Edmonton Jewish Film Festival: May 21-30 Schedule

(Edmonton) – The Edmonton Jewish Film Festival (EJFF) is back for its 28th season, from May 21-30, offering Edmonton audiences the very best in Jewish-themed films. Carefully selected by a volunteer committee of film experts and aficionados, the festival includes Edmonton premieres of films from Israel, USA, Italy, Germany, and Canada. This year audiences will enjoy in-person screenings for 4 feature films and another 4 features and 5 shorts will be screened online. In-person screenings will be held at Metro Cinema at Garneau Theatre (8712 109 Street) and at Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton Park (7000 143 Street) in Edmonton. Online films are available to Edmonton residents only. A full schedule, festival passes and individual tickets can be purchased at jewishedmonton.org.

 

May 21 at 7 pm: “Running on Sand”

Metro Cinema at Garneau  Israel: 104 minutes

Aumari, a young Eritrean refugee living in Israel, is about to be deported back to his home country. After a spontaneous escape attempt at the airport, he is mistaken for a Nigerian soccer star who is supposed to arrive the same day. Aumari seizes the opportunity to change his identity and pose as the new key acquisition for team ‘Maccabi Netanya’. Though funny and light-hearted, the film delivers a heartfelt message about the importance of treating people with respect and dignity, no matter where they come from.

 

May 22 Online event: “March 68″ (2022)

Poland: 115 minutes: From 10 am to midnight

Two young students – Hania (Vanessa Aleksander, Wartime Girls) and Janek – meet and fall in love in the midst of social turmoil and Jewish discrimination in 1960s Warsaw. While the young lovers are uninterested in politics, they find themselves unable to avoid it when Hania’s father and mother lose their jobs due to the antisemitic purge and are forced to emigrate. Hania does not want to leave Janek, and the couple soon participate in a protest rally at the university where they discover freedom comes at a high price.

 

May 22 Online event 

5 shorts – see jewishedmonton.org for details 

 

May 23 Online event: “Martha Liebermann: A Stolen Life” (2022)

From 10 am to midnight. Germany: 88 minutes

 Berlin, 1943, during World War II. Martha Liebermann, an elderly upper-class Jewish woman, faces the decision of her life: should the widow of the world-famous and revered painter Max Liebermann continue to try to obtain an exit permit from the Nazis or, with the help of a resistance group, should she flee to Switzerland?

 

May 26: 2 to 5 pm: “Fiddler on the Roof ” Singalong With guest Michele Miller

USA: 181 min. & 10 min intermission  Metro Cinema at the Garneau Theatre

Do you love Fiddler on the Roof? Do you sing along when you watch the film? Here’s your chance to be part of an interactive experience of this classic film.

The audience is invited to come in costume and sing-along during the film. Special guest Michele Miller will lead the sing-along.

 

May 27 Online event: “The Shadow of the Day”

From 10 am to 11:45 pm. Italy: 125 minutes

 A dramatic love story set in a picturesque town in rural Italy after the introduction of the racial laws (1938). Luciano, a Fascist-abiding restaurant owner, believes he can live life in his restaurant according to his own set of rules. However, everything changes when Anna, a girl with a dangerous secret, starts to work at the restaurant.

 

May 28 at 7 pm: “Remembering Gene Wilder” (2023)

Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton Park. USA: 92 min

This loving tribute to Gene Wilder celebrates his life and legacy as the comic genius behind an extraordinary string of film roles, from: The Producers, to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, to his inspired on-screen partnership with Richard Pryor in Silver Streak. It is illustrated by a host of touching and hilarious clips and outtakes and interviews with a roster of brilliant friends and collaborators. Remembering Gene Wilder shines a light on an essential performer, writer, director, and all-around mensch.

 

May 29 Online event: “The Other Widow”

From 10 am to midnight. Israel: 83 minutes

A dark comedic drama about Ella, a 34-year-old theater costume designer who experiences the sudden death of her married lover. As she begins to frequent his Shiva and observe the life that was forbidden to her until now, Ella will get too close to his mourning family.

 

May 30 at 7 pm: “Less Than Kosher” (2023)

Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton Park. Canada: 66 minutes

With guest Shaina Silver-Baird

Co-creator/co-writer, executive producer and star of Less Than Kosher, Shaina Silver-Baird, will be on hand after the screening for a Q & A.

At 20, Viv was a promising young singer. At 30, her failing music career has forced her back into her mother’s basement. But when this self-proclaimed Bad Jew lands ass-backwards into a job as a Cantor at her family’s synagogue, she’s thrown into a wild ride of illicit affairs, drug trips, tense family drama, self-discovery and some serious Jewish bops. It’s “Shiva Baby” meets “A Star is Born.” Modern Jewish wit and Hebrew Electro-Pop.

Click here for full schedule and ticket information.