Boulder Jewish Film Festival announces updated schedule for 2024 – Boulder Jewish News

The 12th annual Boulder Jewish Film Festival presents 13 films from around the world and our ever-popular short film program, inviting audiences to a meaningful conversation about Jewish life. All films this year will be shown in the Boedecker Theater or the Grace Gamm Theater at the Dairy Arts Center. Tickets for the festival go on sale October 22. Showings often sell out; early purchase is advisable.

The festival begins on Sunday, November 10th with two screenings of a surprise hit comedy from Sundance and more recently Telluride, “A real pain”, starring Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg – who also wrote and directed – as bitter cousins ​​searching for their roots in Poland.

The festival ends on Sunday, November 17th with the currently most popular film of the festival, “Seven Blessings.” This comic family drama revolves around a Moroccan wedding celebration and concludes our three-part film series about Sephardic life and culture.

Before the screening, join us for our Sephardic-style closing reception in the Dairy Lobby from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The Centerpiece, our traditional midweek special event, is now called the Community Centerpiece and features a film selected by the festival’s newly formed programming committee. We think you’ll really enjoy it “Running on sand”, a highly topical, entertaining comedy about mistaken identity from Israel.

Everyone will have a good time at “The Catskills”, a nostalgic new documentary told with flair by director Lex Gillespie, whose Mamboniks closed the 2019 festival. Join us on Saturday evening, November 16 at 6:30 p.m. or Sunday, March 17 at noon for this tribute to the fabled mountain paradise that served as a refuge for Jewish immigrants fleeing poverty and a lavish playground for wealthy Jewish families.

Our guest list usually includes writers, directors, filmmakers and actors. This year we have a Major League Baseball catcher as our guest, who will join us after “Israel goes for gold”, a sequel to “On the way home: The story of Team Israel“ (BJFF 2019). Ryan Lavarnway, who now lives in Denver, played for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics, and will speak to the audience on Tuesday, November 12, at 6:30 p.m. about these personally transformative experiences.

THE SCHEDULE FOR 2024

“Call me dancer“
Sunday, 10 November, 12:00 pm at Boe
Thursday, 14 November, 6:30 p.m. in the Boe
Israel/2023/In English and Hindi/84 minutes/Documentary
This touching and uplifting documentary is a story of hope, heartache and hard work: a street dancer in Mumbai realizes his dream of becoming a ballet dancer under the guidance of his Israeli teacher.

“A REAL PAIN“
Sunday, 10 November, 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in the Boe
USA/2024/In English/90 minutes/Feature film
In this surprise hit at the Sundance Film Festival, writer, director and lead actor Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin play an unlikely pair of cousins ​​who pay their respects to their beloved grandmother with a Holocaust tour of Poland. What could possibly go wrong?

“NONIE TELL” – Veterans Day program
Monday, November 11, 3 p.m. at Grace Gamm
Israel/2024/In Hebrew and English/50 minutes/Documentary
A senior Israeli intelligence agent confronts Palestinian activist Nonie Darwish, a prominent voice against radical Islam, with a shameful secret.

“KIDNAPPED: THE KIDNAPPING OF EDGARDO MARTARA“
Monday, November 11, 6:30 p.m. at Grace Gamm
Italy/2023/Italian and Hebrew with English subtitles/134 minutes/Feature film
This lavishly staged drama is set in Italy in 1858 and tells the scandalous true story of anti-Semitism promoted by the church.

“STELLA: A LIFE“
Tuesday, 12 November, 3 p.m. in the Boe
Germany/2023/In German with English subtitles/121 min/Feature film
Based on a true story and set in Nazi Germany, this morally complex drama explores the fine line between the victims of evil and those forced to participate in the same horror.

“ISRAEL IS LOOKING FOR GOLD“
Tuesday, November 12, 6:30 p.m. at Grace Gamm
USA/2023/English/77 min./Documentary
This powerful yet disturbing documentary follows the Israeli baseball team as they fight anti-Semitism at the 2021 Olympic Games.
Ryan Lavarnway, the major league catcher who played on both Israeli teams, will personally attend the screening.

“AUCTION“
Wednesday, 15 November, 3 p.m. in the Boe
France/2024/In French with English subtitles/91 minutes/Feature film
In this French drama, an auctioneer discovers a work of art stolen by the Nazis, shedding light on the greatest property theft in human history.

“Running on sand” – Community centerpiece
Wednesday, 13 Nov., 6:30 pm at Grace Gamm
Israel/2024/In Hebrew with English subtitles/104 minutes/Feature film
In this comedy of errors, a young Eritrean refugee deported from Israel is mistaken for the new foreign player on a struggling soccer team. His survival depends on the team’s success.

SHORT FILMS: PEACOCKS, POPS, PEPCHOOK
Thursday, 14 November, 3 p.m. in the Boe
Friday, 15 November, 3pm in the Boe
This year’s program of nine short films, curated by Judith Dack and the Short Film Committee, includes feature films, documentaries and animation from Israel, the UK and the USA and is sure to put a smile on your face.

“HERE LIVES“
Friday, 15 November, 12 noon at Boe
United States/2024/English/79 minutes/Documentary
This moving documentary focuses on German artist Gunter Demnig’s Stolpersteine ​​project to commemorate Jewish lives stolen in the Holocaust.

“THE CATSKILLS“
Saturday, November 16, 6:30 p.m. at Grace Gamm
USA/2023/In English/86 min./Documentary
The rise and fall of the Borscht Belt is captured in all its glory in this wonderful documentary featuring a cast of characters blessed with the gift of oratory.

“SONG OF THE ASCENT”
Sunday, 17 November, 12 noon at Grace Gamm
A USA/2024/English/86 minutes/Documentary
This powerful documentary/concert film follows acclaimed singer-songwriter Matisyahu as he finds himself at the center of a cultural storm following the October 7 massacre in Israel.

“THE BLONDE BOY FROM THE KASBA“
Sunday, November 17, 3 p.m. at Grace Gamm
France/2023/In Arabic and French with English subtitles/126 minutes/Feature film
This loving portrait of Algiers’ once-thriving Sephardic community dramatizes the story of the filmmaker’s youth before his exile.

SEPHARDIC FINAL RECEPTION
Sunday, November 17, 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Dairy Lobby

“SEVEN BLESSINGS” – Closing evening
Sunday, November 17, 6:30 p.m. at Grace Gamm
Israel/2023/Hebrew, French, Moroccan with English subtitles/108 minutes/Feature film
Winner of ten Israeli Oscars, this wild family dramedy revolves around a boisterous Moroccan clan that comes together for a wedding in Israel.