(Edmonton) – There is something timeless about gathering in a theatre – settling into your seat, sharing laughter or a quiet moment with strangers, and allowing a story to unfold larger than life. For three decades, the Edmonton Jewish Film Festival (EJFF) has been creating those shared experiences, bringing Jewish stories to the screen and to our community. This spring, the festival celebrates its 30th year with a thoughtfully curated lineup that reflects the richness, complexity, and humanity of Jewish life around the world.
Running from May 3 to 13, this year’s Edmonton Jewish Film Festival features a diverse selection of films that explore relationships, identity, history, and connection. While some titles will be available to stream online, the heart of the festival remains its in‑person screenings, where films are experienced as they were meant to be – together, with a live audience.
Six feature films will be screened in a setting perfectly suited to the occasion: the historic Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton Park. Over the course of the festival, audiences are invited to reconnect with the joy of watching film on the big screen, where shared reactions and post film conversations become part of the experience.
Opening night on Sunday, May 3, launches the festival with a special reception and screening, setting the tone for a week and a half of compelling cinema. The program also includes several standout events, such as a free Mother’s Day family matinee hosted together with Jewish Family Services, as well as a feature presentation in the evening followed by a post film conversation with that film’s director, offering audiences the chance to engage more deeply with the stories being told.
“Film has an incredible ability to bring people together – to foster empathy, spark conversation, and create meaningful connections,” says Stacey Leavitt‑Wright, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. “We’re proud to continue this tradition and to invite the broader community to experience Jewish stories in a shared, welcoming space.”
In 2026, the festival will help raise funds to support bringing two Israeli emissaries to Edmonton for a year of service through The Jewish Agency for Israel’s ShinShinim program. During their time in Edmonton, they will engage with the Jewish community, help support events, and new programs and connect with youth through PJ Library, BBYO and Hillel.
Whether you are a longtime supporter of EJFF or discovering the festival for the first time, this year’s program offers something for everyone – thoughtful dramas, engaging documentaries, and moments of humour and warmth. Most of all, it offers an invitation to come together, celebrate three decades of storytelling, and experience the power of film as a community.
For tickets, schedules, and film details, visit ejff2026.eventive.org.
Come celebrate 30 years of stories—on the big screen, together.
Official Synopsis
Opening Night Film
When Yaki realizes who Bella is, a curly plumage and extremely valuable dove, his only inheritance, it is already too late. Yaki sets out with Bilal, his childhood friend, and their wives on a road trip across Israel and Palestine to bring Bella back. They will cross checkpoints, ruin a wedding, steal a newlyweds’ car, join a reconciliation ceremony between families, and try to revive the unconscious dove, all to reach a dove beauty pageant in Jerusalem on time.
Visionary leader and one of history’s most influential, yet under-recognized, American-Jewish women, Henrietta Szold, founded Hadassah, established a healthcare system treating Arabs and Jews equally, and led Youth Aliyah, saving 11,000 children from the Nazis. This heartfelt documentary brings the incredible story of a woman who reshaped history through compassion and an unwavering belief in humanity.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Abby Ginzberg.
Mother’s Day Family Screening – Free Admission
A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord to get his land back. A beloved animated classic, Shrek delights audiences of all ages with its witty humour and heartfelt message about self-acceptance and friendship. Presented as a free family screening in partnership with Jewish Family Services Edmonton, the event includes a post film horse-drawn carriage ride at Fort Edmonton Park, making it the perfect Mother’s Day outing.
An unfiltered look at Israel’s most perilous chapter in recent history, a period defined by internal divisions and political extremism. Drawing on insights from Nobel laureates, Muslim leaders, peace activists, and other prominent figures, the film dismantles preconceived notions about one of the world’s most scrutinized countries. The screening will be followed by a pre-recorded interview with director Jonathan Jakubowicz
Combining magical realism and evocative hand-drawn animation with revelatory interviews and verité footage, “Among Neighbors” examines the story of a small, rural town where Jews and Polish Catholics lived side by side for centuries before World War II. The film brings the Polish response to the Holocaust to life through the last living eyewitnesses, revealing both love and betrayal as it zeroes in on one3 of the last living Holocaust survivors from the town, and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews murdered there – not by Nazis, but by her own Polish neighbors. This screening features a special introduction and a pre-recorded post-screening interview with producer and director Yoav Potash.
Love, Statistically Speaking (Online)
When Reuben (Yehoram Gaon), an 80-year-old actuary who lives by statistics, loses both his wife and her insurance money at the swimming pool, he’s forced into a reluctant partnership with his free-spirited granddaughter. Their bumbling investigation among eccentric pool regulars turns into a funny, heartfelt journey proving that while you can calculate almost anything, you can’t predict love or family.
Baruch Auerbach (Maor Schweitzer), a mature Yeshiva student who missed every opportunity to marry, is left to live in a small room in the Yeshiva where he studies and serves as the faithful assistant to the matchmaker Malki (Irit Kaplan). When Malki assigns him the task of escorting her young daughter Shira (Omer Nudelman) from the airport – he decides that it is time to get married. Baruch asks for Malki’s help, but when she tries to match him with Ruth (Niv Sultan), he decides to do everything he can to thwart the matchmaking with Ruth and win Shira’s heart.
Only when he realizes how much he has misinterpreted the circumstances of his life will his heart open to the love he deserves.
In a small forgotten village up the snowy mountains of Georgia, the arrival of a foreign woman disturbs the peace. Israeli Lawyer Marina seems to have escaped her suffocating traditional Georgian roots. Now she comes back to Georgia, representing Nino, who left Georgia 11 years ago, leaving her son behind and now wants him back. Determined to bring the boy back to his mother, Marina reaches Dato, Nino’s brother and the child’s caretaker. Despite his hostility and great anger for his abandoning sister, he agrees to help. The more time they spend together, the two strangers share a journey that will change their perspective on life. Winner of 5 Ophir Israeli Academy Awards.
Khaled (12), a Palestinian boy, is on his way to visit the sea for the first time in his life, but at the checkpoint, the Israeli authorities deny his entry. Determined, Khaled sneaks into Israel and embarks on a dangerous journey to the sea. Meanwhile, Ribhi, his father, is trying to trace his whereabouts, putting himself at risk of being arrested and losing his job. Winner of 5 Ophir Israeli Academy Awards.
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