Just like last year, I bought the young professionals pass for the Edlavitch DCJCC Washington Jewish Film Festival. The pass gets you into pretty much any movie screening you want to see, so I went to a lot to make sure I got my money's worth!
I already blogged about the films RBG and Seeing Allred (read that blog post here). But here are some of the other films I saw during the festival:
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I am embarrassed to admit that the only thing I knew about Sammy Davis, Jr. was that he was a famous black Jew (and that the dog in Everything is Illuminated is named Sammy Davis Jr., Jr.). I didn't even know he was an entertainer (I thought he was an athlete). So I'm really glad I saw this movie, if only just to educate myself about this well-known person!
He was amazingly talented, and started performing as a young child. He could sing, tap dance, act, tell jokes, all of it! He became of a member of the rat pack (with men like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin); he was the only black man in the group, and while some people thought he sort of "sold out" in letting the other guys poke fun at him, I think they were good friends and he wanted to be a part of it all. He was breaking a lot of barriers at the time, so sometimes his actions were questioned. He famously hugged Ronald Reagan on stage, which made of lot of the black community angry; he felt like he didn't belong to any community. He imitated white men, which he father and godfather (also in the entertainment business) didn't think was right, but the crowds loved it. He dated white women which upset many people; he had to end his relationship with Kim Novak (and was told to marry a black woman VERY quickly), and he did marry Swedish start May/Mae Britt, although they eventually divorced (but not over racial issues). He was navigating the entertainment industry during an interesting time for a black man, but I'm glad that after all the struggles (including his battles with drugs and alcohol), he was honored with many accolades including the NAACP Hall of Fame Award, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and entrance into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Throughout the controversies that surrounded Sammy, he remained true to himself. This makes it all the more fitting that he recorded the song "I've Gotta Be Me." Listen below:
And here's a compilation video of his amazing tap dancing:
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Hannah Senesh is another person I didn't know about before seeing the film, even by name. But after seeing the movie and learning her story, I cannot believe she has not gotten as much attention as Anne Frank, since they were both young Jewish women and poets who died during World War II.
Senesh was born to a rather affluent family in Budapest, where Jews were accepted and rather assimilated into the rest of society. When she was a student, she joined the Zionist movement and eventually moved to Palestine to help with the agriculture of what would eventually become Israel. Her brother was in France and her mother was still in Hungary during the later years of World War II. As the world learned more about what was happening to the Jews in Europe, Senesh knew she had to do something. She joined a group of about 30 other young Palestinian Jews to train with the British Army to parachute into Europe to save Jews who were trapped in their communities. But the rescue mission did not go to plan, and she was caught and sent to prison. The police beat her, asking for information about the mission and her work, but she refused to give them answers. The Hungarian police found her mother and brought her to the prison as well, but this still did not persuade Hannah to reveal anything. The two women were able to stay in contact while they were both in prison, even if it was just through the windows of their cells or while walking in the courtyard of the prison. Eventually her mother was released, and when she came to visit Hannah one day, she learned her daughter had been executed at the age of 23.
The film does an amazing job of telling this story. Through the use of interviews, photographs, and actor reenactments, you learn who Hannah was and what she stood for. The film portrayed Hannah's courage in doing what was right and the strong bond and love she had with her mother; I was brought to tears at many points in the movie. When a film can make you feel that kind of emotion, you know that it's not just a good story, but that the story is told well.
It's tales like these that make me wonder what I would do in the situations that Hannah had to face. Would I be brave and try to save my family? Or would I remain in safety and simply hope for the best? I thank God that I have never had to make that kind of decision, and I pray I will never have to.
I highly recommend this film. And if you want another story about strong women sticking up for their families, the book Rena's Promise is AMAZING (it's about two sisters who survive the Holocaust prison camps together).
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| David Finkelstein is an Orthodox Jewish man breaking into the stand-up comedy world. Image found here. |
I knew I would like this documentary because it's about comedians, so it had to be funny! The movie features three people who are trying to make it in the stand-up comedy world of New York City:
1. David Finkelstein (pictured above) is an Orthodox Jew, and much of his comedy reflects on his religion: how he dresses, how he interacts with women (or doesn't), and things like that. His honest confession of feeling torn between wanting to remain true to his faith but also wanting to do stand-up comedy is very heartwarming. There is definitely a conflict between these two goals. For one, he cannot tell his family or community that he is doing comedy, and he cannot perform on Fridays or Saturdays (the most popular nights for comedy shows) because of the Sabbath. He does do some negotiating, like buying regular clothes or drinking beer with his friends. I thought he was very funny, and I hope he can continue to pursue his comedy dreams without having to sacrifice his religious way of life and beliefs.
