Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival: Fall Event Coverage 2021

Presented by Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media (PJFM)

November 7-20 (Virtual & In-Person)

Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media (PJFM), formerly known as Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, is back with its 41 st Annual Jewish Film Festival!

Two weeks of the best in Jewish international cinema! Fall Fest will take place both *in theaters and venues
throughout Philadelphia and stream on-demand. with over 20 Philadelphia movie premieres, events and more.

Tinsel & Tine has been given a DISCOUNT CODE to share with Visitors and Subscribers to get
$5 OFF
Use discount code PJFM41 at check-out for ANY of the films!

Here’ a few of the films I thought looked interesting
Click on each image to take you to the film’s page

AHED’S KNEE Directed by Nadav Lapid |Narrative Feature | France/Israel/Germany | 2021 | 109 min | Hebrew with English subtitles – Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview This film was a bit challenging to get into. The first few scenes have so much movement, it’s hard to follow. I knew nothing of Ahed Tamimi, a female Palestinian protestor who went to prison in 2018 for slapping a soldier – so at first I didn’t realize that was true news footage. But it’s also not completely clear at first that a director Y (Avshalom Pollak), is making a film or rather a music video inspired by Tamimi’s act of bravery. I was also ignorant of French filmmaker
Éric Rohmer‘s film Claire’s Knee (1970) part of his Six Moral Tales (Which I now would like to watch) and the play on words the title represents having a completely opposite meaning; as I understand Rohmer’s film is about a man’s desire for the beautiful site of this female body part. Where Ahed’s Knee refers to an Israeli member of parliament’s want to shoot a bullet into the knee of Tamimi for her “crimes”.

And yet, the movie is not about any of what I’ve discussed so far, in actuality, it’s about this director, Y, who’s kinda of a prick and has that attitude of, I’m so cool cause I’m a deep thinking filmmaker. Except when he’s sending video messages back to his dying mother. At any rate, he’s invited to a small desert town in the Arava region, which looks like Dune, to do a Q&A after the screening of one of his earlier films. Upon arrival he’s met by the young and attractive Yahalom (Nur Fibak), the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Culture’s Libraries department. She’s very enthusiastic about his work and the two are immediately sexually attracted to one another, yet nothing illicit occurs. He’s very curious about her, like a filmmaker doing research on a possible subject, and she is all too happy to be an open book. But things take a dark turn when he realizes he can use Yahalom to make a political statement against censorship and the Ministry’s control over what is and isn’t considered art in the country.

Last year I was on the screening committee for The Free Speech Film Festival, so I saw a number of films which dealt with this same subject, where someone’s life is on the line for their art. It honestly brings out the patriot in me for the good ol’ express yourself, US of A 🇺🇸

Stay tuned for #MiniMovieReview

THE LOST BROTHERS Director Moriel Levi Fradis | Documentary Feature | Israel | 2019 | 57 min | Hebrew, Polish and English with English subtitles | Tinsel & Tine #MiniMoveReview just when you think you’ve seen all the tragedies that befell Holocaust survivors, you find a new twist. Arie Perel has lived a good 72 years of life. He had loving, well off parents; during his time he made a good living for himself, married, had children, now enjoys grandchildren, and a girlfriend, basically living a nice retired existence. When out of the blue he’s contacted and told his long, lost brother has been looking for him for the last 6 decades. Talk about a complete shock! He not only was unaware of having siblings, but never knew he was adopted. The people he knew as is parents left this earth long ago, taking the secret with them to the grave. The documentary follows Arie to Warsaw to meet his older brother, Adam, 10 years his senior, and a slightly older sister who has been estranged from Adam, due to political differences. Arie would like to see that rift mended, but first he must learn the cruel truth about his biological parents who survived the Holocaust, only to be brutally murdered by their greedy neighbors.

It was difficult to understand why Adam could never find Arie for such a long time, when the adoption records were clearly in tact, as we see when Arie goes to visit the Jewish Archiving Institute (not exact name) in Poland. Also, why would Fradis name his doc The Lost Brothers when if you Google that title about 10 other books, movies/films show up. I’ve had rants about this before – please filmmakers, title your films something distinctive and unique!

That being said, the doc is both triumphant and bittersweet, as Arie is made to feel somewhat guilty for having had the opportunity to live a more or less carefree existence in the United States, never having known the fear, grief and loss his brother endured his entire life.

100 Million Views Director & Star Itamar Rose | Documentary Feature | Israel/Germany | 2019 | 54 min | Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview Itamar Rose an Israeli Borat of sorts, sets out to interview YouTube Celebrities to find out how they got there, which leads him down the dark rabbit hole of what the video platform has become. I never knew about the Double Rainbow Guy, he seemed like he took being a viral sensation with a bit of fun. But these YouTubers who make their living posting countless videos, slaving for brands, seem rather soul-less and desperate. It’s sad that something that started out with the altruistic intention of giving anyone with a phone and internet a voice, turned into a place of controlled greed.

SIN LA HABANA Director Kaveh Nabatian Narrative | Canada | 2021 | 95 min | Spanish, Farsi & English

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview Leonardo, an aspiring ballet dancer, lives with his girlfriend, Sara, in a lively, albeit impoverished section of Havana, Cuba. Drowning in financial woes, Sara sees a lifeboat in Nasim – an attractive Canadian Iranian-Jewish tourist enrolled in Leonardo’s salsa class. Convinced that Nasim is the couple’s ticket to a better life outside of Cuba. This was a desperate triangle on all 3 sides. It’s very well directed, and I get it, people are willing to do almost anything to leave a country like Cuba. But when it comes to films of this nature, I either want them to be a short or I want them to have more going on. I was invested enough to want to see how it ended, but bored through most of the 2nd half.

I was looking forward to attending this POTIONS 101 Live @PhillyJFM_ this evening, but the date has now been changed to 12/2 6pm.
Free Registration – https://t.co/Y6zHC3be1c #filmfestival #PJFM pic.twitter.com/wst8aCQ0e2
— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) November 14, 2021