PJFM’s annual spring film series is back IN PERSON after four years!

Lindy SpringFest 2023 is finally here! After four long years, Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media’s annual spring film series is back IN PERSON. Check out the exclusive list of upcoming films and programs below. The festival will take place March 25 – April 1 in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs.

Tickets and All-Access Passes go on sale Wednesday March 1. Stay tuned for more details!

Opening Night

  • MARCH ’68 (Narrative Feature | Poland)
    Opening Night of Lindy SpringFest begins with MARCH ’68. Beautifully filmed with hip music and superb performances, MARCH ’68 is a timeless love story, a tale of romance jeopardized by a messy array of governmental beliefs and diatribe. Director Krzysztof Lang takes a magnifying glass to post-WWII Poland and brilliantly shows the tumult of the late 60s, a decade of anger, injustice, and courage from its citizens, just people hoping to move on with their lives. Directed by Krzysztof Lang.

Closing Night

  • HAUTE COUTURE (Narrative Feature | France)
    Lindy SpringFest concludes with HAUTE COUTURE. Esther is the renowned head seamstress at Dior on Avenue Montaigne and on the road to retirement. One day, she is mugged in the subway by Jade, a young woman from a lower-class banlieue of Paris. When Jade’s friends warn her that it’s bad luck to steal religious items from someone, she makes the daring choice to return the belongings to the dressmaker. Instead of calling the police, Esther, though ill-tempered towards her mugger, sees talent in Jade and does the unexpected by offering her an internship at her atelier. Regardless of their differences in class, the two women form a trustful, poignant friendship, one that allows them to release their emotional scars and pain. Directed by Sylvie Ohayon.

Feature Films

  • BERENSHTEIN (Docudrama Feature | Israel)
    As commander of a partisan battalion, Leonid Berenshtein helped locate and thwart Hitler’s “wonder weapon,” the dictator’s V2 missile development facility, at the height of the Second World War. Years later, Berenshtein, a frail, elderly man in his final years, bravely recounts his time in the battalion. From fighting Nazis in the cold forests of Eastern Europe to rescuing Jewish prisoners behind enemy lines, the memories are as vivid to him as if they were from yesterday.  Directed by Roman Shumunov.
  • ONLY IN THEATERS (Documentary Feature | USA)
    For the Laemmles, going to the movies is a sacred experience. To this day, Laemmle Theatres has become a gateway for independent and international cinema, attracting movie buffs and up-and-coming arthouse filmmakers galore. After years of success and overcoming challenges, from the birth of television to an ever-growing increase in film streaming, nothing, however, will threaten their existence more than COVID-19. Directed by Raphael Sbarge.
  • SHTTL (Narrative Feature | Ukraine/France)
    The year is 1941, and although Nazi Germany has yet to take over Soviet Ukraine, there is already chaos and distrust in one particular shtetl. The gossip of a potential Nazi invasion is overshadowed by constant clashing between Hasidic Jews and communist supporters. Mendele, a young, secular Jew disillusioned with his town, adds fire to the flame after returning to the shtetl. The only way for the villagers to make peace is to converse over their disagreements, but the clock is ticking on this fateful day. Unbeknownst to these people, their chance to make amends with their neighbors’ differences may be too late. Directed by Ady Walter.
  • VALERIA IS GETTING MARRIED – Encore Screening (Narrative Feature | Israel/ Ukraine)
    When a smiley, carefree Ukrainian woman arranges for her younger sister to marry an Israeli man and start her life anew, trepidation fills the room for the soon-to-be bride. Is this arranged marriage a blessing in disguise or a disaster waiting to happen? VALERIA IS GETTING MARRIED has astounded audiences and critics across the globe with its tense setting, intelligent writing, and top-notch performances from its minimal cast. Writer/director Michal Vinik has created a powerful tale of two women willing to decide for themselves and not fall victim to society’s demands. Directed by Michal Vinik.

Jewish Shorts

  • FAVORITE DAUGHTER (Documentary Short | USA)
    The year is 2020. As COVID-19 locks everyone indoors, director Dana Reilly quarantines with her mother and hilarious grandmother in a Tribeca apartment where they laugh, reminisce about past relationships, and remind one another that no matter how scary the world gets, they will always be there for each other. Directed by Dana Reilly.
  • IBACH (Documentary Short | USA)
    For Eric Brauer, his Ibach piano is more than just a musical instrument. It is an object embedded with history, a part of the family that escaped from Nazi Germany to Philadelphia. This beautiful documentary shows the piano as it is polished and restored in the City of Brotherly Love for Brauer’s family and its generations to come. Directed by Rachel Weinberg.
  • MAZEL TOV (Narrative Short | Israel)
    This is not your usual bar mitzvah. For 13-year-old Adam, his entrance to adulthood is interrupted by his drunk mother, air raid sirens, and lingering anxiety towards his feelings about his sexuality. Despite all the chaos of this crazy evening, this is his special night, and Adam will make the daring choice to show his true self for all the guests to see. Directed by Eli Zuzovsky.
  • WOMEN OF VIRTURE (Narrative Short | France)
    Etel, a curious, innocent 9-year-old girl from a Hasidic community in Paris, is surprised one morning to discover she has her first period. Blessed by her mother and the community, she is pleased until she is told that women are “impure” during menstruation. Directed by Stéphanie Halfon.
  • SURPRISE FILM!
    See the world premiere by this accomplished musician.

Special Events

  • THE CITY WITHOUT JEWS: Silent Film with Live Music Score (Narrative Feature | Austria)
    2024 will mark the 100th anniversary of THE CITY WITHOUT JEWS¸ H.K. Breslauer’s phenomenal silent film that has since gone on to engross audiences across the world with its big budget filmmaking and eerily relevant story of a fictional town whose government passes a law excommunicating all Jews. The film’s story, released in 1923, would uncannily foreshadow the events to come in Europe. In this grand event, PJFM brings this silent classic to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History Live with LIVE original music composed and performed onstage by world-renowned klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals and silent film pianist Donald Sosin. Come and be amazed by this long-lost classic of silent cinema while listening to the spectacular musical duo. This is a concert + film event that you shouldn’t miss! Directed by H.K. Breslauer.
  • THE PRINCE OF EGYPT: 25th Anniversary Screening (Narrative Feature | USA)
    The Oscar-winning, box office hit of the late 90s, the kids movie musical that moved audiences around the world, the “Passover movie” of all Passover movies…is coming back to the big screen! After 25 years, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT celebrates its anniversary this year. Since its release in 1998, this animated classic has astounded viewers, viewers of all religions, with its epic adaptation of the Book of Exodus, making it one of the most iconic, non-Disney animated films of all time. In this family-friendly event – taking place just two weeks before Passover – PJFM encourages all children and parents to come early for arts and crafts, food, and storytime preceding the film. Singing is encouraged, but not required! Directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells.