersection of arts,
culture, and human rights as a festival
director and curator, media educator,
creative producer, and social media
strategist. Burres is the cowriter and
associate producer of Beyond My
Grandfather Allende, which won Best
Documentary at the 2015 Cannes
Film Festival. From 1991 to 2008, she
was the director of the Human Rights
Watch Film Festival.
Film descriptions by Bruni Burres
If you loved Showtime’s Homeland—which was
the US adaptation of the sensational Israeli TV
series Hatufim (Prisoners of War)—get ready
to binge-watch all 12 episodes of Israel’s latest
hit TV political thriller. Fauda was co-created
by The Times of Israel’s Middle East analyst Avi
Issacharoff. His deep knowledge of the region
brings undeniable street cred to the show, which
follows undercover Israeli agents searching for
a Hamas terrorist in the West Bank. 2015. Avi
Issacharoff/Lior Raz. Israel. With subtitles. NR.
Tickets: $12 (members), $17 (nonmembers)
*Pre-Festival Screening with Reception
Mar. 23, 7:00
Tickets: $15 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
Fauda
In Search of Israeli Cuisine
The Kind Words
Papirosen
Mar. 31, 2:30 • Apr. 17, 7:15
Apr. 1, 2:30 • Apr. 16, 7:00 • Apr. 18, 5:00
Apr. 2, 4:30 • Apr. 7, 5:15 • Apr. 14, 3:00
In Search of Israeli Cuisine is a mouthwatering
portrait of the Israeli people told through their
food. Our guide, Michael Solomonov, the
James Beard Award–winning chef/owner of the
Philadelphia restaurant Zahav, introduces us to
the farmers, vintners, cheesemakers, bakers,
and chefs who are influenced by the traditions
of the more than 100 cultures (Jewish, Arab,
Muslim, Christian, Druze, Russian, Moroccan,
and others) that comprise Israel today. It’s a
delight to be in the hands of this master chef
and storyteller. 2015. 97 m. Roger Sherman.
Israel. With subtitles. NR.
In the wake of their mother’s death, three
Jewish-Israeli siblings happen upon some
startling news—their mother’s ex-husband, the
man who raised them, the man they call “Father,”
is not related to them biologically. Played by the
divine Sasson Gabai, he joins their search for the
mysterious Muslim the siblings learn is their real
father. The beloved writer/director Shemi Zarhin
(Aviva My Love) has created a wonderfully paced,
entertaining film, spiced with wry humor, that
asks us to confront our own ideas around identity
and walking the emotional tightrope between
lies and truth. 2015. 118 m. Shemi Zarhin. Israel.
With subtitles. NR.
Gastón Solnicki’s tour-de-force documentary
portrait of four generations of his wildly volatile
Jewish-Argentine family—culled from almost 200
hours of 8mm home videos, a VHS bar mitzvah,
and original observational material—takes home
movies to an entirely new level. His father, Victor,
a debonair, successful businessman, emerges
as the lead figure, but Solnicki highlights the
entire clan. Pola, his grandmother, who escaped
from Poland and the Nazis as a teenager, now
spiritedly takes sides in family squabbles. His
eternally unhappy sister shops too much and has
marital problems, and an overwhelmed brother
announces his intention to withdraw from his
kin’s “constant pressure.” Simultaneously epic
and intimate, Papirosen is an extraordinary
meditation on family, history, the importance of
storytelling, and the power of cinema. 2011. 74 m.
Gastón Solnicki. Argentina. With subtitles. NR.
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy
Mar. 31, 4:30 • Apr. 9, noon • Apr. 12, 5:30
“Imagine what it must be like to grow up as
the child of a mass murderer.” That’s the first
sentence spoken in David Evans’ searing and
provocative What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi
Legacy. While researching the Nuremberg trials,
eminent human rights lawyer Phillippe Sands
came across the sons of two high-ranking Nazi
officials who were indicted as war criminals for
their roles in World War II. Sands was astonished
to learn that the younger men held diametrically
opposed views about their fathers. This powerful
film explores those feelings, the complicated
connection between the two sons, and the story
of Sands’ own grandfather, who escaped from
the town where the fathers carried out mass
killings. 2015. 92 m. David Evans. US. NR.
