20986 PROGRAM.indd 1 10/11/06 9:40:14 AM P r o u d t o b e a SHALOM Sponsor of the Welcome to the Beth Tzedec SIXTH ANNUAL Congregation 6th Annual Jewish Film Festival BETH TZEDEC CONGREGATION Welcome to Beth Tzedec Congregation’s 6th Annual Jewish Film Festival! We’re delighted, once again, to be offering a rich selection of films as diverse as the Jewish experience itself. Whether they are thought-provoking, uplifting, informative or simply entertaining, our JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL films this year will take us on an enlightening journey to far-off and unexpected places – from a journey back to a village in Ethiopia in search of a father, to a village in Vietnam in search of identity; we will join 25,000 Hasidic Jews on a pilgrimage to a small town in the Ukraine, and we’ll join an IDF unit on a tension-filled night inside Lebanon. We’re proud, this year, to add a new element to our festival, called “The Tikkun Olam Screening” with the intention of raising awareness and confronting moral, ethical and social justice issues affecting the larger human family, of which we are a part, reflecting the Jewish imperative to repair the world (Tikkun Olam). This year’s selection, will address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Filmmaker and Human Rights Activist Jen Marlowe will be in attendance. Benjamin L. Gurevitch We’re delighted to have collaborated with Jewish Family Service Calgary to bring you a Louis Faber special evening dealing with the subject of abusive relationships, and are happy to have Penny Krowitz, Executive Director of Jewish Women International Canada, as our guest David M. Bickman speaker. I. Karl Gurevitch, Z”L Among the other special guests that we’ll have throughout the festival, to enrich your Lawrence D. Leon film-viewing experience: Joseph Abdel Wahed,The Forgotten Refugees; Alona Seroussi, co-director of About the Body; Thu Huynh Libin, The Journey of Vaan Nguyen; and Thea Lynn Paul Brent Martin, My Grandfather’s Voice. Aaron Bickman As always, we would like to express our deepest thanks to all of our sponsors, without whom this festival would not be possible. It is their generosity that enables us to offer this affordable, accessible and inclusive event to the community. We hope that you’ll enjoy the 2006 Jewish Film Festival. Harvey Cyngiser FILM FESTIVAL COMMITTEE Harvey Cyngiser Shula Banchik Yaffa Likver Faber Gurevitch Bickman Richard Bronstein Herb Rosenberg Barristers, Solicitors & Notaries Melanie Faust Lily Rosenberg Sam Goresht Karen Roth Terry Groner Telephone (403) 263-1540 Ida Switzer 20986 PROGRAM.indd 2-3 10/11/06 9:40:27 AM SPONSORS SPONSORS We wish to Thank all of our sponsors Founding Sponsor For their generous support of Cyngiser Family Jewish Film Festival Fund the 2006 Film Festival (Sid & Bronia Cyngiser) Producers Media Sponsor Morris & Ann Dancyger Gordie & Eva Hoffman Bill & Lea Kohn Harvey & Rayna Rabin Sam & Ida Switzer Bill & Candy Watson Somar Family Foundation Joe and Evelyn Busheikin Community Endowment Fund (administered by Jewish Community Foundation of Calgary) Corporate Sponsors Directors Harvey & Alexandra Cyngiser Sam & Anne Goresht Ralph & Sheila Gurevitch Zvi & Daphne Joseph Phil & Harriet Libin Norman & Beulah Martin Lorne & Beth Price Harvey & Wynne Thal Leo & Fanny Wedro Faber Gurevitch Bickman Barristers, Solicitors & Notaries Screenwriters Jack & Malka Balaban Mervyn & Rochelle Rabinovitz Stan & Carey Smith Richard & Gail Steinberg Community Sponsors Anonymous Faithlink logo ‘Reel’ Friends Irvin & Sandy Adler Bernie & Sandy Corenblum Milt & Maxine Fischbein Irwin & Wylma Freedman Charles & Terry Groner Paula & Jonathan Lexier Alan Donsky & Michele Moss Fran & Jerry Snukal 20986 PROGRAM.indd 4-5 10/11/06 9:40:32 AM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2006 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2006 OPENING NIGHT BE FRUITFUL AND MULTILPY ENCOUNTER Israel 2005 Israel 2006 Shosh Shlam, Director Itai Anghel, Director Hebrew and English with English subtitles Hebrew with English subtitles 50 minutes 24 minutes Documentary – To “be fruitful and multiply” is a Documentary – In the summer of biblical commandment that is adhered to by many 2006, as missiles rain down relentlessly Orthodox women, but how do they really feel about in the north, Israel is drawn into an existential war with Hezbollah bearing and raising 10, 12 or even 16 children? Profiling four terrorists. Journalist Itai Anghel takes us with him as he accompanies an IDF infantry unit Orthodox women whose married lives are completely given over to pregnancy, childbirth, into Lebanon under cover of night. In his grippingly intense and moving documentary, nursing and raising large numbers of children, director Shosh Shlam openly looks at the we witness their courage and their deep commitment - to one another, and to their nation. implications of this commandment on their lives. Can a woman assert herself within the conventions of Orthodox practice and marriage, and manage to find room in her life for Saturday, November 11th at 7:00 PM her own