Movies movies movies! Philadelphia’s oldest film festival returns for its 42nd year this November.

It’s about that time! The line-up for Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media’s 42nd Annual Jewish Film Festival is finally here. Check out the exclusive list of upcoming films and programs below. The festival will screen in-person November 12-19 in Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs.

Tickets and All-Access Passes go on sale Thursday, September 29. Stay tuned for more details!

Opening Night

  • KARAOKE (Narrative | Israel)
    Opening Night of the 42nd Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival begins with KARAOKE! A Tel Aviv couple’s lifeless marriage is forever changed when their new tenant (Israeli legend Lior Ashkenazi), a dashing, party-throwing playboy, moves into their apartment building. Nominated for nine Ophir Awards (Israeli Oscars), KARAOKE is a funny, authentic comedy/drama about aging, love, and the chance happenings that can forever change our outlook on life. Directed by Moshe Rosenthal.

Closing Night

  • AMERICA (Narrative | Israel)
    The 42nd Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival concludes with AMERICA, the latest tour de force from director Ofir Raul Graizer (The Cakemaker). This richly layered melodrama follows an Israeli swimming coach who returns to his country after his distant father passes away. There, he reconnects with his childhood friend and his fiancée, both of whom run a successful flower shop downtown. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a tragedy sets off a chain of motion for these three individuals, an event that unlocks hidden desires, secrets, and torment that have afflicted these characters. Directed by Ofir Raul Graizer.

Feature Films

  • THE LEVYS OF MONTICELLO (Documentary | USA)
    Monticello is remembered as the home of Thomas Jefferson, but did you know that for nearly a century after his death, it was owned by a Jewish family? Fascinating and oddly riveting, THE LEVYS OF MONTICELLO tells the little-known story of the family that helped preserve one of America’s landmarks, all amidst increasing antisemitism from their community. Directed by Steven Pressman.
  • THE MAN IN THE BASEMENT (Narrative | France)
    Simon (Jérémie Renier) and Hélène (Academy Award nominee Bérénice Bejo) are a healthy, attractive bourgeois couple living in Paris with their teenage daughter. When they decide to sell their basement cellar to the elderly Mr. Fonzic (François Cluzet), a former history teacher, their idyllic world is slowly torn apart as his far-right, antisemitic beliefs are uncovered. Directed by Philippe Le Guay.
  • A RADIANT GIRL (Narrative | France)
    The year is 1942. Paris, France. Irène, a 19-year-old Jewish girl and aspiring actress, is having the time of her life. As the Nazis gradually assert power in her home, she is both cognizant of and unperturbed by the rising fear from the community. As an innocent youth, Irène knows that things are getting a little scary. What she may not know, however, is that her own life may be on the line. Directed by Sandrine Kiberlain.
  • RECKONINGS (Docudrama | USA)
    From Roberta Grossman, RECKONINGS is another outstanding addition to the documentarian’s collection. This riveting docudrama explores the years immediately after the liberation of the camps and the issue of ordering reparations to survivors of the Shoah. The decision to compensate survivors was both supported and frowned upon by leaders and citizens, both German and Jewish alike. Could something of this unprecedented a scale be achievable? Directed by Roberta Grossman.
  • WHERE LIFE BEGINS (Narrative | Italy)
    Evoking films of Italian neorealism and the French New Wave, WHERE LIFE BEGINS is a gorgeously filmed, stunningly acted drama about the close bond between a divorced Catholic farm owner and an unhappy ultra-Orthodox woman who attends his farm in preparation for Sukkot. Directed by Stéphane Freiss.

Jewish Shorts

  • ANNE (Narrative | USA)
    Tension is in the air when two young actresses – a white Jewish American and an African American – are called back for the role of a lifetime: Anne Frank. As they wait to audition, both ponder the ethics of this role, instigating a broader conversation about color-blind casting. Directed by Desiree Abeyta.
  • BECOMING NAKUSET (Documentary | Canada)
    A raw, emotional film about identity, this true story tells the tale of Nakuset, an Indigenous survivor of the Sixties Scoop – a series of Canadian policies that allowed child welfare services to take Indigenous children from their families – and her time growing up as an adopted member of a Jewish family in Montreal. Directed by Victoria Anderson-Gardner.
  • BOURN KIND: THE TINY KINDNESS PROJECT (Narrative | USA)
    Official Selection of the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, this wonderful film follows Bourn, a Black Jewish street artist, who designs a street mural to spread kindness in his community and practice the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (“repair the world”). Directed by Rachel Myers.
  • DESERT HEART (Narrative | Israel)
    A brother and sister trek across the Israeli desert, recounting their differences and a past tragedy that will bring them closer than they expected to be. Directed by Carnie Bezalel.
  • I WANT TO MAKE A FILM ABOUT WOMEN (Docudrama | Australia)
    Described as a “speculative” love letter to the Russian constructivist women of 1920s Soviet Union, this surreal, wildly imaginative short explores the revolutionary female filmmakers of the decade and the art they made – or could have made – among the endless male noise. Directed by Karen Pearlman.
  • MAKE ME A KING (Narrative | UK)
    A Jewish drag king ignores the disapproval of their family and mimics their real-life Yiddish vaudeville idol, Pepi Litman, in a beautiful, relatable story about the courage to be yourself. Directed by Sofia Olins.
  • MINYAN DUTY (Narrative | USA)
    Two sisters, wishing to recite Kaddish at their synagogue after their mother’s passing, find themselves in a dilemma when they realize they are one person short of a minyan (a quorum of ten Jews). As a result, they turn to the most unlikely of people to solve the solution. Directed by Ivan Kander.

Throwback Cinema

  • FUNNY GIRL: BRUNCH + FILM (Narrative | USA)
    The songs. The spectacle. Babs. Even if you’re not a Broadway fan, you have certainly heard of FUNNY GIRL! In partnership with Kaiserman JCC, PJFM is delighted to bring this iconic film back to the screen for a special, one-time brunch and film screening. Come hungry, happy, and ready to sing your heart out! Directed by William Wyler.

Special Events

  • HOLLYWOOD’S JEWISH NEW WAVE: PRESENTED BY FILMSHUL
    Film history teaches us of the “waves” or movements that shook up the traditional, cinematic status quo. Few, however, know about the Jewish New Wave of the 60s and 70s, a period of increased Jewish visibility in American cinema. In this exclusive presentation, FilmShul, led by film historians and “movie mensches” Laurence Lerman and Irv Slifkin, discusses the impact of the Jewish New Wave and how Jewish onscreen presence paved the way for the Jewish actors, comedians, and filmmakers we know and love today.