Five Celebrations of the Cinematic Diaspora at the Austin Jewish Film Festival
From dissections of comedy to the complexities of history
By Richard Whittaker, 6:17PM, Fri. Nov. 4, 2022
L'chaim! It's time to celebrate the return of the Austin Jewish Film Festival, and what more suitable way than with the huzzah that Tevye gave in Fiddler on the Roof - the groundbreaking movie musical that is subject of one of this year's selections.
The festival began last night at the Dell Jewish Community Campus with a screening of Exodus 91, but that's just the start of two weekends of movies and events, followed by a week of virtual screenings of some of the funniest, most incisive, moving, and informative movies to have come out of Israeli cinema and the global Jewish community. Here's our pick of five films both global and local that represent a cinema of a culture.
Austin Jewish Film Festival runs in person through Nov. 13, then online Nov. 14-21. Passes and individual tickets at austinjff.org.
Who's Afraid of Jewish Humor?
The history of 20th century comedy cannot be written without whole chapters about Jewish comics: but often their jokes deal with the same stereotypes that bigots spread. Filmmaker Jascha Hannover explores the line between self-deprecation and subversion when it comes to playing with tropes that may come from outside of a culture.
Sat., Nov. 5, 7:30pm; Sun, Nov. 13, 11:15am. Available in the virtual festival, Nov. 14-21.
Good Nazi. Bad Nazi.
Can there be heroes in the middle of pure evil? The German village of Thalu struggles with whether to commemorate Nazi Party member Wilm Hosenfeld who used his rank in the Wehrmacht to help hide a powerful secret: that he helped rescue 60 Jews, including Wladyslaw Szpilman (the subject of Roman Polanksi's The Pianist)
Austin premiere. Sun, Nov. 6, 2pm: Sun., Nov. 13, 2:15pm. Available in the virtual festival, Nov. 14-21.
Who Are the Marcuses?
The Marcuses just seemed like a regular couple, who retired to a little two bedroom apartment in San Diego. When Lottie Marcus died in 2016, two years after her husband Howard, they left a donation to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev: Half a billion dollars. Matthew Mishory's documentary explores the life and legacy of the Marcuses, and their dedication to the idea that the key to peace in the Middle East was not war or oil, but water.
Special sneak preview. Sun. Nov. 6, 11:30am, 7:45pm, Temple Beth Shalom. Ellen Marcus, daughter of Lottie and Howard Marcus, will be in attendance with director Matthew Mishory at the evening screening.
Fidder's Journey to the Big Screen
Topol singing "If I was a Rich Man" may be one of the most perfect moments of musical movie history, but when Norman Jewisson set about directing Fiddler on the Roof, the film version of the 1964 Broadway adaptation of Sholem Aleichem's Tevye the Dairyman, he wasn't just interested in some great songs. On its 50th anniversary, documentarian Daniel Raim talks with critics, historians, crew, and, yes, Topol, about the film's dedication to portraying rural Jewish life in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Fri., Dec. 11, 4pm. Available in the virtual festival, Dec. 12-18.
Perfect Strangers
Israel's answer to The Big Chill with a darker twist, as seven childhood friends meet for dinner after the death of a shared acquaintance. Lior Ashkenazi's critically acclaimed dark comedy, adapting the 2016 Italian original Perfetti sconosciuti.
Nov 13, 1:45pm. Available in the virtual festival, Nov. 14-21.
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