emotional needs and inner world? A compelling look at the responsibilities and joys of procreation. SOMETHING SWEET Sunday, November 12th at 1:00 PM Israel 2004 Dan Turgeman, Director Hebrew with English subtitles 97 minutes SISAI Israel 2005 Drama – This heartwarming David Gavro, Director romantic tale of inopportune love Hebrew & Amharic with is set against the idyllic backdrop of a small moshav English subtitles (agricultural village) in northern Israel. Tamar (Ayelet Zorer) is a witty, beautiful pastry 56 minutes baker and the eldest of three daughters in a Jewish Moroccan family. As she and the family busily prepare for the middle-sister’s wedding, the youngest daughter Maya arrives Documentary – In this emotional, from abroad with her fiancé Alon. A sharp Israeli businessman living in London, Alon’s eye-opening and unforgettable enchantment with the close-knit family, the simplicity of village life and the serene documentary, Ethiopian-Israeli director David Gavro introduces us to landscape opens his heart to romantic feelings toward Tamar. Mysterious superstitions, his adopted younger brother, Sisai, and invites us on an extraordinary journey, back to Jewish-Moroccan music and sweet delicacies are intricately woven into the narrative of this Ethiopia, to find the birth father that Sisai has never known. While also offering an inside charming film. ”Wonderful performances, colorful cinematography and a tightly woven glimpse at the Ethiopian community in Israel, and the absorption issues that they face, and intricate script highlight this sharp and sassy film.” (TJFF) Gavro’s intimate portrait of 23 year-old Sisai, who came to Israel alone as a young child, is ultimately a moving contemplation on identities, the ties that bind a father and son, love Saturday, November 11th screening with ENCOUNTER at 7:00 PM and longing. FIPA D`OR Best Documentary Award - Biarritz - France 2006 Best Documentary Award: Jerusalem International Film Festival - Israel 2005 Opening Night Featuring Authentic Jewish-Moroccan Pastries Reception Sunday, November 12th at 2:00 PM by To Follow Anita Bengio Patisserie of Toronto 20986 PROGRAM.indd 6-7 10/11/06 9:40:37 AM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2006 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2006 SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS Germany 2005 THE FORGOTTEN Marc Rothemund, Director REFUGEES German with English subtitles USA/Israel 2005 117 minutes Michael Gynszpan, Director English & Hebrew with English subtitles Drama – The true story of Germany’s 49 minutes most famous anti-Nazi heroine, Sophie Scholl stars Julia Jentsch in a luminous Documentary – Buried beneath the headlines performance as the young coed-turned- of the Middle East conflict is the nearly fearless activist. In 1943, as Hitler continues forgotten story of the region’s indigenous Jewish to wage war across Europe, a group communities. In 1945, up to one million Jews lived in the Middle East outside of the of Munich college students mount an Palestine Mandate. Within a few years, only a few thousand remained. underground resistance movement dedicated expressly to the downfall of the Third Reich, calling themselves the White Rose. One of its “The Forgotten Refugees” is an eye-opening documentary about the history and few female members, Sophie Scholl was captured during a dangerous mission. Unwavering destruction of Middle Eastern Jewish communities, some of which had existed for over in her convictions and loyalty to the White Rose, her cross-examination by the Gestapo 2,500 years. Employing extensive testimony of refugees from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Iraq quickly escalates into a searing test of wills as Scholl delivers a passionate call to freedom and Iran, the film recounts the stories of joy and of suffering which nearly a million and personal responsibility that is both haunting and timeless. individuals have carried with them for decades. Segments on the contributions of Middle Eastern Jews to politics, business and music testify to the enormously rich cultures which SOPHIE SCHOLL received three Lolas (German Oscars), including the Audience Award fleeing Jews left behind. The film weaves personal stories with dramatic archival footage of and Best Actress Award to Julie Jentsch for her brilliant characterization of the title role, rescue missions, historic images of exodus and resettlement, and analysis by contemporary and two Silver Bears for Best Director and Best Actress at the 2005 Berlin International scholars, to tell the story of how and why the Arab world’s Jewish population declined Film Festival. from one million in 1945 to several thousand today. Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Languge Film Sunday, November 12th at 7:15 PM Sunday, November 12th at 3:15 PM SPECIAL GUEST THE EVENING WILL ALSO FEATURE JOSEPH ABDEL WAHED BE’ERI MOALEM Mr. Wahed, the former chief Violinist economist of Wells-Fargo Bank, is one of the “Forgotten Refugees” who in a LIVE performance of Jewish appear in the film, and co-founder Middle-Eastern music.