A Druze bride wonders if marrying someone in Syria will forever cut her off from her family in Israel. A Christian Ethiopian child disguises himself as a Jew in order to escape his country and make a new life in Israel.
German Jewish soldiers volunteer in the U.S. Army to defeat their homeland during World War II. A Jewish young couple disguised as Aryans must outwit the Germans in Nazi-occupied Hungary.
These are some of the stories that will be presented this month at the ninth annual Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival, sponsored by the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center.
Running Oct. 22-26, the festival will present six films, four of them not previously shown in Milwaukee, according to Micki Seinfeld, the JCC’s special events director.
“All are unique,” Seinfeld said in a telephone interview. “They all entertain and yet are educational.” Above all, “they each touch a different aspect of Jewish life.”
This year’s offerings are particularly rich in films set in Israel, with four of the six covering various aspects of life there. Indeed, “this is the first year we’ve had so many” such films, Seinfeld said.
The festival begins on Sunday, Oct. 22, 3 p.m., with “Little Heroes,” a family movie about four Israeli children seeking to rescue two injured teens in the Negev Desert. This film is sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest and the Israel Resource Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation; and its screenwriter, Eran B Y, will participate in a post-screening talkback.
That same day, “Live and Become” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. This tells the story of the Christian Ethiopian boy who passes himself off as a Jew in Israel. It won several prizes at film festivals in Europe. Milwaukeean Daniel Kohl, who participated in a recent United Jewish Communities mission to Ethiopia and Israel, will speak at the post-screening talkback.
On Monday, Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m., the festival will present the documentary, “The Ritchie Boys.” This tells the story of German Jewish young men who fled Germany and then, after training at Fort Ritchie, Md., returned as U.S. soldiers.
The celebrated Israeli feature film, “The Syrian Bride,” is the next offering on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m. It portrays a Druze family in northern Israel as they arrange the marriage of one daughter to a man in Syria and the other daughter as she struggles between tradition and modern culture.
This will be followed by the Milwaukee premiere of “The Aryan Couple” on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m. This film features a young supposedly Aryan couple who works for an elderly Jewish couple in 1944 in occupied Hungary. As the wealthy Jewish family arranges for their escape, the younger Aryan couple comes under scrutiny.
The festival concludes with a documentary produced by local filmmakers, “Withdrawal from Gaza,” on Thursday, Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m.
All screenings will take place at the Marcus North Shore Cinemas, 11700 N. Port Washington Rd., in Mequon. General admission is $9, students and seniors $7; with a five-movie pass costing $40, $30 for students and seniors. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the JCC or by calling 414-967-8227.
For more information, contact Seinfeld, 414-967-8235 or mseinfeld@jccmilwaukee.org.
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