Now in its 12th year, the Cleveland Jewish FilmFest aims to bring the best of international Jewish cinema to Cleveland. It features a mix of documentaries, features, comedies and shorts, and films will screen at five local theaters and venues.
The event kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 4, with a screening of The Last Suit at 7 p.m. at Shaker Square Cinemas. The drama tells the story of an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who travels across Europe to Poland as part of a promise to a friend who helped him escape. A dessert reception takes place in the lobby of Shaker Square Cinemas after the screening.
Another highlight, the documentary Let’s Dance, shows how modern dance has become one of Israel’s greatest cultural achievements. It screens at 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, at the Cedar Lee Theatre.
At 10 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 7, the Cedar Lee Theatre hosts a screening of Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Got to Be Home, a new documentary about the late singer and actor who converted to Judaism in 1954. A drama set in Paris in 1941, Bag of Marbles centers on two young Jewish brothers who try to escape persecution by fleeing to a demilitarized zone. It screens at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 7, at the Cedar Lee Theatre.
A new documentary about the small group of Israelis Palestinians who met secretly in Norway in 1992, The Oslo Diaries screens at 1 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 8, at the Cedar Lee Theatre. Who Will Write Our History, a documentary about the Warsaw Ghetto, screens that same day at 7:30 p.m. at the Cedar Lee Theatre.
The Invisibles, a drama which shows at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the Cedar Lee Theatre, centers on the 7,000 Jews who lived in Berlin in 1943 after Germany declared the city to be “free of Jews.”
As part of a “classic” series, the 1975 drama Hester Street, a “poignant recreation of Jewish life at the turn of the 20th century,” screens at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11, at the Cedar Lee Theatre.
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque hosts a screening of the 2017 drama Promise at Dawn at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13, and the Atlas Theatre shows the documentary Mossad: Imperfect Spies at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14.
The festival closes on Sunday, Oct. 14, with a screening of Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, a movie about how the Israeli team qualified for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. It screens at 7 p.m. at the Cedar Lee Theatre. Beachwood’s Brad Goldberg, who played for Team Israel and currently plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks, is featured in the movie.
© 2023 Cleveland Scene
