Five Jewish-themed, award-winning films produced in Germany, France, Israel, and England will be shown on five consecutive Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. beginning March 30 at the Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 North Terrace Road.
These films are suitable for those age 16 and older. Individual tickets are $7 per person and include complimentary popcorn and a soft drink, except on April 27 when Kosher for Passover snacks will be available.
These films have garnered international film awards and nominations, and have received recognition at film festivals throughout the United States, Europe and Israel.
A sponsorship event with take place at 6 p.m. on March 16 and includes a cocktail reception featuring several recipes from Zahav:Modern Israeli Cuisine, the cookbook. The only Chattanooga screening of the In Search of Israeli Cuisine will be screened following the reception. The film features Michael Solomonov, a James Beard award winning Best Chef, as he travels throughout Israel discovering recipes from the over 100 diverse cultures that make up Israel. Sponsorship opportunities are available for $72 and $90, or for additional information about the Film Series, contact Ann Treadwell 423-493-0270.
The Series schedule is as follows:
March 30 - Labyrinth of Lies - 2 hours, 4 minutes, German with English subtitles:
Labyrinth of Lies was Germany’s entry into the 2016 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film. The movie takes place in Germany from 1958 to 1963 when the prevailing attitude about the Nazi past was willful amnesia and denial. A new West Germany is being built amid the refuse of the old. The next generation of Germans is creating a new life for themselves. They don’t know or care about Auschwitz, and their elders prefer it stays that way. This is a fact-based film based on the 1963-1965 Frankfort Auschwitz trials when twenty-two former Nazis were tried for murder.
April 6 - Dough - 1 hour 38 minutes, English:
Dough is a funny, witty film about cultural clashes and generation gaps and is an audience favorite throughout the United States. An older Jewish baker whose business is in crisis and about to collapse hires a Muslim teenager. They are as different as they can be divided by race, religion, and age. At first this was not a match made in heaven, but as the recipe for challah changes, the bakery has unexpected results. The chemistry between the two main characters changes from distrust and confrontation to overcoming prejudice and finding redemption in unexpected ways.
April 13 - Auf Das Leben (To Life) - 1 hour, 30 minutes, German with English subtitles:
Winner of the Best German Movie at the Filmball in Vienna in 2015, this film is a drama featuring an aging Polish born cabaret singer and a young German man. Despite their age difference and entirely opposite life experiences, they form an intense friendship that gives reason and purpose for each to live. The film weaves a tale between the present and pre-World War II Germany. This film features intensely moving, passionate renditions of Jewish music classics that have been re-recorded and newly interpreted.
April 20 - The Kind Words - 1 hour, 58 minutes, Hebrew, French with English subtitles:
This comic-drama about a Jerusalem family with three quirky, very different siblings which makes you wonder how they could have all been from the same parents. When their mother dies, the three siblings come together to mourn. Then the father drops a truth bomb: he has found out that he is totally infertile and could not possibly be their natural father. This revelation sets off a quest to find the truth and takes the siblings to Paris and Marseilles. The film provides insights to issues of identity, family crisis, compromise and love.
April 27 - A La Vie (To Life) - 1 hour, 44 minutes, French with English subtitles:
This is a story of three Auschwitz survivors. After fifteen years of searching in Paris Helene finds Lily in Amsterdam and plans a reunion in Breck-Sur-Mer France, a beautiful beach in the north of France. The third friend, Rose, who Helene thought died in the Holocaust, arrives at the reunion with Lily. They share an intimate vacation in the seaside town confessing their secrets of life, love and friendship. Like life itself, nothing is simple in this absorbing movie.
The Jewish Film Series is made available through the corporate support of Chattanooga Allergy Clinic, Henderson Hutcherson & McCollough, Erlanger Hospital, Southport Capital, Capital Mark, Monen Family Restaurants, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and Chattanooga Theatre Centre, in addition to donations by more than 80 individual sponsors.