The Midnight Orchestra
Mamele
Apr. 2, noon • Apr. 6, 2:30
Newly restored! Mamele features the iconic
Yiddish actress Molly Picon as a dutiful daughter
who promises her dying mother that she’ll take
care of the family, no matter what. Her father
is too busy kibitzing and playing cards with his
friends to bother working, and her small-time
gangster brother, who is always either running
from the law or to the ladies, can’t even begin
to help keep the family on course. The young
woman is so busy cooking, cleaning, and
matchmaking for everyone else that she almost
fails to notice the attractive violinist across the
courtyard. This classic musical comedy embraces
the entire gamut of interwar Jewish life in
Lodz, Poland, in all its diversity, and includes the
musical number that became Picon’s trademark,
“Abi Gezunt.” 1938. 97 m. Joseph Green/Konrad
Tom. Poland. With subtitles. NR.
Apr. 1, 5:15 • Apr. 2, 8:45 • Apr. 4, 4:45
The Midnight Orchestra uses humor and
compassion to smash stereotypes about Jewish/
Muslim relationships. It’s the fictional story of a
Moroccan man who’s been living abroad since
he was a child, who returns to see—and
eventually bury—his father. Along the way, he
must find and bring together the remaining
members of his father’s once-renowned
orchestra, and come to terms with his own
surprising family history. 2015. 102 m. Jérôme
Cohen-Olivar. Morocco. NR.
Mr. Kaplan
Apr. 2, 6:30 • Apr. 5, 2:00 • Apr. 15, 3:30
Writer/director Álvaro Brechner, who’s been
called the Uruguayan Woody Allen, brings us
the delightful and poignant Mr. Kaplan, his
country’s entry for Best Foreign Film in 2015.
After fleeing Europe for Uruguay during WWII,
Jacob Kaplan (played by acclaimed Chilean actor
Héctor Noguera) built a stable but rather boring
life for himself and his family. Now 76, grumpily
questioning his worth, he seizes an opportunity
to achieve greatness. Learning of a mysterious
German café owner prowling the shores of a
nearby beach, Kaplan is convinced that he’s
found a Nazi in hiding and plans to expose him.
Expertly distilling a potent mixture of emotional
depth and deadpan comedy, Mr. Kaplan is a
beautifully directed comedy-drama with winning
performances. 2014. 98 m. Álvaro Brechner.
Uruguay. With subtitles. NR.
All Festival Tickets: $10 (members), $15 (nonmembers) unless otherwise noted.
Mr. Kaplan
In Search of Israeli Cuisine
COMMUNITY NIGHT
Everything Is Copy
Apr. 3, 5:15
Jacob Bernstein creates a stunning, engaging
portrait of his mother, Nora Ephron, the
no-holds-barred, hilarious, and extremely
talented essayist turned novelist, playwright,
screenwriter, and film director. Deftly edited,
this portrait combines home movies, interviews,
and wondrous video and audio clips of Ephron
herself expounding on writing, movies, and
her I’m-always-right opinions. Bernstein allows
us to see how Ephron continually struggled
to balance the personal and the private while
ostensibly operating by her own mother’s
motto that everything was fair game for her
work. 2015. 89 m. Jacob Bernstein. US. NR.
Q&A filmmaker Jacob Bernstein and
JBFC Board President Janet Maslin
and RECEPTION
Everything Is Copy
SPONSORED BY THE JEWISH WEEK
Tickets: $15 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
ALSO SHOWING: Apr. 11, 3:00
Censored Voices
Aliyah Dada
Apr. 3, 2:50 • Apr. 5, 4:00 • Apr. 8, 5:00
Apr. 4, 2:00 • Apr. 7, 2:45 • Apr. 9, 2:30
Mor Loushy’s superb Censored Voices snagged
the 2015 Israeli Academy Award for Best
Documentary. This candid, shattering film is
based on renowned Israeli author Amos Oz and
editor Avraham Shapira’s revelatory 1967 audio
interviews with Israeli soldiers one week after
their return from the Six-Day War. At a moment
in history in which some believe Israel turned
from David to Goliath, the soldiers expressed
mixed feelings, and worse, which clashed with
the accepted narrative. The Israeli army censored
the conversations, allowing only a fragment of
them to be released. Censored Voices reveals
the original recordings for the very first time. A
shocking and profound re-examination of Israeli
history—a film not to be missed. 2015. 84 m.
Mor Loushy. Israel. With subtitles. NR.
