The Samuel Project
-Shaloha Award for Outstanding Film-
Directed by Marc Fusco | 2018 | USA | English | 92 Minutes
Eli (Ryan Ochoa) gets to know his grandfather Samuel (Hal Linden) for the first time when he makes him the subject of an animated art project for school. With dreams of becoming a professional artist, Eli discovers that his Jewish grandpa, a San Diego dry cleaner, was heroically saved from Nazi capture in Germany by a young woman when he was a boy.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/0aDjaNmFtCM
-Shaloha Award for Outstanding Film-
Directed by Marc Fusco | 2018 | USA | English | 92 Minutes
Eli (Ryan Ochoa) gets to know his grandfather Samuel (Hal Linden) for the first time when he makes him the subject of an animated art project for school. With dreams of becoming a professional artist, Eli discovers that his Jewish grandpa, a San Diego dry cleaner, was heroically saved from Nazi capture in Germany by a young woman when he was a boy.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/0aDjaNmFtCM
The Invisibles
-Best Docudrama-
Directed by Claus Räfle | 2017 | Germany | German with English Subtitles | 110 Minutes
In June 1943, Germany infamously declared Berlin “judenfrei”—“free of Jews.” But at that moment there were still 7,000 Jews living in the Nazi capital: hiding in attics, basements, and warehouses, protected by courageous Berliners while desperately trying to avoid deportation.
The Invisibles tells the stories of four young Jews surviving in the middle of Berlin by living so recklessly that they become practically invisible to the Nazi regime.
Check out this fascinating article about the film featured on NPR. Trailer Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2aVBot4DNY
-Best Docudrama-
Directed by Claus Räfle | 2017 | Germany | German with English Subtitles | 110 Minutes
In June 1943, Germany infamously declared Berlin “judenfrei”—“free of Jews.” But at that moment there were still 7,000 Jews living in the Nazi capital: hiding in attics, basements, and warehouses, protected by courageous Berliners while desperately trying to avoid deportation.
The Invisibles tells the stories of four young Jews surviving in the middle of Berlin by living so recklessly that they become practically invisible to the Nazi regime.
Check out this fascinating article about the film featured on NPR. Trailer Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2aVBot4DNY
Budapest Noir
-Best Drama-
Directed by Éva Gárdos | 2017 | Hungary | Hungarian with English Subtitles
95 Minutes
In Budapest in 1936, a beautiful young girl is found dead and no one seems to want to investigate - except Gordon, a crime reporter who has a gut feeling that things are not what they seem.
Investigating the mystery girl's murder leads Gordon into a world of pornographers, brothels and Communist cells, leading to the highest echelons of power. The more people try to scare him away the deeper he digs in, not knowing who to trust or what ulterior motives are working against him and the truth.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/JeAAS2dvrJw
-Best Drama-
Directed by Éva Gárdos | 2017 | Hungary | Hungarian with English Subtitles
95 Minutes
In Budapest in 1936, a beautiful young girl is found dead and no one seems to want to investigate - except Gordon, a crime reporter who has a gut feeling that things are not what they seem.
Investigating the mystery girl's murder leads Gordon into a world of pornographers, brothels and Communist cells, leading to the highest echelons of power. The more people try to scare him away the deeper he digs in, not knowing who to trust or what ulterior motives are working against him and the truth.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/JeAAS2dvrJw
93Queen
-Centerpiece Film-
Directed by Paula Eiselt | 2018 | USA |English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Partial Subtitles
| 90 Minutes
Set in the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, 93QUEEN follows a group of tenacious Hasidic women who are smashing the patriarchy in their community by creating the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in New York City.
With unprecedented and exclusive access, 93QUEEN follows the formation and launch of Ezras Nashim (“women’s help”) through the organization’s first year on the ground. The spine of the film observes the highs—and lows—of creating an organization against incredible odds, as well as the women’s struggles to “have it all” as wives and mothers. In a society where most women don’t drive—and a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death—how do female EMTs transport themselves to the scene of an emergency? And how does Ezras Nashim combat a behemoth like Hatzolah, which possesses political clout not only in Borough Park, but throughout New York City?
Trailer: https://www.facebook.com/93QueenFilm/videos/250045425728233/
-Centerpiece Film-
Directed by Paula Eiselt | 2018 | USA |English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Partial Subtitles
| 90 Minutes
Set in the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, 93QUEEN follows a group of tenacious Hasidic women who are smashing the patriarchy in their community by creating the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in New York City.
With unprecedented and exclusive access, 93QUEEN follows the formation and launch of Ezras Nashim (“women’s help”) through the organization’s first year on the ground. The spine of the film observes the highs—and lows—of creating an organization against incredible odds, as well as the women’s struggles to “have it all” as wives and mothers. In a society where most women don’t drive—and a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death—how do female EMTs transport themselves to the scene of an emergency? And how does Ezras Nashim combat a behemoth like Hatzolah, which possesses political clout not only in Borough Park, but throughout New York City?
