Yaniv - Festival Opener with Actor and Co-writer Ben Ducoff
Directed by Amnon Carmi, Starring Ben Ducoff
USA/English/2024/85 min
Sunday, October 26 | 12 & 3:30 pm | Boedecker Theater
Yaniv Card Party | 2 - 3:30 pm | Dairy Arts Lobby
Monday, October 27 | 12 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
In this light-hearted and high-spirited first film from Amnon Carmi, a high school teacher in the Bronx (played by real-life Bronx high school teacher Ben Ducoff) loses funding for the school musical. He decides to win the money playing in an underground card game run by the Hasidic community. Enlisting his friend and fellow teacher, a recovering gambling addict, they disguise themselves and infiltrate the game. This improbable plan goes hilariously awry. A surprise hit with audiences, this madcap comedy has been shown at more than 60 festivals. Be sure to join us to play Yaniv with Ben Ducoff at the party between the first and second screenings.
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Midas Man - Opening Night Feature
Directed by Joe Stephenson
Starring Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Emily Watson, Eddie Marsan, Eddie Izzard and Jay Leno
UK/English/2025/112 min
Sunday, October 26 | 6:30 pm | Boedecker Theater
Saturday, November 1 | 12:30 pm & 3:30 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
On Thursday, November 9,1961, a young record store manager named Brian Epstein descended the stairs to a cellar in Liverpool and made a life-changing discovery that would revolutionize the musical world. Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (“The Queen’s Gambit,” “The Great”) stars in this lively, nostalgic biodrama as the charming, visionary “fifth Beatle.” Epstein was an entrepreneur who discovered, managed and championed the Fab Four on their meteoric rise. A gay man from a wealthy, disapproving Jewish family in the swinging ‘60s, Epstein was the mercurial mastermind whose chutzpah, musical taste, and sense of style were instrumental in creating not only Beatlemania but the British Invasion.
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Shorts Program #1 & #2
Monday, October 27 | 3 pm | Grace Gamm Theater (Shorts Program #1)
Wednesday, October 29 | 3 pm | Grace Gamm Theater (Shorts Program #2)
Various countries and languages/120 min
This year the festival offers two separate collections of short films from up-and-coming filmmakers, featuring comedies, narratives, and animated films. In both Shorts Program 1 and Shorts Program 2, these international short films feature a wide variety of family relationship themes, some far from stereotypes with previously unimaginable story lines, while others portray both touching and hilarious scenarios. Many films are from Israel, and we have included three excellent French films which you are sure to appreciate. Sure to sell out quickly, the popular shorts programs are curated by Judith Dack and the Shorts Selection Committee.
Charles Grodin: Rebel with a Cause
Directed by James Freedman
USA/English/2025/93 min
Monday, October 27 | 6:30 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
Much more than a showbiz bio of a beloved actor, a hilarious comedian and talented talk show host, this heartfelt tribute also pays homage to a remarkable humanitarian who devoted his later years to freeing wrongly convicted prisoners. Known for his dry wit and deadpan delivery, Grodin captivated audiences in films such as “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Beethoven,” “Catch 22” and “Midnight Run.” He made frequent appearances on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman and hosted his own talk show on CNBC. Through a treasure trove of film and TV clips, insightful interviews, and personal reflections, this engrossing documentary remembers a singular talent who left an indelible mark on both entertainment and humanity.
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Of Dogs and Men
Directed by Dani Rosenberg, Starring Ori Avinoam
Israel/Hebrew with English subtitles/2024/82 min
Tuesday, October 28 | 3 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
This unique, hypnotic blend of fiction film and documentary follows a teenage girl who returns to her devastated kibbutz to look for her dog, lost in the recent Hamas terrorist massacre of October 7. As she wanders through the wreckage of her life, searching for a shred of hope, she encounters real-life survivors who put a human face on the horror that beggars belief. Filmed at Kibbutz Nir Oz in late October 2023 using handheld cameras, this experiential docudrama is a work of deep humanity, conveying the challenge of healing from trauma each survivor must face.
