Matchmaking is back at film festival! 

This year’s film festival will include “Matchmaking 2,” set in Israel’s Orthodox community, continuing the story from a film featured last year: “Matchmaking.” 

The Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival will return for its 28th year with five films in all. They will explore themes of identity, history, and love. The festival runs October 26–30 at Marcus North Shore Cinema in Mequon, with four of the films also available for streaming November 3–9 via Eventive. 

Organized by the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, the festival features a curated selection of international films not yet available on U.S. streaming platforms. Each in-person screening will include a post-film talkback with local experts, fostering community dialogue around the stories presented. 

Opening the festival on Sunday, Oct. 26, is “Midas Man,” a British biopic about Brian Epstein, the Jewish manager who helped launch The Beatles. The film stars Jacob Fortune-Lloyd and includes appearances by Emily Watson and Eddie Izzard. 

On Monday, “The Ring,” an Israeli-Hungarian drama based on a Holocaust survival story, follows a man’s journey to recover a mythological ring that saved his mother’s life. Tuesday’s screening, “Soda,” also from Israel, explores community tensions when a seamstress with a mysterious past moves into a neighborhood of Holocaust survivors. 

Wednesday’s feature, “The Stamp Thief,” is a real-life detective story about recovering stamps stolen from Holocaust victims. Directed by Dan Sturman, the film will not be available for streaming. The festival closes Thursday with “Matchmaking 2,” a romantic comedy set in Israel’s Orthodox community, continuing the story from last year’s popular “Matchmaking.” 

Tickets are available in several formats. Festival VIPs receive reserved seating, streaming access, an invitation to the opening reception, and special gifts for $200, half of which is tax deductible. Individual in-person tickets are $12 in advance or $14 at the door, while streaming access is $18 per household. 

The festival is part of the JCC’s Tapestry: Arts & Ideas program and is supported by local organizations including the Nathan & Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center and the Israel Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. 

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit JccMilwaukee.org.