Renowned Romanian producer Oana Giurgiu’s
(Child’s Pose) directorial debut is a witty and frank
exploration of Jewish Romanians’ emigration to
the Holy Land. Surprisingly eloquent and intimate,
it’s made in a Dadaesque style as a tribute to
Tristan Tzara and Marcel Janco, who pioneered
the radical art movement. Reveling in the
absurdities and contradictions embedded in the
story, Aliyah Dada also reveals the hidden horrors
of World War II in Romania, the Communists’
secret deals for trading Jews to Israel, and the
influence of 400,000 Romanians (now the fourth
largest group of immigrants in the population)
on Israeli culture. 2015. 116 m. Oana Giurgiu.
Romania/Israel. With subtitles. NR.
The Muses of Isaac Bashevis
Singer
Apr. 3, 8:00 • Apr. 9, 5:00
The Prime Ministers II:
Soldiers and Peacemakers
Apr. 4, 7:30* • Apr. 15, 1:00
Academy Award winner Richard Trank (The
Long Way Home) returns to the WJFF with
this sensational documentary based on the
best-selling book by Ambassador Yehuda Avner
(The Prime Ministers). It’s a West Wing–esque
behind-the-scenes look at key historical events,
such as Avner’s experiences with prime ministers
(Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Shimon Peres),
his service as Israel’s ambassador to England,
and epic events (the rescue at Entebbe, Anwar
Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem, the Camp David peace
process, the war in Lebanon, the Oslo Accords).
Written and produced with Rabbi Marvin Hier,
this is a stunning follow-up to The Prime
Ministers I: The Pioneers (WJFF 2013).
2014. 111 m. Richard Trank. US. NR.
Experimenter
Apr. 6, 5:00 • Apr. 8, 2:45
Writer/director Michael Almereyda (Hamlet,
starring Ethan Hawke) paints an idiosyncratic
and edgy dramatic portrait of Stanley Milgram,
the Yale University–based social scientist who
in 1961 set out to determine how and why
people could be pushed to extremes. The son
of Holocaust survivors, Milgram created the
“obedience experiments,” in which ordinary
people were commanded to inflict pain on
others by an authority figure. He asked, “Could
it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices
in the Holocaust were just following orders?
Could we call them all accomplices?” A
fascinating look at an unnerving subject with an
all-star cast that includes Peter Sarsgaard and
Winona Ryder. 2015. 98 m. Michael Almereyda.
US. PG-13.
Rabin in His Own Words
Apr. 7, 7:30* • Apr. 12, 3:00 • Apr. 16, noon
Winner: Best Documentary, 2015 Haifa
International Film Festival
This courageous, penetrating film gives us a
previously unseen view of Yitzhak Rabin—his
own. Erez Laufer skillfully threads together
rare archival footage, home movies, and
private letters that enable Rabin’s personal
and professional dramas to unfold before our
eyes. We watch the young man rise through
his stellar military career and his years as a
brilliant diplomat. He entered politics as the
Israeli ambassador to the United States and
then served as prime minister, opposition
leader, minister of defense, and prime minister
once more—making moves that often enraged
many, until the horrific moment when his
political career and life were violently ended.
2015. 100 m. Erez Laufer. US/Israel. With
subtitles. NR.
*Q&A Apr. 7, 7:30: Ambassador Aaron
Jacob (AJC Associate Director of
International Relations) and the
Honorable Amir Sagie (Deputy Consul
General of Israel in New York)
SPONSORED BY AJC
The Yiddish writer and Nobel Prize–winner Isaac
Bashevis Singer (Gimpel the Fool, Yentl the
Yeshiva Boy, and Enemies, A Love Story) was a
romantic charmer both on the page and in real
life. This delightful, candid documentary explores
the little known history of his most vital source
of creative inspiration, his “harem” of women
translators. The talented codirectors Asaf Galay
and Shaul Betser skillfully combine intimate,
poignant interviews with nine of the remaining
translators with exclusive archival material to
portray the unknown story of an author who
enchanted his employees and his audiences alike.
2014. 72 m. Asaf Galay/Shaul Betser. Israel.
With subtitles. NR.
