David Posnack Jewish Community Center

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Location and Information

The Jewish Film Festival events are held in the Orlove Auditorium at the David Posnack Jewish Community Center on the Nina and Louis Silverman Campus, 5850 S. Pine Island Road, Davie, FL. The David Posnack JCC is located 1⁄2 mile west of University Drive on the northeast corner of Stirling and Pine Island Roads. For further directions, please call Adult Services at 954-434-0499, ext. 336. 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
General Admission Per Event: Evening $10 (Public) / $8 (DPJCC Members)
                                                    Matinee $6 (Public) / $5 (DPJCC Members)
Movie Lover’s Package: $56 (One ticket to each event at the member fee)
Student Short Film Competition: FREE
Tickets may be purchased at the door.

   OPENING EVENT   

Saturday, February 2 • 8:00 p.m.

The World Is Funny
• Israel’s number one box office hit
• Earned a record-setting 15 Ophir nominations (the Israeli Academy Awards®)

After eight years, a young man awakens from a coma, bringing to light a big secret from the past. Mean while, Jordana, a travel agent, discovers she is pregnant, although she has been celibate for years. At the same time, Golan, a radio host, decides to revive an Israeli comedy group, HaGashash HaHiver, in order to save his love. All these personalities,and many others, come alive through the fertile imaginations of writers participating in a workshop in Tiberias. Director Shemi Zarhin (Noodle, Aviva My Love, Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi) masterfully weaves the multiple and diverse narratives into a cohesive story of one family, one city and one world. Supported by a subtle and highly effective score, this very artful and popular film has made audiences in Israel laugh and cry – sometimes simultaneously. 

Director: Shemi Zarhin – 2012, Israel, Hebrew with English subtitles • Running time: 122 minutes 
Mature content

Monday, February 4 • 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 6 • 1:00 p.m.

Nicky's Family
 • Won 13 Audience Awards at various film festivals

A stirring tribute to the Englishman dubbed “Britain’s Schindler,” Nicky’s Family illuminates the legacy of a pre-WW II mass rescue of children. In December 1938 Sir Nicholas Winton masterminded a series of rail-sea transports to save 669 young Czech and Slovak refugees in danger of deportation. Not even Winton’s wife knew until a scrapbook detailing the mission was uncovered in 1988. Nicky’s Family combines newsreels and archival photos with dramatic reenactments narrated by rescued children and Sir Winton himself. The film gains added immediacy as grandchildren of the rescuees and others describe the resulting humanitarian feats Winton inspired. 

Director: Matej Minac – 2011, Cambodia/Czech Republic/Israel/Slovakia/United Kingdom/USA, English 
Running time: 96 minutes 
Guest speaker: Bernie Feldman, Kindertransport survivor

Wednesday, February 6 • 7:30 p.m. 

The Other Son

Joseph is a regular 18-year-old who writes folk songs and plays the guitar. He has never looked much like the other members of his family, but they have always been a tight-knit clan. When he reports for his pre-induction interview prior to his army service, a blood test reveals that he is not his parents’ son. Research quickly reveals that at the time of his birth during the Gulf War, Joseph was evacuated from the hospital along with another baby, and the two were switched. While the Palestinian Joseph went home to live in a comfortable suburb in Tel Aviv, the other son, Yacine, went to an Arab couple in the West Bank. How do the families reconcile their sons’ identities?

Director: Lorraine Levy – 2011, France, Hebrew/Arabic/English/French with English subtitles 
Running time: 105 minutes

Thursday, February 7 • 7:30 p.m. 

An Evening with Filmmaker Khen Shalem
A discussion with Ken Shalem plus a showing of two of his internatinally acclaimed short films.
• On the Road to Tel-Aviv – Screened at numerous major film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival; winner of an Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award and an Audience Award among others
• The Other Side – Screened at major international film festivals 

Like most young Israelis, Khen Shalem joined the Israel Defense Forces. As a lieutenant in a bomb squad patrol unit, he independently filmed a documentary of his unit’s operational activity and a promising, talented filmmaker was born. Shalem then entered a competition at the International Jerusalem Film Festival and received first prize. He was the first Israeli student accepted to the prestigious FSU Film School, where he won a Student Emmy Award for his short film, Abe, and a Student Oscar Award for State of Sunshine.

Saturday, February 9 • 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, February 13 • 1:00 p.m. 

