This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival. The monthlong event features 10 films, ranging in genre and subject, but all with some sort of Jewish connection. “They’re not all Jewish content, but maybe they have a Jewish director or something that ties it into the Jewish community,” says Sophie Samuels, program director for cultural arts and adult services at the Memphis Jewish Community Center (JCC). “We always want to introduce different types of cultural arts to our community, so I think that this is a great way to do it.”
For the festival, the JCC has a committee of about 10 people who “takes a list from about 45 films each year — and [the films] usually come out within the past two years — and we narrow them down until we get our films.” The goal, Samuels says, is to present a variety of offerings. This year’s films range from a documentary about a porn cinema empire and the eccentric woman behind it (Queen of the Deuce), to an animated story of a family living in the shadow of the Holocaust (My Father’s Secrets). “We try to do something for everyone,” Samuels says.
This year’s festival opens on Tuesday, January 30th, at 7 p.m., with Remembering Gene Wilder, a documentary taking a close look at the life of the “performer, writer, director, and all-around mensch.” A screening of the documentary Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life will follow on Sunday, February 4th, at 4 p.m., with its coverage of the community affected by violence and trauma after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. On February 6th, the JCC will screen the romantic drama March ’68, which takes place during Poland’s exodus of nearly 15,000 Jews due to a hostile anti-Semitic campaign, and on February 11th, festival-goers can view The Narrow Bridge, a documentary that follows four individuals, Palestinian and Israeli, who are part of an organization called Israeli Palestinian Bereaved Families, who aim to turn their personal devastation into social change.
Other screenings include the animated My Father’s Secrets on February 18th; documentaries Queen of the Deuce on February 20th, Simone: Woman of the Century on February 22nd, Hope Without Boundaries on February 25th, and Vishniac on February 27; and the Israeli musical/rom-com Our Story on February 29th.
Overall, Samuels hopes the festival brings the community — Jewish and non-Jewish — together. “I think that it’s great, especially after Covid, for people to be in a place that they feel comfortable in and to see other people and connect over these films.”
Tickets for individual films are $7, or $5 for JCC members. Series passes are $49, or $35 for JCC members. Visit jccmemphis.org for a full schedule, descriptions of all the films, and to purchase tickets.
Morris & Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival, Belz Theater at the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center, Memphis Jewish Community Center, 6560 Poplar Avenue, Tuesday, January 30-February-29, $5-$7.