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Technion 10²
Directed by Uri Rosenwaks
Israel/Hebrew/2024/77 min
Tuesday, October 28 | 6:30 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
One hundred years ago, a modest research program was launched in a far-flung corner of the British Empire. Today, the fabled Technion that sits atop Mount Carmel in Haifa is one of the leading science and technology institutions in the world, having played a vital role in the start-up nation’s achievements and economic success. The story of the Technion as it celebrates its first century provides a fascinating prism through which to view the turbulent, triumphant history of the State of Israel.
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The Ring - Community Centerpiece, Talkback with Professor Paul Shankman
Directed by Adir Miller, Starring Adir Miller, Joy Rieger, Tikva Dayan
Israel/Hebrew with English subtitles/2024/122 min
Wednesday, October 29 | 12 & 6:30 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
Famed Israeli actor, comedian, screenwriter and director Adir Miller portrays the son of an ailing Holocaust survivor who embarks on a sentimental journey to Hungary with his estranged daughter to recover the ring that miraculously saved his mother’s life in World War II. Loosely based on Adir Miller's Holocaust survival story, this multifaceted story of three generations and the family history that reconnects them is both moving and amusing. The popular drama was selected as the Community Centerpiece by the BJFF Advisory Committee.
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Riefenstahl - Talkback with Professor Paul Shankman
Directed by Andres Veiel
Germany, Italy/English, German, French with English subtitles/2025/115 min
Thursday, October 30 | 3 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
This timely documentary explores the infamous German filmmaker’s controversial artistic legacy and her complicity in glorifying the Nazi regime through her formidable talent. The riveting film explores the line between art and propaganda and reveals the seductive power of Nazi ideology, offering a disturbing and highly relevant portrait of profound self-delusion and evasion of personal responsibility. Director Andres Veiel obtained access to Leni Riefenstahl's personal archives to assemble a damning profile of the unrepentant director, one that challenges her attempts to distance herself from Hitler. This psychological portrait of the infamous director of “Olympia” and “Triumph of the Will” is the chilling story of an artist who made a pact with the devil.
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Bliss
Directed by Shemi Zarhin, Starring Sasson Gabay, Assi Levi
Israel/Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles/2024/125 min
Thursday, October 30 | 12 & 6:30 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
An unconventional, highly original love story set in the Galilee from one of Israel's most prominent filmmakers, this award-winning family drama stars Israeli national treasure Sasson Gabay (“Shtisl,” “Kugel,” “The Band’s Visit,” “Tehran”) and Israeli Oscar-winning actress Assi Levi. In this acting tour de force they play a couple fighting to maintain their humor and deep affection under extreme pressure. Sassai and Efi are struggling with the gambling debt left by Sasai’s son before he left for Brussels. Set in the Mizrahi community of Middle Eastern Jews who fled their Arab homelands after 1948, this tender drama reveals an unseen side of Israeli culture, focusing on ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges.
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Tatami
Directed by Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir, Starring Arienne Mandi, Zar Amir
Israel/Farsi with subtitles/2025/105 min
Friday, October 31 | 12 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
Sunday, November 2 | 2:30 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
Important and timely, the first feature film to be co-directed by an Iranian and an Israeli filmmaker is both a stunning sports drama and a suspenseful political thriller. At the World Judo Championships, a female Iranian judoka is willing to risk all to win the gold medal, even if it means defying the Supreme Leader. Filmed in black and white and featuring striking cinematography, this tense drama is loosely based on a shocking international incident. It showcases the resilience of Iranian women seeking self-determination, the cost of defying an oppressive regime, and the flagrant antisemitism that finds its way into international sports. Oscar-winning Israeli director Guy Nattiv (“Skin”) teamed with Iranian refuge filmmaker Zar Amir (Cannes Film Festival Best Actress-Winner for “Holy Spider”), who co-stars in the film as the coach faced with a life-or-death decision.
