New Jersey Jewish Film Festival

        The  Tenth Annual New Jersey Jewish Film Festival (NJJFF)

  Celebrating 10 Years of Extraordinary Film with 16 Award-Winning International Films

                        March 6-21 at Various Venues in Essex and Morris County

The Tenth Annual New Jersey Jewish Film Festival (NJJFF) will open on Saturday, March 6 with the New Jersey Premiere of Saviors in the Night at the Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC, 760 Northfield Avenue, West Orange.  It will conclude with A Matter of Size, on Sunday, March 21, also at the NJJFF's home base, the Cooperman JCC.  A major cultural arts event in the state, the NJJFF screens important and thought-provoking independent films that foster dialogue in the community.  The NJJFF is a program of JCC MetroWest.

The complete Festival of 16 award-winning international films will include 15 New Jersey Premieres. There will be screenings at venues in Essex and Morris County, including the Cooperman JCC (JCC MetroWest), AMC Loews East Hanover 12, and AMC Rockaway 16. Come see first rate films and hear superb speakers! For a complete film schedule with dates, times, and locations, please visit www.njjff.org

Highlights of the NJJFF include:

Saviors in the Night, Saturday, March 6, 8:00pm (Opening Night, New Jersey Premiere)—Based on the memoir of 97 year old Marga Spiegel, this powerful World War II drama portrays how courageous farmers in Westphalia risked their lives to hide a German-Jewish family from deportation to the extermination camps in the East.  Without reservation, the farmers offer the Spiegel family their protection and safe hiding for nearly three years at grave risk to themselves.  Today, the names of Heinrich Aschoff, Hubert Pentrop, Bernhard Südfeld, Heinrich Silkenböhmer, and Bernhard Sickmann are immortalized at the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel. A Post Screening Discussion and Dessert Reception will follow.

Camera Obscura, Wednesday, March 10, 7:30pm (New Jersey Premiere)—At the end of the 19th century, a baby girl is born only feet away from the new world as a ship of immigrants docks in Buenos Aires. Shy and self-conscious, Gertrudis grows up as the ugly duckling in a colony of Argentinean Jews. She fashions herself almost invisible, even hiding her face in photographs. After she is married off to an older, wealthy Jewish rancher, Gertrudis meets expectations and raises a family. One day her husband invites a gentle, nomadic French photographer to take a family portrait. His wondrous Surrealist photographs and uncompromising vision allow Gertrudis to see herself for the first time. Nominated for 8 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards, including Best Film.

Autistic License, Monday, March 15, 7:30pm FREE to the Public (New Jersey Premiere)— Autistic License is a funny,heartbreaking, authentically surreal, and unflinchingly honest play about the rewards and struggles of raising a child with autism. It is ultimately about family, love, and relationships and speaks to anyone who thought their life was going in one direction, only to find themselves on a completely different path. Named one of the 10 BEST plays of 2007 by Pioneer Press. A Post Screening Discussion will follow.

Killing Kasztner, Wednesday, March 17, 7:30pm (New Jersey Premiere)—In Nazi occupied Hungary, Rezso Kasztner dared to negotiate face to face with the architect of the Final Solution, Adolf Eichmann. While the Nazi killing machine was at its peak, Kasztner secured a rescue train for 1,684 Jews from Budapest, and bargained for tens of thousands of more lives. Yet, Kasztner was accused as a traitor in his adopted country of Israel, and was the center of a trial that divided a nation and forever stamped him as the "man who sold his soul to the devil." Although the verdict was ultimately overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court, it was not before Kasztner was assassinated by Jewish right wing extremists in Tel Aviv in 1957. Special Guest: Gaylen Ross, Director

Mary and Max, Thursday, March 18, 7:30pm (New Jersey Premiere)— Inspired by the real life experience of its Oscar-winning filmmaker Adam Elliot (Harvie Krumpet), this film portrays the 20-year pen pal friendship of Mary Dinkle (Toni Collette), a chubby, lonely 8-year old from Melbourne and Max Horowitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an obese, isolated 44-year old New Yorker with Asperger's Syndrome. Masterfully narrated by Barry Humphries, it is a truly exceptional portrait of compassion and love. Awards include: Semi-Finalist Nominee, Golden Globe Award 2010; Crystal Bear—Special Mention; Best Feature Film, Berlin Int'l FF, 2009. A Post Screening Discussion will follow.

A Matter of Size, Sunday, March 21, 7:30pm (Closing Night, New Jersey Premiere)—A Matter of Size is a plus-sized Israeli comedy about overweight people learning to accept themselves.  When four overweight men from the Israeli city of Ramle grow frustrated with dieting and their dieting club, they join the world of Sumo wrestling.  Herzl asks Kitano, a former Sumo coach from Japan turned restaurant owner, to be his coach.  He falls in love with the sport and encourages his three skeptical friends to take up sumo wrestling too. They eventually fall in love with the sport as well.  One by one, Herzl's friends leave dieting behind and discover themselves in a world where fat people are honored and appreciated. They learn life lessons far beyond the ring. Nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture. A Post Screening Discussion and Dessert Reception will follow.

For tickets, please call 1-800-494-TIXS or the Film Festival Hotline at 973-530-3417. You can purchase tickets in person at Steiner Court at the Cooperman JCC.  For a complete Film Festival schedule, please visit www.njjff.org

The NJJFF is co-sponsored by Bank of America, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Viscaya, Marcus Brody, Russell Berrie Foundation, Capitol Lighting, Consulate General of Israel in New York, Israel Bonds, Netef Gallery, and USI Groups. 

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