*Q&A Apr. 4, 7:30: Steve Bayme (AJC
Director of the Contemporary Jewish
Life Department and of the Koppelman
Institute on American Jewish-Israeli
Relations) and RECEPTION
SPONSORED BY AJC
Tickets: $12 (members), $17 (nonmembers)
The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer
Raise the Roof
Apr. 10, noon* • Apr. 11, 5:00
Raise the Roof follows the extraordinary decadelong effort by Massachusetts-based sculptors and
teachers Rick and Laura Brown to reconstruct the
elaborate roof and painted ceiling of what was one
of the most magnificent 18th-century synagogues
´
in Poland. The Gwozdziec,
along with nearly 200
other wooden synagogues, was destroyed by
the Nazis during World War II. With their team of
more than 300 students and professionals from
16 countries, the Browns grapple not just with
echoes of this horrific period of history, but also
with warped timbers, tricky paints, and period
hand tools. And when their work is finished, it’s
evident that they’ve done more than rebuild a lost
synagogue—they have recovered a lost world. In
´
2014, the Gwozdziec
roof was unveiled as the
centerpiece of the POLIN Museum of the History
of Polish Jews in Warsaw. 2015. 85 m. Yari and
Cary Wolinsky. US. NR.
JeruZalem
Youth
Apr. 8, 7:15 • Apr. 10, 7:45
Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman, The
Revenant) says: “As soon as you see the eyes
and features of both main young actors in
Youth, you recognize the deep sight and nobility
of [filmmaker] Tom Shoval.” Teen brothers Yaki
and Shaul live with their parents in Petah Tikva,
near Tel Aviv. Their father has lost his job, and
the family is on the brink of losing their home.
The boys feel they must do something—and
using the gun Yaki carries (he is doing his military
service), they kidnap one of Shaul’s wealthy
classmates. They then place a call demanding
a huge ransom for her release. But they’ve
forgotten that today is Shabbat and their victim’s
orthodox family will not answer the phone.
Soon, time starts to run out… 2013. 107 m.
Tom Shoval. Israel. With subtitles. NR.
Junun
Apr. 8, 9:30 • Apr. 15, 8:45 • Apr. 16, 9:30
Academy Award nominee Paul Thomas Anderson
(Inherent Vice, There Will Be Blood) takes us on
a mind-blowing musical journey to Jodhpur, India.
In spring 2015, the Maharaja of Jodhpur hosted
acclaimed Israeli composer/poet Shye Ben Tzur,
who has lived in India for over 15 years, along
with Anderson’s friend and collaborator, Jonny
Greenwood (Radiohead’s lead guitarist), and his
producer, Nigel Godrich. They joined a group of
India’s finest musicians, and over the following
three weeks joyously made music together. With
long, unbroken takes, Junun is a cross-cultural
meeting point between the mystical Islam of
Sufi, Qawwali, and devotional poetries in Urdu,
Hebrew, and Hindi—and an extraordinary visual
and sensory experience that will capture your
imagination. 2015. 54 m. Paul Thomas Anderson.
US/India. With subtitles. NR.
Raise the Roof
Baba Joon
Apr. 9, 7:00 • Apr. 12, 7:30
Winner: Best Film, Israeli Academy Awards
Yuval Delshad’s fiction-feature debut deftly
chronicles the escalating conflict between father
and son in a hard-working Iranian-Israeli family
in the Negev during the early 1980s. Yitzhak
(the extremely talented Navid Negahban, who
played Abu Nazir in Homeland) is proud of the
turkey farm his father built, and is determined to
keep it going with the help of his 13-year-old son,
Moti. But farming turkeys is the last thing Moti
wants to do. When Yitzhak’s older, successful
brother returns from America for a short visit,
Moti’s rebellion against what he believes are
his father’s old-fashioned ways explodes. Baba
Joon is a beautifully acted, astute glimpse into
the immigrant experience, and a universal story
of intergenerational tension. 2015. 91 m. Yuval
Delshad. Israel. With subtitles. NR
JeruZalem
Apr. 9, 9:00 • Apr. 15, 10:00
This crowd-pleaser—the Audience Award winner
at the 2015 Jerusalem Film Festival—is a Spring
Break/Dawn of the Dead horror mash-up set
in the Holy Land! Sarah, who is mourning the
death of her older brother, reluctantly agrees
to travel to Tel Aviv for a beach vacation with
fun-loving Rachel (Yael Grobglas from Jane
the Virgin). On their flight to Israel, the two
best friends meet a cute archaeologist who
convinces them to head to Jerusalem for the
Yom Kippur break—and their Middle East holiday
soon descends into a nightmare on Judgment
Day. Will they escape before all hell breaks
loose and the Dark Angels turn off the lights?
