Legendary Israeli singer-songwriter David Broza will Rock ‘N Reel the 20th Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Fest on Opening Night, Thursday March 31, 2016 with a live appearance at the premiere of his new film EAST JERUSALEM, WEST JERUSALEM, announced Nicole Greenblatt, 2016 Festival Chair.

The ten day, seven-venue festival, celebrating its 20th season, runs through Sunday, April 10, 2016. Twenty-two international first-run films will be screened,  featuring Tony-winning actor Jonathan Pryce, Nobel Prize Laureates Isaac Bashevis Singer and Yitzhak Rabin, Massachusetts painters Jill Hoy and Jon Imber, Israel’s Wonder Woman Gal Gadot, New York actress Sas Goldberg and Philadelphia’s Zahav chef Michael Solomonov. There are five New England, nine Connecticut and three Hartford premiere films.

Serving up titles from France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States the festival line-up includes foodie flicks, fun-filled comedies, heart-tugging dramas, films about famous Jews in music, politics, books and art plus opportunities to meet, eat, think and drink with 15 invited  filmmakers, actors, musicians, authors, playwrights, artists, scholars and a celebrity chef.  More than 5,000 attendees of all ages and faiths are expected at the ten-day event, Connecticut’s largest film festival and Jewish cultural event.

Culture, Conflict and Cuisine

Creating music in a conflict zone sets the tone for two Israeli rockumentaries. David Broza’s EAST JERUSALEM, WEST JERUSALEM takes audiences inside the platinum recording star’s studios in his effort to bridge the Israeli-Palestinian divide with music. Broza will attend, speak and sing after the March 31st Opening Night screening.  ROCK IN THE RED ZONE underscores the tensions of living and creating rock music in missile-battered Sderot , another hotbed one mile from the Israel-Gaza border.  A once-sultry cabaret singer and a handsome young loner find hope and reasons to continue living in the music-filled drama TO LIFE.

A world of cultural flavors is on the menu with DOUGH, a British dramedy about a young Muslim apprentice to a Jewish baker who accidentally spikes his boss’ bread and pastry batter with marijuana. Providing more food for thought and the hungry, celebrity chef and author Michael Solomonov, owner of Philadelphia’s ZAHAV restaurant,  will dialogue and dish at the screening of  IN SEARCH OF ISRAELI CUISINE, his culinary portrait of Israel through food. A ZAHAV-inspired dinner precedes the film.

Triumph and Tragedy

History comes alive on screen with RABIN IN HIS OWN WORDS, a new biopic about the murdered Israeli diplomat told through his writings, interviews and photos. In France’s ONCE IN A LIFETIME, tough students in a multi-cultural classroom defeat the odds, learn about the Holocaust and discover new strengths.  Seventy years after landing at a port in Sweden, former prisoners and Nazi death camp survivors watch themselves for the first time as filmed on the day of their arrival in EVERY FACE HAS A NAME. A Hungarian Jew with a modern day identity crisis decades after World War II confronts his past in Closing Night’s THE LAST MENTSCH.  A work-in-progress preview about Trinity College Professor Sam Kassow’s upcoming Warsaw Ghetto documentary WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY will screen after this film.  Professor Kassow will be interviewed by University of Hartford scholar Dr. Avinoam Patt.

Fun and Families

Family intrigue, step-love and sibling secrets are revealed in several films. LOOK AT US NOW, MOTHER!  is a bitingly humorous mother-daughter healing story. In THE KIND WORDS, two brothers and a sister search for their real father. 10% MY  CHILD, is a charmer about a filmmaker, his girlfriend’s adorable daughter and the real meaning of family ties. The gut-busting Big Apple comedy ARE YOU JOKING?,; SERIAL (BAD) WEDDING’S French bride and groom farce; and  KICKING OUT SHOSHANA, the  Israeli soccer spoof starring Israel’s new Wonder Woman Gal Gadot, rank five kernels on the popcorn laugh-meter.

Pallet and Pen

Painters and authors meet on screen with two new documentaries. THE MUSES OF ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER portrays the Nobel Prize-winning Yiddish Don Juan as seen through the eyes of his harem of women translators. Professor Joshua Lambert and Yentl  playwright Leah Napolin will speak. IMBER’S LEFT HAND draws an inspiring portrait about Massachusetts artist Jon Imber’s final creative months following a devastating ALS diagnosis.  The Mandell JCC’s Chase Family Gallery will host “Side By Side”, an exhibit of the paintings of Jon Imber and his widow, artist Jill Hoy March 27 – April 16, 2016.  Ms. Hoy, film director Richard Kane and Ron Hoffman, of Compassionate Care ALS will attend and speak at the screening.  Five short subjects, 70 HESTER STREET, BULMUS (CAUGHT IN THE NET), REMEMBER, SOME VACATION and THE TEN PLAGUES  will be paired with select titles during the festival.

Venues and Tickets

The 20th Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Festival is funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, Mandell JCC Pillars Society donors and more than 100 corporate, family, organization and individual sponsors as well as venue, hospitality and media partners.  Venues include Bow Tie Cinemas Blue Back Square, Beth El Temple, Mandell JCC and The Emanuel Synagogue (West Hartford) and Bow Tie Cinemas Palace 17, The Mark Twain House and  Spotlight Theatres (Hartford).

Ticket prices range from $12 in advance ($15 at door) for most films to $75 for the March 31, 2016 EAST JERUSALEM, WEST JERUSALEM Opening Night film, David Broza LIVE! music event and reception. Tickets for IN SEARCH OF ISRAELI CUISINE (Monday, April 4, 2016) are $25 per person, and include a ZAHAV A La Carte buffet dinner. Tickets for THE LAST MENTSCH on Closing Night  (Sunday, April 10, 2016) are $25 per person including film, Reel Talk and dessert reception.  Group discounts for most films are available.

Tickets are on sale in person, via phone and by mail at the Mandell JCC. Seating is limited, advance purchase is recommended to avoid sellouts. Tickets will be sold at the door subject to availability; all seating is general admission and program is subject to change. All events are under Hartford Kashrut Commission supervision.

For tickets, schedules, trailers, directions, and a Festival brochure visit the festival website, www.hjff.org or contact the Box Office, Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, CT 06117, [email protected], 860-231-6316. For more information contact Harriet J. Dobin, Festival Director, 860-231-6350, hdobin@mandelljcc.org