Ettie (Evelin Hagoel) and Tikvah (Orna Banai) laugh outside their Jerusalem home.
The 20th anniversary of the Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival is an opportunity to reflect on the changing meaning of Jewish film. To be sure, the looming facts of the last century can’t be ignored. Three of the festival’s eight films have Holocaust themes. And yet, there is also a movie about hummus—the creamy chickpea spread that is the common heritage of Jews, Muslims and Christians of the Middle East. There’s also a satire of the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict; an examination of traditional gender roles; a comedy of mismatched romance; and, as usual in the festival’s recent years, a documentary on prominent Jewish-American artists.
“The quality and depth of film has grown,” says Chad Tessmer, chief marketing officer at the Jewish Community Center, adding that and the festival has grown “to meet that demand—and join our partners throughout this community who are making Milwaukee a destination for film, culture and conversation.”
Although each entry has a Jewish theme, the program’s origins span the continents with films produced in Hungary, Germany and Italy, as well as Israel and the U.S.
All films will be screened at the Marcus North Shore Cinema. For more information, visit jccmilwaukee.org.
Fanny’s Journey
7:30 p.m., Oct. 22
In the style of young adult historical fiction, and drawing inspiration from actual events, French director Lola Doillon depicts the flight of Jewish school children from France to Italy and on to Switzerland—always a step ahead of the Nazis.
Hummus! The Movie
1:30 p.m., Oct. 23
Israeli documentarian Oren Rosenfeld turns his cameras on the power of food, a dish popular throughout the Middle East, to bring contentious people together in a competition to make the best hummus.
Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators
7:30 p.m., Oct. 23
Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s documentary includes archival footage and interviews with and about the husband and wife team, of H.A. and Margret Rey, behind that irrepressible monkey, Curious George.
1945
7:30 p.m., Oct. 24
Hungarian director Ferenc Török dramatizes one of the less recognized evils of the Holocaust: the willingness by some non-Jews to steal the property of the victims.
The 90 Minute War
1:30 p.m., Oct.25
If competitive sports is a little like war anyway, then maybe Israeli director-satirist Eyal Halfon has the right idea: how about a soccer match between Israeli and Palestinian teams to decide who wins the struggle for the Holy Land?
Women’s Balcony
7:30 p.m., Oct. 25
A box-office hit in Israel, Women’s Balcony is a gentle comedy about Orthodox Jewish women, standing up to a fanatically ultra-Orthodox rabbi, which affirms the values of community as well as tolerance.
Let Yourself Go
1:30 p.m., Oct. 26
Mind collides with body when an austere Freudian psychiatrist falls in love with a wild physical trainer in this quirky Italian comedy previously featured at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival.
Bye Bye Germany
7:30 p.m., Oct. 26
Is it drama or comedy—this period film by director Sam Garbarski (based on Michael Bergmann’s novel The Traveling Salesmen) of Holocaust survivors who elect to stay on in Germany after the defeat of Nazism? In real life, nearly 4,000 Jews actually opted to live in the country that persecuted them.
