Opening November 3 and continuing through November 14, The Boston Jewish Film Festival expands its importance as a New England regional event, and takes on an international flavor, as the Festival hosts a Conference on Jewish Film Festivals, organized by the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, from November 4-7. This 16th annual Festival, curated by the Festival’s Artistic Director, Kaj Wilson, presents the best contemporary films from around the world on Jewish themes, punctuated by panel discussions; visits by directors, actors, and film subject; and musical events.

Highlights include the Festival’s Opening Night films, THE RASHEVSKI’S TANGO, a sophisticated, witty and affectionate exploration of modern European Jewish identity, presented by its star, Belgian actress Tania Gabarski (at the MFA), and WONDROUS OBLIVION, a beguiling British offering featuring Delroy Lindo (at the Coolidge Corner Theater). The Closing Night film, A LOST EMBRACE, the story of a first, painful encounter between a father and his son set in Buenos Aires, will be introduced by Argentine actress Adriana Aizenberg.

L-R: [1] J. Farrell Cafferata and Caren Jenkins receive their San Francisco marriage license in Bonnie Burt's documentary MY SISTER, MY BRIDE.  [2]   Hippolyte Girardot and Tania Gabarski in Sam Garbarski's THE RASHEVSKI'S TANGO. 

This year’s Festival features local connections in the directors’ lineup as well as in collaborations with other organizations, such as The Boston Festival of Films from Iran (THE FIRST LETTER by Abolfazl Jalili, a fictionalized autobiographical coming-of-age story which takes place in pre-revolutionary 1970s Iran and a great example of the new Iranian cinema) and The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (No. 17 by David Ofek, a gripping and suspenseful documentary about the seventeenth unidentified victim of a June 2002 suicide bombing in Israel). The Boston Jewish Film Festival is presenting BJFF meets Balagan, with Alla Kovgan and Jeff Silva’s four-year-old award-winning series that gives avant-garde, art-house and experimental filmmakers an outlet to exhibit their work. This series includes short fiction and documentaries, animation, and experimental work.

Emerson College graduate Stephanie Higgins will be on hand to introduce her documentary THE GAY MARRIAGE THING, chronicling the historic fight for same-sex civil marriage rights in Massachusetts and presented in conjunction with Bonnie Burt’s MY SISTER, MY BRIDE. Brandeis graduate Jennifer Kaplan will present her documentary, MIXED BLESSINGS: THE CHALLENGES OF RAISING CHILDREN IN A JEWISH-CHRISTIAN FAMILY, to be followed by a discussion with one of the couples featured in the movie. Yael Katzir, who received a Masters in Broadcasting and Film at BU, will be visiting from Israel to introduce her documentary SHIVA FOR MY MOTHER: SEVEN DAYS OF MOURNING, a moving personal diary exploring issues of intimacy, generational differences, and family dynamics. This movie is copresented by Women in Film & Video/New England. Israeli MIT graduate Yaron Zilberman, together with one of his subjects, Greta Stanton, will attend the screening of his documentary, WATERMARKS, about seven Austrian national swimming champions and members of the legendary sports club, Hakoah Vienna, which was shut down by the Nazis in 1938. Zilberman interviewed these women, now in their 80s and scattered around the world and engineered a reunion group swim in Vienna.

Sam Smith as David Wiseman and Leonie Elliott as Judy Samuels in WONDROUS OBLIVION, a film by Paul Morrison.

The Boston Jewish Film Festival will also host a special concert in conjunction with the documentary KEEP ON WALKING: JOSHUA NELSON, THE JEWISH GOSPEL SINGER, at the Coolidge Corner Theater. The movie celebrates a remarkable young man whose music transcends the differences among races and faiths and will have the audience dancing in the aisles.

Venues include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA); the Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline (CCT); the West Newton Cinema; Hollywood Hits Premiere Theatre, Danvers; Showcase Cinemas Randolph; and AMC Framingham 16.

A still from Yaron Zilberman's documentary WATERMARKS.

Tickets for most films are $10 general admission, $9 for BJFF, WGBH, CCT, MFA members, seniors, or students. Special Event prices are higher. Tickets for all shows will be on sale beginning October 4, through www.ticketweb.com or 1-866-468-7619. The MFA and CCT box offices will also sell tickets for their shows only. Group tickets, for groups of 20 or more people purchasing together for the same film, can be purchased for $7 each through the Boston Jewish Film Festival office at 617-244-9899, starting September 21.

The full Festival schedule will be available at www.bjff.org. For more information, or to request that a brochure be mailed to you, contact the Festival office at 617-244-9899 or info@bjff.org

For information on the National Foundation for Jewish Culture’s Conference of Jewish Film Festivals, call 212-629-0500 x212.