The Paz brothers (perhaps Israel’s answer to the
Coen brothers), keep you at the edge of your
seat until the very end. 2015. 94 m. Yoav Paz/
Doron Paz. Israel. R.
A selection of books related to many festival films is available across the street at
The Village Bookstore, 10 Washington Avenue, Pleasantville.
*Q&A Apr. 10, noon: Gosia Weiss (AJC
Senior Associate for Polish-Jewish Affairs)
SPONSORED BY AJC
Twilight of a Life
Apr. 10, 3:00 • Apr. 13, 5:00
Sylvain Biegeleisen’s enchanting, affecting portrait
of his 95-year-old bedridden mother—who laughs,
smokes, sings, and drinks (just a little)—won Best
Documentary at last year’s DocAviv and almost
every other festival where it’s been screened.
As the elderly woman slides between complete
lucidity and moments of confusion, she constantly
reminds her son that she’s a fighter and that
“there is always something worth holding on to.”
It is a privilege to see this love letter to a beloved
parent. 2015. 70 m. Sylvain Biegeleisen. Israel/
Belgium. With subtitles. NR.
Rosenwald
Apr. 11, 7:15
From the award-winning director of The Life
and Times of Hank Greenberg and Yoo-Hoo, Mrs.
Goldberg, this is the captivating story of Julius
Rosenwald, the son of an immigrant peddler
who became one of America’s most effective
philanthropists and social activists. Deeply
influenced by the writings of Booker T. Washington,
Rosenwald partnered with Washington to
construct 5,400 schools in African American
communities throughout the south at the height
of the Jim Crow era. He also built YMCAs and
housing for African Americans to address the
pressing needs of the Great Migration, giving
away $62 million in his lifetime. Interviews with
civil rights leaders and Rosenwald school alumni
including Maya Angelou help paint a picture of
this modest, generous man. Special note: Two
of Julius Rosenwald’s three children moved to
Westchester and became principal benefactors of
the remarkable Teatown Lake Reservation. 2015.
96 m. Aviva Kempner. US. NR.
Q&A Peter Ascoli, grandson of Julius
Rosenwald. Peter is the son of Marian
Ascoli—Julius’s daughter—who donated
150 acres to Teatown Lake Reservation
and was a leader in that institution for
many years.
The Grüninger File
Apr. 13, 7:30* • Apr. 18, 2:30
On August 19, 1938, Switzerland ordered the
closing of its border to refugees from the
Third Reich, constituting a death sentence for
many Jews. But Swiss Police Commander
Paul Grüninger—the “Oscar Schindler of the
Swiss-German border region”—used bureaucratic
loopholes to allow more than 3,000 Austrian
Jews to enter the country. This drama, based
on the true story, unfolds like a suspense thriller
as we witness the war of wits between the
commander and his superiors in the police
force of officially neutral Switzerland. It’s almost
impossible to watch The Grüninger File and
not think about the difficult moral questions
around today’s refugee asylum seekers. 2014.
92 m. Alain Gsponer. Switzerland/Austria.
With subtitles. NR.
*Q&A Apr. 13, 7:30: Jason Isaacson (AJC
Director of the Office of Government and
International Affairs) and RECEPTION
Rock in the Red Zone
SPONSORED BY AJC
Tickets: $12 (members), $17 (nonmembers)
Women in Sink
Apr. 14, 4:40 • Apr. 17, 2:45
Emerging Israeli director Iris Zaki takes a job
washing hair at a popular Haifa salon, which
caters to Arab-Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
women alike. Recording the candid conversations
that take place when the clients literally let their
hair down, Zaki has created a beautiful short film
that reminds us of our shared humanity. 2015. 36
m. Iris Zacki. Israel. With subtitles. NR.
with
Partner with the Enemy
Codirectors Chen Shelach and Duki Dror draw us
into the ever-fraught Israeli-Palestinian conflict by
following two gutsy women—one Israeli and one
Palestinian—building a business together. Can
their success and friendship endure in the face
of social pressures, anti-normalization currents,
and a male-dominated industry? 2015. 60 m.
