Jewish Film Festival

Check back soon for information on the 2011 Kansas City Jewish Film Festival!

2010 Kansas City Jewish Film Festival Line-up

Saviors in the Night/Unter Bauern: Retter in der Nacht
Saturday, March 6 - 7:30 pm + Opening Reception
Director: Ludi Boeken | Narrative | France, Germany | 2009 | 95 min | English, French, German with subtitles | Subjects: Drama, History, Holocaust, Interfaith Relations

The riveting, real life drama of a Jewish family that found refuge with farmers during WWII, SAVIORS IN THE NIGHT is a powerful, humanity-affirming story in the face of barbarism. Escaping the last of the death camp deportations, the Spiegel family is offered safe hiding for nearly three years by salt-of-the-earth German peasants who reject fascism and put themselves at grave risk without hesitation.  Danger lurks constantly as SS officers, Nazi youth groups  and frightened citizens threaten to expose the refugees and their protectors. Today, the names of these courageous farmers are immortalized at the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel. Based on the memoirs of the now 97-year-old Marga Spiegel and featuring strong performances by the ensemble cast, SAVIORS IN THE NIGHT is a refreshingly unsentimental memorial to these silent heroes. 

Circumcise Me: The Comedy of Yisrael Campbell
Saturday, March 6 - 9:45 pm
Director: David Blumenfeld & Matthew Kalman
Writer: Yisrael Campbell 
Comedy, Documentary | USA | 2008 | 47 min | English
| Subjects: Conversion 

It's non-stop laughter when standup comedian Yisrael Campbell-born Chris Campbell-tells of his conversion to Judaism from Catholicism. You can't help but laugh as he relates how he had three circumcisions (it's true!). His story is a side-splitting true tale of his conversion to Reform, then Conservative then Orthodox Judaism. Yisrael, who after a stint with illegal substances, says he was born "Catholic enough to know I was going to hell," now has the pais to prove his Orthodox commitment. And, by the way, he lives in Jerusalem. Laughs galore are promised as Yisrael delivers standup comedy in this unusual story. 

Sponsored by Herbert & Bonnie Buchbinder.

Children of the Sun
Sunday, March 7 - 2:00 pm - Discussion following
Director: Ran Tal | Documentary | Israel | 2007 | 70 min | Hebrew with subtitles
| Subjects: Zionism, Kibbutz Movement, Israeli History, Personal Narrative

This fascinating documentary takes us back to the idealism of the first generation to be born and to live on the kibbutz. The parents of the ‘children of the sun' were striving to create a utopia where the traditional family was replaced with the collective one, everything was shared even their children. Through interviews with first-generation kibbutzniks, we gain a frank understanding of their unique challenges and education. Researched and composed of archival footage and recordings from the 1930s to the 1980s, this film reflects the joys and wounds that these children of the sun" still bear after all these years.

Discussion following the film with former kibbutzniks: Guy Alon (Nachsholim) and David Shik (Shomrat).

Sponsored by the Alon family in memory of Michal Alon.

Max Minsky and Me
Sunday, March 7 - 7:00 pm
Director: Anna Justice 
Narrative | Germany | 2007 | 94 min | German with subtitles
| Subject: Coming-of-age, Youth/Bat Mitzvah, German Jews, Family Life, Science, Basketball, Family Friendly Film 

Nelly Sue Edelmeister (Zoe Moore) is a skinny 13-year-old future astronomer living in Berlin with her divorcing American Jewish mother (Adriana Altaras) and German Christian father (Jan Josef Liefers). Though her mom pushes her to practice for her fast-approaching Bat Mitzvah, Nelly is more fascinated by the mysteries of the cosmos. When a school basketball championship offers her a chance to meet fellow astronomy fan and heartthrob Prince Edouard of Luxembourg, Nelly turns to Max Minsky for help. Author Holly-Jane Rahlens based the screenplay for this coming-of-age story on her novel, Prince William, Maximillian Minsky and Me, which received the German Award for Young Peoples Literature in 2003.