October 5, 2020

A CRIME ON THE BAYOU

Close up of a man with glasses.

WORLD PREMIERE | Filmmaker Nancy Buirski (The Loving Story) tells the story of a lasting bond formed between an unjustly arrested Black man, Gary Duncan, and Richard Sobol, his young Jewish attorney. In 1966, 19-year-old Duncan faces the white supremacist court system in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, for daring to touch a white boy’s arm. Standing united, […]

October 1, 2020

THE MEANING OF HITLER

WORLD PREMIERE | What can history tell us about the present? Filmmakers Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker (Karl Marx City) search for answers, taking inspiration from Sebastian Haffner’s 1978 German best-selling book The Meaning of Hitler. Shot in nine countries, the film explores what Hitler means in the current waves of white supremacy, antisemitism, and the weaponization […]

October 1, 2020

RONNIE’S

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE | A chronicle of the life of saxophonist Ronnie Scott, from poor, Jewish kid growing up in 1940s East End, London to the owner of the legendary night club, Ronnie’s. Glorious clips from performances by jazz greats spanning decades—Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, Van Morrison, Chet Baker, and […]

October 1, 2020

LOVE & STUFF

Woman holding a baby sits on a couch surrounded by many boxes.

In less than a year, filmmaker Judith Helfand (Cooked: Survival by Zip Code, DOC NYC 2018) goes through two major life moments: losing her beloved mother, Florence, and becoming a mom herself. As Judith prepares to welcome her adopted daughter, Theo, into her life, she must deal with literal and figurative “stuff:” endless boxes of […]

October 9, 2019

THE HUMAN FACTOR

NYC PREMIERE Filmmaker Dror Moreh proved himself an expert navigator of powerful figures in his Oscar®-nominated film The Gatekeepers, about the leaders of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency. Now he employs his talents to probe the American-led negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in 2000. The main insiders on camera are six top American diplomats who testify […]

October 9, 2019

THE HUMAN FACTOR

NYC PREMIERE Filmmaker Dror Moreh proved himself an expert navigator of powerful figures in his Oscar®-nominated film The Gatekeepers, about the leaders of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency. Now he employs his talents to probe the American-led negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in 2000. The main insiders on camera are six top American diplomats who testify […]

October 9, 2019

ADVOCATE

Israeli attorney Lea Tsemel has defended Palestinians in court for five decades, from nonviolent demonstrators to armed militants. To many Israeli Jews, Tsemel is a controversial figure, even a traitor, willing to defend the enemy, but she remains steadfast in her belief that her clients’ crimes are acts of resistance that must be heeded. Directors […]

October 8, 2019

SHORTS: NYC, SPEAK TO ME

Short stories from and about New York City. (TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 78 MIN) A Great Day in Hip Hop Revisited | Director: Nelson George A look back at a historic day in music history, September 29, 1998, when Gordon Parks gathered over 200 hip hop artists to recreate the famed “A Great Day in Harlem” image.  (USA, […]

October 8, 2019

THE RABBI GOES WEST

NYC PREMIERE A Hasidic rabbi relocates from Brooklyn, New York to Bozeman, Montana with the hopes of spreading Chabad—his brand of orthodox practice—throughout “Big Sky Country.” As his prominence grows in the state, he faces neo-Nazi threats and resistance from members of the established Jewish community in Montana. The delicate balance between traditional values and […]

October 8, 2019

THE ARCHIVE

The story of New York lawyer David Drucker, who was pursued by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI during the McCarthy era.