Duki Dror/Chen Shelach. Israel. With subtitles. NR.
The Grüninger File
I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The
Cinema of Chantal Akerman
Apr. 15, 5:45 • Apr. 19, 3:00
Chantal Akerman was one of the leading
experimental filmmakers of her generation.
When her celebrated Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai
du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles was released in
1975, the Times declared that it was the “first
masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the
cinema.” In I Don’t Belong Anywhere, Marianne
Lambert, one of Akerman’s longtime colleagues,
delicately portrays the artist as a nomad, always
traveling, always creating, and always searching
for an elusive emotional home. Lambert deftly
explores Akerman’s 40-film oeuvre to create a
profound and loving portrait of the Jewish-Belgian
pioneer, who abruptly ended her life last autumn.
2015. 67 m. Marianne Lambert. Belgium.
With subtitles. NR.
Claude Lanzmann:
Spectres of the Shoah
Apr. 15, 7:30 • Apr. 16, 5:30 • Apr. 19, 5:30
Adam Benzine has created a stunning portrait of
Claude Lanzmann, whose nine-and-a-half-hour
magnum opus, Shoah, is considered by many to
be one of the greatest films ever made about the
Holocaust. Benzine goes behind the scenes to
discuss the masterwork with Lanzmann, delving
into the secret filming of former Nazis, the
process of persuading survivors to candidly tell
their stories to the camera, the film’s financial
and technical complications over more than 11
years of production, and Lanzmann’s obsessive
moral commitment that almost drove him to
suicide. Marking the 30th anniversary of Shoah’s
release, as well as the 70th anniversary of the
end of World War II, this is a decisive portrait of
a singular artist. Academy Award Nominee
for Best Short Documentary 2015. 2015. 40 m.
Adam Benzine. With subtitles. NR.
Tickets: $8 (members), $13 (nonmembers)
Rock in the Red Zone
Apr. 17, 4:45 • Apr. 20, 2:30
Documentary filmmaker Laura Bialis (Refusenik)
returned to Israel in 2007 looking for a great story,
and ended up in Sderot, on the edge of the Negev
Desert bordering Gaza. The small, besieged city
was established in the 1950s as a transit camp
for immigrants coming first from Arab countries
and later from Ethiopia. Today, it’s a city of factory
workers and rock musicians, the children of
refugees who seek solace from rocket fire in
music. Together, in underground bomb shelters,
they create magical rhythms, transforming
contemporary Israeli music using North African
and Western beats. As Bialis films the pulsating
music scene, she crosses the line from observer
to participant in this dramatic, touching, and
unflinchingly real view of a life led by people
coping with the seemingly impossible. 2014.
87 m. Laura Bialis. Israel. With subtitles. NR.
Karski & the Lords of Humanity
Apr. 18, 7:30
Emmy Award–winning director Slawomir
Grünberg (Praying with Lior) turns his lens on
his homeland, Poland, to tell the story of Jan
Karski, one of the most courageous and least
known underground activists during World War II.
Often working for the Polish government in exile
in London, Karski risked his own life on many
assignments, including an incognito mission to
the Warsaw Ghetto. He presented his eyewitness
account to British officials and President Franklin
D. Roosevelt—whom he called the lords of
humanity—hoping to spur them to action.
Grünberg uses potent animated sequences to
illustrate several compelling events in Karski’s
life, including brutal torture by the Gestapo, a
daring hospital escape, and his disguising of his
Polish accent through medical means. 2015. 72 m.
Slawomir Grünberg. US. With subtitles. NR.
Q&A David Harris (AJC Chief Executive
Officer) and RECEPTION
SPONSORED BY AJC
Tickets: $12 (members), $17 (nonmembers)
The Jacob Burns Film Center is a community-supported art house cinema.
Karski & the Lords of Humanity
Celebrating Elaine May
Elaine May is an iconic comedian (blazing trails in the 1950s with Mike Nichols
in the Nichols and May improvisational comedy duo), an Oscar-nominated
screenwriter (Heaven Can Wait), and a stellar actress (among other
films: Small Time Crooks by Woody Allen, who just revealed that she will
costar in his new series for Amazon!). She is also one of America’s most
uncompromising and daring film directors. May can create a hilarious
moment in one scene, and shatter the audience emotionally in the next. She’s
never politically correct. Fierce with her actors, she has realized some of
Charles Grodin’s, Warren Beatty’s, Dustin Hoffman’s, John Cassavetes’s, and
Peter Falk’s greatest and boldest performances. It’s an extraordinary privilege
to honor this singular artist in the 2016 Westchester Jewish Film Festival.
