The Austin Jewish Film Festival Reveals Programming Lineup for 21st Anniversary Festival

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Key Art for the Austin Jewish Film Festival and all Photos Courtesy of the Austin Jewish Film Festival.

Fall and winter bring with them a great deal of things that we love. For instance, the chill in the air lets us enjoy warm treats that bring us joy, and… there’s beauty to be found everywhere thanks to the changing of the seasons and the leaves. Of course, if you’re a fan of pop culture and popular media and film, there’s more gifts to be found. Since fall movies releases are everywhere to be found and it is above all, festival season. Where film festivals are popping up left and right, and there are quite a few on the horizon, including a special one taking place in Austin, Texas.
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For November 2nd-12th, 2023 (and online November 13th-19th) the 21st Austin Jewish Film Festival will be taking place. Which is an important festival that looks to promote cultural tolerance and understanding through the wonder of Jewish Film, something that is CRITICALLY important right now, and well… they’ve curated some powerful films for this year’s lineup… which we are happy to share a sampling of with you now. So, you can garner an idea of what this festival offers and perhaps make some plans to check out some of the important stories this festival is going to tell in a few weeks, in person or online.

‘AJFF is proud to announce the schedule of films for the 21st Austin Jewish Film Festival taking place November 2 — 12, 2023. The festival will occur in person at the Dell Jewish Community Center, followed by an online section November 13 — 19. They'll be showing the latest and greatest Jewish films as well as hosting parties and Q&A events with filmmakers from around the globe.  Most of the films will have their Texas or Southwest premieres at the festival, and there are at least four US premiere films this year. Check out the Sizzle Reel for 2023. 

Below is a sampling of the lineup. Follow us and visit our site for the latest information.’

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Remembering Gene Wilder

Central Texas Premiere
Opening Night Film Reception, with drinks, food, and music included.
Director: Ron Frank
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Ron Frank’s affectionate and touching biographical documentary shows us that the full measure of Wilder’s gifts is on display, not only as a comedic actor but also as a writer, director, and a mensch. Told in part through Wilder’s own voice, “Remembering Gene Wilder” is a treat to watch with its generous helpings of film clips from across Wilder’s career. Yes, there are the ever-fresh line readings (“Put…the candle…back!”) and his manic physical antics—but there are also uproarious outtakes from the set of “Young Frankenstein” and poignant home movies from his marriage to Gilda Radner. Get ready to binge-watch Wilder’s whole filmography—you’ll want to, after seeing this tender and eye-opening tribute.

The Camera of Doctor Morris

Southwest Premiere
Directors/ Co-Writers: Itamar Alcalay, Meital Zvieli
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For decades, Dr. Morris filmed his family. Their lives were captured on 8mm—years of births and deaths, joys and tragedies, dramas and quiet days spent in the sun—all unfolding in the heat of the Israeli desert. Long after his death, the footage is rediscovered. Through the archives of fully lived and filmed lives, combined with recounting from Morris family members themselves, their unusual and absorbing story unfolds. We will have a live-over-Zoom Q&A with the filmmakers after the movie.

My Father’s Secret

Southwest Premiere
Director/Co-Writer: Véra Belmont
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In the 60s, in Belgium, Michel and his brother Charly lived a happy childhood in their Jewish family. Their father, silent and discreet, did not reveal his past. The two brothers imagine him as a great adventurer, pirate, or treasure hunter….but what is he hiding? We'll present an AJFF interview with writer Michel Kichka after the movie