Brothers
•Best Actor, Best Actress, Biarritz Film Festival
• Best of the Fest, Israel Film Festival
• Audience Choice Award, San Diego Jewish Film Festival
• Nominated Best Feature Film, European Film Academy


Two Jewish brothers, whose choices and values have driven them apart, meet again in Israel after many years of silence. Dan has been living on a secular kibbutz for 25 years. His deeply religious brother, Aaron, is a distinguished lawyer and Torah scholar based in New York. Aaron is invited to Jerusalem to defend a group of Yeshiva students who have refused military service in the IDF. Enter Shelly, the driven, fiercely secular public prosecutor determined to see justice done. The conflict between the two brothers and the legal struggle between prosecutor and defense lawyer reflect a society torn between its religious and political principles. A complex story that shies away from stereotyping and an ambiguous conclusion lend this film an air of profound authenticity at a time when Israelis are increasingly struggling with what it means to be a Jewish state. 

Director: Igaal Niddam – 2008, Switzerland, Hebrew with English subtitles • Running time: 116 minutes

Sunday, February 10 • 2:00 p.m.

Welcome to Kutsher's: The Last Catskills Resort
• Audience Award for Best Documentary Film, Miami Jewish Film Festival

Kutsher’s Country Club, family-owned and operated for over 100 years, is the last surviving Jewish resort in the Catskills, and in its heyday was one of the legendary “Borscht Belt” hotels. In this nostalgic and enjoyable documentary, watch Wilt Chamberlain playing ball and working as a bellhop, laugh with Freddie Roman as his classic routine brings down the house and marvel at the abundance of hearty kosher feasts. Exploring the full Dirty Dancing-era Catskills experience and how it changed American pop culture in the comedy, sports and vacation industries, this documentary captures a last glimpse of a lost world as it disappears before our eyes.

Directors: Caroline Askow, Ian Rosenberg – 2012, USA, English • Running time: 73 minutes

Sunday, February 10 • 5:00 p.m.

Student Short Film Competition — Showcase
FREE Event

This year for the first time, the Broward County Jewish Film Festival sponsored a short film competition that was open to South Florida students in grades 6-8 and 9-12. Students were asked to base their films around the theme “Transitions.” The film’s subject matter could relate to rites of passage such as a bar or bat mitzvah, physical or emotional growth, starting a new school, moving to a new area, or experiencing a loss. Please join us for a screening of selected submitted entries and the announcement of the winners of the two categories.

Sunday, February 10 • 7:30 p.m.

The Day I Saw Your Heart
• Panorama Audience Award, Berlin International Film Festival, 2011

If your father is closer to your exboyfriends than he is to you, you might not have the greatest father/daughter relationship. Such is the case with Justine, played by Mélanie Laurent, (La Rafle and Inglorious Bastards), whose hard-nosed father Eli can only learn more about his aloof daughter by befriending her ex-boyfriends. While a new romance with a hunky shoe salesman blossoms for Justine, Eli prepares to have a new baby with his much younger second wife, much to the chagrin of Justine and her sister. The film, enhanced by a soundtrack of many American songs, is a stylish, quirky and honest depiction of a contemporary Jewish family in Paris, that ultimately celebrates what it means to love.

Director: Jennifer Devoldère – 2011, France, French with English subtitles • Running time: 98 minutes
Mature content

   CLOSING NIGHT  

Tuesday, February 12 • 7:00 p.m.

A Late Quartet
• Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Christopher Walken, Mark Ivanir, Imogen Poots
“A skillfully performed drama...” — Variety
"Smart, intelligent and moving performances by the leading foursome…” — Screen Daily

The four members of a world-renowned string quartet struggle to stay together in the face of death, competing egos and insuppressible lust. Set in iconic New York City, this is the story of four musicians, bound together by their passion for music and long years of working together. But when their patriarch Peter is diagnosed with a terminal illness, the repercussions hit the group deeper than they could imagine. First and second violinists Robert and Daniel row over first chair, Robert and violist Juliette's marriage hits the rocks when he has an affair, and their headstrong daughter embarks on her own explosive affair – with Daniel. As their 25th anniversary performance looms, the musicians must either find a way to overcome their troubles and preserve their legacy – or part ways forever.

Director: Yaron Zilberman – 2012, USA, English • Running time: 105 minutes • Mature content