Director: Gaylen Ross, US, 2008, 120 min., English/Hebrew w/ subtitles, Documentary
True stories rarely contain a historic mystery, a courtroom drama, a political murder and a family saga, but all can be found in the documentary Killing Kasztner. In Nazi occupied Hungary, Rezso Kasztner, known as the Jewish Schindler, dared to negotiate face to face with Adolf Eichmann to rescue 1700 Jews, and may have saved tens of thousands of more lives. Yet Kasztner was condemned as a traitor in his adopted country of Israel accused as a collaborator in a trial and verdict that divided a nation and forever stamped him as the "man who sold his soul to the devil." It was a verdict overturned by Israel's Supreme Court but it was too late for Kasztner who was assassinated by Jewish right wing extremists in Tel Aviv in 1957. Director Gaylen Ross investigates this tale of murder, intrigue, and heroism through accounts of the inflammatory political trial, startling revelations from Kasztner's assassin, Ze'ev Eckstein, and a chilling meeting between the killer and Kasztner's daughter, Zsuzsi.
"I thought I knew the whole story, but after seeing the remarkable film I now realize how much I didn't know." - ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN, National Director, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and a Holocaust survivor
"10 Best Films of the Year" - THE JERUSALEM POST
"Superb" - THE NEW REPUBLIC
"Splendid" - THE FORWARD
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Director: Mariana Chenillo, Mexico, 90 min., Spanish w/ English subtitles, Narrative
Nora had a plan. It would bring her grumpy ex-husband José and the rest of their dysfunctional family together for a magnificent Passover feast. But there is a flaw in her plan - a mysterious photograph from the past that leads José to re-examine their relationship and, perhaps, to rediscover their undying love for each other.
Winner of the Best Picture Award at the 2010 Ariel Awards, Mexico's most prestigious film prize. Like Katherine Bigelow, the 2010 Oscar winner for The Hurt Locker, writer/director Mariana Chenillo is the first female director to win an Ariel Award for Best Picture.
Generously underwritten by Brighton Memorial Chapel
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Director: Yishai Orian, Israel, 2008, 70 min., English/Hebrew/Arabic w/ subtitles, Documentary
Director Yishai Orian's wife, pregnant with their first child, insists he scrap his beloved VW Beetle for a safe family car. Yishai's comic struggles with his inner Peter Pan take him to Jordan in a last-ditch effort to salvage the relic before his son arrives. Along the way, former owners of his Beetle tell remarkable life stories involving the car.
"Extremely funny and touching road-trip." Hot Docs Film Festival
A 2008 HotDocs Film Festival Audience Top Ten Choice.
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Director: Shelly Kling, Israel, 2008, 10 min., Hebrew w/ subtitles, Short Narrative
Three generations of women share personal methods of making gefilte fish and, in the process,their opinions of tradition and its role in contemporary society. Hilarious and "heimishe." "One of the most popular films in San Francisco Jewish Film Festival history." SFJFF
Generously underwritten by Class Action LLC/Marc Frankel Constable.
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