The Tuscaloosa Arts Council will hold their 10th annual Jewish Film Festival this weekend from Saturday to Tuesday at the Bama Theatre. The festival will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with a Jewish Food Festival and a performance by The Promise Band, a local Klezmer group. The food is expected to be a combination of traditional and modern Jewish cuisine and is limited to 200 attendees. Following food and music will be the first movie of the festival, “The Yankles.”
Tickets for the food and movie festival are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Individual movie tickets, including the first movie without the food, will be between $5 and $7. Tickets can be purchased in advance through the Temple Emanu-Elin sisterhood. Call 205-758-3230 or email [email protected] for mor information.
For anyone interested in going to the film festival, here are brief descriptions of what you can expect from each film:
“The Yankles” – Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Critics: No critic reviews, 100% of audiences enjoyed the movie (Rotten Tomatoes)
Plot: After his release from prison on a DUI charge, a former pro-baseball player is charged with 192 hours of community service as a coach for little league baseball. However, the only team that will take him in as a coach is an upstart team for a group of Orthodox Jewish yeshiva students. With the help of the community, he gives the team a good start and himself a fresh one.
“Kosher” – Sunday, March 25 at 2 p.m.
Critics: This movie was unrated on Rotten Tomatoes
Plot: This short film follows six-year-old Charles Robinson as he decides he wants to marry his love, Rachel, on the playground, but must come to terms with the fact that she is Christian while he is Jewish.
“In Heaven Underground: The Weissensee Jewish Cemetery” – Sunday, March 25 following “Kosher”
Critics: 83% of critics and 67% of audiences enjoyed this movie (Rotten Tomatoes)
Plot: This documentary explores the history and present of the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe, the Weissensee Jewish Cemetery. Standing for 130 years, it was one of the few Jewish properties not taken by the Nazi regime. The story follows everyone at the cemetery, from a family living there, a gravedigger and tourists.
“A Cantor on Trial” – Monday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Critics: This movie is unrated on Rotten Tomatoes
Plot: This 1931 short film follows Louis “Leibele” Waldman as she plays three separate people auditioning to be the synagogues’ cantor, or the person who leads the congregation in prayer.
“Inside Hana’s Suitcase” – Monday, March 26 following “A Cantor on Trial”
Critics: This movie is unrated on Rotten Tomatoes
Plot: Based on an internationally acclaimed book, this film tells the story of two children who grew up in pre-WWII Czechoslovakia and the hardships they faced because of their Jewish religion.
“Seven Minutes in Heaven” – Tuesday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Critics: This movie is unrated on Rotten Tomatoes
Plot: When a suicide bomber attacks a bus Galia is riding on, she forgets everything leading up to the crash and the crash itself. After receiving a necklace from an anonymous sender, she begins a search to put together the pieces of her life and the terrible tragedy.