Ishtar
The Heartbreak Kid
Mar. 31, 7:00
Apr. 5, 7:00
with special guest Elaine May
Pauline Kael and Richard Brody (who calls Ishtar
“one of my favorite films…a masterwork”) are
only two of the many critics who’ve lined up
behind Elaine May’s woefully misunderstood film.
“Ishtar is a really good movie that suffered, in its
infancy, from very bad press,” added A.O. Scott
recently in the Times. “A slow but steady tide of
revisionism has taken hold, and Ishtar has been
rehabilitated by critics and cinephiles…. It is a sly
absurdist farce with keen psychological insights
and prescient geopolitical implications.” This
hilarious story features Warren Beatty and Dustin
Hoffman as two incredibly untalented past-theirprime lounge singers who end up with a gig in a
Moroccan hotel, of all places. Before they know
it, they become pawns in a power play between
the CIA, the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying
to overthrow his regime. Be sure to join us—and
filmmaker Elaine May—to see this cinematic gem
for yourself. 1987. 107 m. Elaine May. US. PG-13.
with special guest Charles Grodin
The outrageously funny but ruthless The
Heartbreak Kid was an instant hit. Critics loved the
film—The Saturday Review deemed it “a triumph
of New York Jewish humor”—and it is still widely
considered to be one of the funniest American
movies ever made. Scribed by Neil Simon, it
tells the story of sporting-goods salesman Lenny
Cantrow (Charles Grodin, in the role that made
him a star), who takes his new bride (played
to perfection by Elaine May’s real-life daughter
Jeannie Berlin) to Miami for their honeymoon.
After their disappointing first official night together,
Lenny meets—or, rather, is met by—a determined,
gorgeous blonde shiksa goddess wonderfully
played by Cybill Shepherd. What happens next?
Don’t ask! 1972. 106 m. Elaine May. US. PG.
Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
Q&A actor Charles Grodin and JBFC
Board President Janet Maslin. Interview
will start at 7:00, followed by the
film screening.
Q&A filmmaker Elaine May and Julian
Schlossberg (veteran film, theater,
television, and radio producer who has
worked with Elaine May for many years)
Tickets: $15 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
Tickets: $15 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
Apr. 14, 7:15
Mikey and Nicky
Mikey and Nicky is “The great gangster movie
of the 1970s, a welcome corrective to The
Godfather” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker).
Set over a long, tense night, this is the story of
small-time thug Nicky (played with determined
and fragile ferocity by John Cassavetes) holing
up in a fleabag hotel, convinced that he’s next
on his boss’s hit list. Desperate and unhinged,
he reaches out to a fellow gangster, Mikey (a
cunningly nervous Peter Falk). Mikey turns up to
ostensibly help Nicky sneak out of town, but is
he doing right by his old friend? This is a stirring
and unequivocal portrait of small-time Jewish
mobsters in mid-1970s Philadelphia, a world that
has rarely, if ever, been shown on the big screen.
1976. 119 m. Elaine May. US. R.
Elaine May directing A New Leaf in New York City
A New Leaf
Apr. 20, 7:30
Forty-five years ago, Elaine May’s luminous
directorial debut, A New Leaf, opened at Radio
City Music Hall to rave reviews, which were
soon followed by award nominations (including
two Golden Globes). The film, which May also
wrote, is a romantic black comedy of the highest
order. The self-absorbed Henry Graham, played
masterfully by Walter Matthau, knows how to do
only one thing—be rich—but one morning wakes
up and discovers he’s broke, and his childhood
guardian, Uncle Harry (a deliciously mean-spirited
James Coco), refuses to give him another dime.
Desperate, Henry turns to his enterprising valet
(played by the divine character actor George Rose),
who tells him to make money the old-fashioned
way, “Marry it.” Will the meek, mega-rich botanist
Henrietta (played sublimely by Elaine May herself,
who received a Best Actress nomination from
the Golden Globes) be his ticket to happiness?
1971. 102 m. Elaine May. US. G.
Join the JBFC!