1341 Frames of Love and War

Texas Premiere
Director/Writer: Ran Tal, in attendance
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“The most horrible things are sometimes aesthetic,” says Israel’s most celebrated war photographer Micha Bar-Am. For a year and a half, the acclaimed photo-journalist Micha Bar-Am allowed director Ran Tal to enter his vast archive of negatives. Composed entirely of images that Bar-Am took over more than fifty years, 1341 FRAMES OF LOVE AND WAR reveals the enormous price that comes along with documenting atrocities and wars. 1341 FRAMES provides an intimate portrait of an artist and a meditation on memory, violence and identity. Beyond this narrative tribute, the film offers a unique cinematic, visual, and sensory experience that explores how to imbue still photography with movement on the one hand, while freezing cinematic movement to distill meaning and emotion on the other. It is a complex love letter to the power, beauty, and horror of photographic imagery. Winner of Best Director at the Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival 2023 and nominated for a 2023 Israeli Academy Award for Best Documentary. We will present an AJFF interview with director Ran Tal following the film.

Barren
Central Texas Premiere
Director/Writer: Mordechai Vardi, in attendance
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Married for four years, Faigi (Mili Eshet), a young Haredi married woman, has still not gotten pregnant. She wishes her husband, Naftali (Yoav Rotman), would agree to fertility treatment, but he prefers to believe their desire for a child will be answered through prayer. After enduring, against her will, a shocking and humiliating ”treatment” for infertility, she finds herself shunned by Naftali, mistrusted by her in-laws, and questioning her role in the only culture she has ever known. Beautifully photographed and acted, this haunting film offers a deep and multifaceted look into an insular community that reveals little to the outside world. Winner of the Best Feature Film Festival du Cinéma Israélien de Paris 2023. We will present an AJFF interview with the director, Mordechai Vardi, after the movie.

Less Than Kosher

Southwest Premiere
Director: Daniel Am Rosenberg
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At 20, Viv was a promising young singer. At 30, her failing music career has forced her back into her mother”s basement. But when this self-proclaimed “Bad Jew” lands ass-backwards into a job as a Cantor at her family”s synagogue, she’s thrown into a wild ride of illicit affairs, drug trips, tense family drama, self discovery, and some serious Jewish bops. Winner of the Best Film at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival 2023. Canadian creator/actress/singer Shaina Silver-Baird will be at the festival to present the film and conduct a Q&A.

​My Daughter My Love
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U.S. Premiere
Director/Writer: Eitan Green, in attendance

Shimon, a 70-year-old widower, travels to Paris to visit a childhood friend. He stays with his daughter and discovers that her marriage is falling apart. He decides to help. In the process, he finds out that he and his daughter share both dreams and desires of which they had been previously unaware. Nominated for 2023 Israeli Academy Awards for Best Actor (Sasson Gabbay), Best Supporting Actor, and Best Script. We will present an AJFF interview with director Eitan Green following the film.

Vishniac

Texas Premiere (FREE EVENT)
Director: Laura Bialis
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Director Laura Bialis and producers Nancy Spielberg and Roberta Grossman take us on a journey through the various chapters in the life of photographer Roman Vishniac. He was difficult, flamboyant, and brilliant. Photographer and scientist Roman Vishniac captured iconic images of Jewish life – from the cafes of pre-war Berlin to the shtetls of Eastern Europe — all before fleeing Nazi Germany to reinvent himself in America. His daughter Mara reconstructs his dramatic life, complicated relationships, and breathtaking legacy.

Tale of Four Minorities

Texas Premiere
Director/Writer: David Deri, in attendance
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In the fall of 2019, Filmmaker David Deri-Barkai began documenting four families, parents and their children – his secular gay family in Tel Aviv, a Jewish Ultra-Orthodox family in Beit Shemesh, a Muslim family in Taibeh, and a Jewish religious family in the Ofra settlement (West Bank). The pandemic that broke out a few months later, along with the lock-downs, fears, and social unrest that followed, created unprecedented family and national pressure. While for some, their belief is a source of strength, others confront doubts, and rifts are deepening—but a fascinating dialogue and surprising alliances are created. Israeli director David Deri will be at the festival to present the film and conduct a Q&A.