Here is a video of some of his stand up:
You can find another video on Vimeo here (the second half is mostly the same): https://vimeo.com/71483030.
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Her jokes mostly are her imitations: she does a "white girl" voice as well as African and Indian accents, and she's very good! I couldn't find a video of her on YouTube, and actually, I don't think any of the comedians featured in the film have their own websites. Perhaps they have an agreement of some sorts with the filmmaker, but how do these comedians expect to get their names out there without tons of videos online?!
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3. Raafat Toss was a personal injury lawyer who really didn't like his job and wanted to be a comedian instead. His jokes started off pretty badly, to the point that, after his first open mic night, the next comedian told him not to quit the lawyer job. In the film he brainstorms jokes and I was thinking, "Those aren't funny..." But by the end of the film he has a comedy coach, and with some of her advice, he is even able to make a joke about his mother's cancer hilarious.
Here's a video of one of his stand-up routines (from much later than the film, and he is much improved!):
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| Screen shot from video trailer found here. |
This was a short film by local Craig Schattner that was screened just before one of the main screenings during the festival. It is about a weightlifting gym that specifically caters to Orthodox Jewish women; there are classes and areas that are only for girls and women. The film shows the women with or without their head coverings, and many of them spoke about their responsibilities as mothers and wives and the fact that the gym gives them time to just focus on themselves. I liked the short film, but I didn't find it particularly unique or special after having watching Supergirl at last year's film festival.
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| This is Bonnie with her husband and two daughters. I created this image from a screen shot found here. |
This film was created by DC local Bonnie Rich, and explores her interest in becoming more invested her family's religion and heritage while trying to include her daughters in this rediscovery of faith. While the family identifies as Jewish, they usually celebrate that through food (Passover seders, etc.) as opposed to religious services, prayers, and the like. So Bonnie and her husband go "shopping" for a new synagogue, and it was fun to see temples highlighted that I myself have visited, like Sixth & I and Adas Israel. I also loved seeing Rabbi Shira Stutman from Sixth & I featured in the film; she's wonderful, and I appreciated her ideas about translating the "pediatric Judaism" most people learn in Hebrew school into a faith and beliefs that work in the adult world (and the fact that what works is different for each individual). Bonnie also speaks with a rabbi in Florida, and his observation that all Jews celebrate Yom Kippur (the day of atonement when you fast for 24 hours) but most don't celebrate Purim (a holiday full of costumes, dancing, and drinking) explains why younger generations are moving away from the faith: it's not fun!
At first her daughters seem uncomfortable being in the film and talking about their beliefs in God, the power of prayer, etc. But after speaking to the different rabbis and taking this journey with their mom, the young women do seem to connect more with their faith. The eldest celebrates Purim with her friends, and the youngest brings her faith with her when she moves to California with her non-Jewish boyfriend. Throughout the film the girls are funny and sassy, and you can tell that the entire family has a strong sense of humor, which keeps them close-knit. This is a lighthearted film about an important subject of passing on religious beliefs and traditions through the generations.
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This is the only fictional film I saw throughout the entire festival. This is a love story/black comedy about a couple through several decades of their lives together. The film starts with the husband's funeral, and an author is interviewing the wife about her side of the story (which ends up being the whole movie). She talks about meeting him in a club (where he continues to ask for her name because he can't remember it), stalking him afterward (to the point of dating his best friend AND his brother to get closer to him), to the point when they are actually in a relationship (during which he cheats on her with at least two other women, including once WHILE his wife is giving birth to their first child). It's clearly a dysfunctional relationship, and throughout the film I wondered why she was even with him (she had her PhD and is clearly very smart, while he's a self-centered jerk).
You travel their highs and lows along with them, from her first pregnancy to learning their son has a learning disorder; from him winning the highest literary award in France to writing a scathing book about his mother which leads her to commit suicide; from their divorce to them getting back together in the end. It's certainly a roller coaster of a relationship, and the film keeps it interesting and fun throughout the piece (even with the dark parts). If you don't mind reading subtitles, I would recommend you see this movie!
Such a great film festival! I can't wait until next year!
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