The Heartbreak Kid
You’ll be supporting our nonprofit and the
film programming you enjoy, plus you’ll
receive a variety of benefits including a
member ticket discount, complimentary
ticket offers, and special members-only
opportunities. Join at the theater to get
the member price today. You can also join
online at burnsfilmcenter.org or call us at
914.773.7663, ext. 6.
A New Leaf
2016 Westchester Jewish Film Festival At A Glance
Wednesday, March 23:
Fauda Part I: 7:00 (Preview)
Wednesday, March 30:
Presenting Princess Shaw: 7:00
(Steve Apkon) reception
Thursday, March 31:
In Search of Israeli Cuisine: 2:30
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy:
4:30
Ishtar: 7:00
(Elaine May, Julian Schlossberg)
Friday, April 1
The Kind Words: 2:30
The Midnight Orchestra: 5:15
Fauda Part I: 7:30
Saturday, April 2
Mamele: noon
Presenting Princess Shaw: 2:30
Papirosen: 4:30
Mr. Kaplan: 6:30
The Midnight Orchestra: 8:45
Sunday, April 3
Fauda Part II: noon
Censored Voices: 2:50
Everything Is Copy: 5:15 (Jacob
Bernstein, Janet Maslin) reception
The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer:
8:00
Tuesday, April 5
Sunday, April 10
Wednesday, April 6
Monday, April 11
Mr. Kaplan: 2:00
Censored Voices: 4:00
The Heartbreak Kid: 7:00
(Charles Grodin, Janet Maslin)
Mamele: 2:30
Experimenter: 5:00
Fauda Part II: 7:45
Thursday, April 7
Presenting Princess Shaw: 1:00
Aliyah Dada: 2:45
Papirosen: 5:15
Rabin in His Own Words: 7:30
(Aaron Jacob, Amir Sagie)
Friday, April 8
Experimenter: 2:45
Censored Voices: 5:00
Youth: 7:15
Junun: 9:30
Saturday, April 9
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy:
noon
Aliyah Dada: 2:30
The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer:
5:00
Baba Joon: 7:00
JeruZalem: 9:00
Monday, April 4
Aliyah Dada: 2:00
The Midnight Orchestra: 4:45
The Prime Ministers II: Soldiers
and Peacemakers: 7:30
(Steve Bayme) reception
MARCH 30–APRIL 20
Raise the Roof: noon (Gosia Weiss)
Twilight of a Life: 3:00
Fauda Part III: 4:45
Youth: 7:45
Everything Is Copy: 3:00
Raise the Roof: 5:00
Rosenwald: 7:15 (Peter Ascoli)
Tuesday, April 12
Rabin in His Own Words: 3:00
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy:
5:30
Baba Joon: 7:30
Wednesday, April 13
Twilight of a Life: 5:00
The Grüninger File: 7:30
(Jason Isaacson) reception
Thursday, April 14
Papirosen: 3:00
Women in Sink/Partner with
the Enemy: 4:40
Mikey and Nicky: 7:15
Friday, April 15
The Prime Ministers II: Soldiers
and Peacemakers: 1:00
Mr. Kaplan: 3:30
I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The
Cinema of Chantal Akerman: 5:45
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of
the Shoah: 7:30
Junun: 8:45
JeruZalem: 10:00
Saturday, April 16
Rabin in His Own Words: noon
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of
the Shoah: 5:30
The Kind Words: 7:00
Junun: 9:30
Sunday, April 17
Fauda Part III: noon
Women in Sink/Partner with
the Enemy: 2:45
Rock in the Red Zone: 4:45
In Search of Israeli Cuisine: 7:15
Monday, April 18
The Grüninger File: 2:30
The Kind Words: 5:00
Karski & the Lords of Humanity: 7:30
(David Harris) reception
Tuesday, April 19
I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The
Cinema of Chantal Akerman: 3:00
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of
the Shoah: 5:30
Wednesday, April 20
Rock in the Red Zone: 2:30
A New Leaf: 7:30
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Joseph & Roberta Rosenblum
Paul Willensky & Harriet Blumencranz
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GANER
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Michael Sonnenfeldt
PATRONS
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Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, Inc.
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364 Manville Road
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Ticket Information
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$15 (nonmembers)
except where noted
Box Office opens
noon weekdays and
11:00 am weekends
Tickets also available
at burnsfilmcenter.org
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