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The Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief
Directed by Hugo McGregor
UK/English/2025/120 min
Friday, October 31 | 3 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
American historian and author Jonathan Petropoulos forms an uneasy relationship with his sly-as-a-fox subject, an unrepentant player in the international art world who evaded punishment for stealing countless masterpieces from prominent Jewish families during World War II. An engaging sleuth, Petropoulos investigates the life of Hermann Göring’s art agent in Paris, Bruno Lohse, interviewing Lohse himself over the course of several years, as well as Lohse’s associates, curators, art investigators, and descendants of the victims of Nazi art theft. Full of shocking surprises, the film reveals the connections that perpetrators like Bruno Lohse had, not only in Europe, but also with the Monuments Men, American museums and the American art market.
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Guns and Moses
Directed by Salvador Litvak
Starring Mark Feuerstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney, Christopher Lloyd
USA/English/2024/94 min
Saturday, November 1 | 7 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
In this polished, high-concept, and all-too-relevant crime thriller, a rabbi in the American west takes up arms to defend his community after a fatal attack devastates his congregation. Mark Feuerstein plays the founder of the fictional High Desert Jewish Center, a Chabad-like synagogue in rural California, where the fast-paced action unfolds. This stylized Hasidic western, which is sure to provoke strong reactions, borrows from Tarantino movies as well as classic cinematic tales of the Wild West. It offers a new take on self-defense in the face of growing threats of violence and security concerns in the Jewish community and beyond. Director Sal Litvak, who co-wrote the screenplay with his wife Nina Litvak, has said his fictional genre film was inspired by the Poway shootings and on his experience taking weapons training through the Los Angeles volunteer security group Magen Am, which was founded by a Chabad rabbi to teach situational awareness and promote responsible gun ownership. Ticket buyers will receive a recorded Q&A with Salvador Litvak following the screening.
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Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse - Talkback with Jim Vacca
Directed by Molly Bernstein and Philip Dolin
USA/English/2025/98 min
Sunday, November 2 | 12 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
The Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of “Maus” revolutionized comics by exploring dark, complex themes, his life and work having been shaped by his Holocaust-survivor parents and inspired by MAD magazine’s irreverent satire. This award-winning portrait of a provocative and influential artist features archival footage and illustrations, recent interviews with Spiegelman, and interviews with his family and contemporaries, including fellow cartoonists Joe Sacco, Robert Crumb, Emil Ferris, Jerry Craft and Bill Griffith.
This fascinating new documentary follows Spiegelman’s early career as co-editor of comic magazines Arcade and Raw before becoming a contributing artist for The New Yorker, as well as the origins and impact of Maus, his autobiographical work that became the first and only graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize. Although Maus has been widely praised as teaching tool for students studying the Holocaust, the graphic novel recently generated controversy when a Tennessee school board removed it from its 8th grade curriculum. A defender of free speech and a candid cultural critic, Spiegelman continues to speak out against censorship.
Jim Vacca is a retired teacher and a local comics enthusiast who most recently taught a class on Comic Books and the Jewish Imagination at the Boulder JCC. He still actively collects and reads comic books, his mother never threw out his comics. He has taught Maus at Boulder High School.
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Swedishkayt: Yidlife Crisis in Stockholm - Closing Night with Reception
Talkback with Katarina Schare
Directed, written and starring Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman
Canada/English/2024/77 min
Tuesday, October 28 | 12 pm | Grace Gamm Theater
Sunday, November 2 | 6:30 | Grace Gamm Theater
Reception* | 5 pm | Dairy Arts Lobby
Did you know that Yiddish is an official language in Sweden? In this entertaining and eye-opening Yiddish-inflected escapade, a popular Canadian comedy duo travel to Sweden to perform. Much to their surprise, they unearth an incredibly rich mother lode of Jewish culture. The writers and stars Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman are the wildly idiosyncratic creators of the irreverent tribute to Yiddish language, culture and comedic tradition called “Yidlife Crisis.” In their critically acclaimed web series, launched in 2014, they play best friends and adversaries Chaimie and Leizer, who tackle life, love, and lactose intolerance. In this foray into feature length film, the pair’s playful shtick serves them well as they unexpectedly encounter a community steeped in Yiddishkeit.
*Born in Sweden in a tiny Jewish community, Katarina Schare has lived in Boulder since 2009, and opened Hävenly Baked Goods in 2019, selling gluten-free versions of Swedish bread recipes to more than 70 restaurants
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