Irena’s Vow

Texas Premiere
Director: Louise Archambault
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Warsaw, 1939: when the Nazis invade Poland, nurse Irena Gut (Sophie Nélisse) is displaced and forced to work in support of the German war effort, eventually assigned to run the home of a Nazi commandant (Dougray Scott). Instead of following the path of least resistance and gambling on her status and ethnicity to keep her safe, Gut risks everything to save a dozen Jewish refugees from persecution and murder, sheltering them under her boss’s nose.

​The Story of Annette Zelman

Central Texas Premiere
Director/Writer: Philippe Le Guay, in attendance
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The Romeo and Juliet of 1942. She was Jewish. He was Catholic. Annette and Jean wanted to get married, but Jean’s parents were opposed. Annette Zelman was reported to the Gestapo by her fiancé’s father with devastating consequences. Based on a true story, which is the subject of authors Heather Dune Macadam and Simon Worrall’s new non-fiction book, ”Star Crossed: A True WWII Romeo and Juliet Love Story in Hitlers Paris.” Director Philippe LeGuay is traveling from France to be at the festival to present the film and conduct a Q&A. He will be joined by author Heather Dune Macadam who wrote the new book ”Star Crossed” about the story on which the film is based.

Judas
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Texas Premiere
Director: Dan Wolman, in attendance

Based on the best-selling novel by Amos Oz, which tells the story of Shmuel Ash who takes a job as companion to the elderly Gershom Wald. The two grapple about Jesus’ humanity and the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, the subject of Shmuel”s thesis. Things get complicated when Shmuel falls in love with Wald”s widowed daughter-in-law, Atalia. A tangle of relationships that also touches on the issues of the roots of anti-Semitism, the origins of the Jewish-Arab conflict, and the complex reality in Israel. Israeli director Dan Wolman will be at the festival to present the film and conduct a Q&A.

SHTTL

Southwest Premiere
Director/Co-Writer: Ady Walter
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A filmmaker returns from Kyiv to his rural village to marry the love of his life. He is expected to marry the rabbi’s daughter, which disrupts the balance of the whole town. In one unflinching shot, this film presents a day in the life of a Jewish village before it disappears. SHTTL is the story of the inhabitants of a Yiddish Ukrainian village at the border of Poland, 24 hours before the Nazi invasion, known as Operation Barbarossa. Today, there are no such villages in existence; the production fully reconstructed a traditional “Shtetl” outside of Kyiv, which is planned to be turned into a museum. Winner of the Best Feature Film at the Berlin Jewish Film Festival 2023  and the Audience Award at the Rome Jewish Film Festival 2023. Lead actor Moshe Lobel will be at the festival to present the film and conduct a Q&A.

Only in Theatres

Austin Premiere
Director/Writer: Raphael Sbarge, in attendance
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Over four generations, the Laemmles—a close-knit Jewish family—have dedicated themselves to supporting, innovating, and elevating the art of filmmaking. Responsible for bringing foreign and film to the Los Angeles area for 75 years and popularizing independent films, documentary films, and their makers, the Laemmle Theatres’ impact on Hollywood and world cinema cannot be overstated. We'll present an AJFF interview with film subject Greg Laemmles and director Raphael Sbarge after the movie.

No Name Restaurant

Southwest Premiere
Closing Night Film with Reception, drinks, food, and live entertainment included.
Co-Directors/Co-Writers: Stefan Sarazin, Peter Keller
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Two men, three religions, one camel, and a mission: An unorthodox comedy. Alexandria, Egypt. To save the once largest Jewish community in the world from being shut down, Ben, an ultra orthodox Brooklyn Jew, is sent out to be the desperately needed tenth man for the ceremonies of Pesach. Having missed his plane and been kicked off the bus in the Sinai desert, his last hope is Adel, a grumpy Bedouin looking for his camel. When their car breaks down, it becomes a matter of their very survival. Lead actor Luzer Twersky will be at the festival to present the film and conduct a Q&A.