Trailer: https://www.facebook.com/93QueenFilm/videos/250045425728233/
Golda’s Balcony
-Audience Choice Award-
A Broadway Play by William Gibson | Directed by Scott Schwartz | 2019 |USA | English
| 90 Minutes
Tovah Feldshuh recreates her award-winning performance as Golda Meir in GOLDA’S BALCONY, THE FILM (2019), as this final masterpiece by the author of “The Miracle Worker,” William Gibson, makes its motion picture debut in 2019.
Golda’s Balcony, The Film (a cause célèbre in its day, beloved by Jewish leaders, and Broadway critics alike) tells of the rise of Golda Meir from a Russian schoolgirl to Prime Minister of Israel. In this film, her life is transformed into a cinematic event of overwhelming power and inspirational triumph. As a play on Broadway and Off, the work sold out over 500 performances, becoming the longest-running, one-woman show in Broadway history.
Tovah Feldshuh’s galvanizing rendition of Golda has been so dramatically edited and filmically ‘put together,’ that audiences who may have originally adored the performance from the middle rows or upper tiers on Broadway may now ‘get up close and personal’ to Tovah’s marvelous work. Former HADASSAH PRESIDENT JUNE WALKER perhaps put it best: “Run, don’t walk, to Golda’s Balcony, to spend an emotional hour and a half with one of the great women of history. Jews especially will be touched, but people of all religions will marvel at this triumph: it is not to be missed!” www.goldasbalcony.org
Trailer: https://youtu.be/IKnSV-iYdTs
-Audience Choice Award-
A Broadway Play by William Gibson | Directed by Scott Schwartz | 2019 |USA | English
| 90 Minutes
Tovah Feldshuh recreates her award-winning performance as Golda Meir in GOLDA’S BALCONY, THE FILM (2019), as this final masterpiece by the author of “The Miracle Worker,” William Gibson, makes its motion picture debut in 2019.
Golda’s Balcony, The Film (a cause célèbre in its day, beloved by Jewish leaders, and Broadway critics alike) tells of the rise of Golda Meir from a Russian schoolgirl to Prime Minister of Israel. In this film, her life is transformed into a cinematic event of overwhelming power and inspirational triumph. As a play on Broadway and Off, the work sold out over 500 performances, becoming the longest-running, one-woman show in Broadway history.
Tovah Feldshuh’s galvanizing rendition of Golda has been so dramatically edited and filmically ‘put together,’ that audiences who may have originally adored the performance from the middle rows or upper tiers on Broadway may now ‘get up close and personal’ to Tovah’s marvelous work. Former HADASSAH PRESIDENT JUNE WALKER perhaps put it best: “Run, don’t walk, to Golda’s Balcony, to spend an emotional hour and a half with one of the great women of history. Jews especially will be touched, but people of all religions will marvel at this triumph: it is not to be missed!” www.goldasbalcony.org
Trailer: https://youtu.be/IKnSV-iYdTs
Prosecuting Evil: The Ben Ferencz Story
-Best Documentary-
Directed by Barry Avrich | 2018 | Canada | English and German | 83 Minutes
A gripping documentary by Barry Avrich tells the fascinating story of one man’s lifelong quest for justice for victims of crimes against humanity – a concept Ben Ferencz was instrumental in developing after The Nuremberg Trials post-World War II.
A true visionary, a key architect of the international war crimes system and passionate advocate for peace, Ferencz has lived a remarkable life. At 98 years old, the last living lead prosecutor at The Nuremberg Trials remains an active and unstoppable force for justice in an unjust world. He’s witnessed and influenced the most consequential chapters of the last 70 years – from liberating war camps and
investigating Nazi war crimes, to acting, at 27 years old, as the Chief Prosecutor for the U.S. Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trials at Nuremberg and successfully advocating for the establishment of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. His fight for justice for victims of atrocity crimes continues today.
Through it all he’s never wavered in his vision of a world that finds peace through the force of law, not the force of war.
Trailer Courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meDbZemxuK4
-Best Documentary-
Directed by Barry Avrich | 2018 | Canada | English and German | 83 Minutes
A gripping documentary by Barry Avrich tells the fascinating story of one man’s lifelong quest for justice for victims of crimes against humanity – a concept Ben Ferencz was instrumental in developing after The Nuremberg Trials post-World War II.
A true visionary, a key architect of the international war crimes system and passionate advocate for peace, Ferencz has lived a remarkable life. At 98 years old, the last living lead prosecutor at The Nuremberg Trials remains an active and unstoppable force for justice in an unjust world. He’s witnessed and influenced the most consequential chapters of the last 70 years – from liberating war camps and
investigating Nazi war crimes, to acting, at 27 years old, as the Chief Prosecutor for the U.S. Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trials at Nuremberg and successfully advocating for the establishment of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. His fight for justice for victims of atrocity crimes continues today.
Through it all he’s never wavered in his vision of a world that finds peace through the force of law, not the force of war.
Trailer Courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meDbZemxuK4