Rutgers Jewish Film Festival Arrives in New Jersey November 7 through November 21

The Rutgers Jewish Film Festival’s 25th year is coming to New Jersey next month. The festival will feature fourteen thought-provoking and entertaining films, dynamic discussions with filmmakers and special guests, and numerous New Jersey premieres on dance, music, American Jewish history, and Israeli society. 

Twelve films will be screened at the Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick (November 7–17), and five films will be available virtually (November 15–21). In-theater and virtual tickets are $15.

The full schedule is posted on the festival website. Among the films shown will be the 86 minute documentary The Catskills, on Sunday, November 10 and Tuesday, November 12 at the Regal Cinema. 

This charming documentary pays tribute to the summer resorts and bungalow colonies that became Jewish-American vacation destinations during the 20th century when hotels and resorts discriminated against Jews. Lovingly nicknamed the Borscht Belt, this film explores the Catskills not only as a hot spot for lavish meals and hilarious entertainment, but also as a refuge from social antisemitism.

Here's the trailer for The Catskills. If you can't get to the theater, the film will probably be shown at other Jewish Film Festivals around the USA next winter.

Enjoy!

Update: The Senior Citizens Who Celebrate Shabbat at Wendy's

Last year we posted a story and a trailer about a short film called Wendy's Shabbat. It's about a group of Jewish senior citizens in Palm Desert, California who celebrate the weekly Shabbat at the local Wendy’s fast food restaurant with Hebrew blessings over (non-kosher) burgers and fries, presided over by a 97-year-old Reform rabbi.

The friends usher in the Sabbath by candlelight, with challah bread and grape juice (no wine at Wendy's) to complement their chicken nuggets, chili and fries. Shabbat is typically observed at home with family, but here these seniors share in the celebration of their religion at Wendy’s. The Wendy’s staff, somewhat tickled and honored to be the site of such ritual, arrange the restaurant tables into a long row and prepare milkshakes for each attendee.

This is a story of rediscovering the joys of community again in older age, and in the longing for ritual, however unorthodox and non-kosher it may be. There are themes of love, of ritual and of community -- all within the context of an adorable scene at Wendy’s.
The film has been making the rounds of many film festivals in 2018 and 2019 and has been a magnet for many comments, both positive and negative.

Here is our reaction to the comments, especially the ones critical of observing Shabbat this way:

Of course it’s not how to celebrate Shabbat. But instead of criticizing the participants, it’s an indictment of the Jewish community that they don’t provide a kosher alternative. With all the Chabads and JFSs and synagogues of all denominations, how can they let a group of elderly and infirm Jews with a spark of Yiddishkeit feel that the only way they can experience the joys of Shabbat is to celebrate Shabbat at Wendy’s?

Shame on the Jewish community. I hope that this film will be a wake-up call and that the organizations who shout “social justice” will create a meaningful, kosher, and fulfilling way for these old Jewish folks to have a weekly wholesome Shabbat experience.

So far we haven't seen any follow-ups to this film and story in the press, and we don't know if the weekly Wendy's Shabbat gatherings are continuing. But in the interest of alerting Jewish institutions to the need for a more traditional Shabbat experience, we're sharing the full 10 minute video with you.

Shabbat shalom!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THEPLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO. 

A Wendy's Shabbat for Seniors in Palm Desert

A short documentary film, Wendy's Shabbat, has been drawing attention at Jewish film festivals around the USA.

It's about a group of Jewish senior citizens in Palm Desert, California who celebrate the weekly Shabbat at the local Wendy’s fast food restaurant with Hebrew blessings over burgers and fries.

The friends usher in the Sabbath by candlelight, with challah bread and grape juice (no wine at Wendy's) to complement their chicken nuggets and fries. Shabbat is typically observed at home with family, but here these seniors share in the celebration of their religion at Wendy’s. The Wendy’s staff, somewhat tickled and honored to be the site of such ritual, arrange the restaurant tables into a long row and prepare milkshakes for each attendee.

This is a story of rediscovering the joys of community again in older age, and in the longing for ritual, however unorthodox and non-kosher it may be. There are themes of love, of ritual and of community -- all within the context of an adorable scene at Wendy’s.

The film will be shown at nine Jewish film festivals in 2018.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom.

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Jewish Film Festival Preview: "Humor Me" with Elliot Gould and Jokes From "Old Jews Telling Jokes"

It's Jewish Film Festival time around the USA, and weeks filled with new movies with Jewish themes are popping up from coast to coast.

One film which was just released to the festivals and which will go national later this year is Humor Me, featuring Elliott Gould (MASH, The Long Goodbye), Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers), Annie Potts (Ghostbusters, Pretty in Pink), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and singer Ingrid Michaelson.

The film marks the directorial debut of Sam Hoffman, creator of Old Jews Telling Jokes. We've shared many of his jokes with you on Mondays as part of our Joke to Start the Week series. Sam's original website sparked an off-Broadway play, a bestselling book, and a lecture series.

It's a heartfelt father-son comedy about a struggling playwright who is forced to move in with his joke-telling dad in a New Jersey retirement community and learns, as his father often says, “life’s going to happen, whether you smile or not.”

If you're in Florida this winter you can see Humor Me at the David Posnack JCC in Davie on February 15. We'll be seeing it there while we're on our February Jewish humor lecture tour.

Humor Me is also scheduled to be shown at the Rockland Jewish Film Festival in Nanuet, New York on April 16. Watch for it at your local theaters in the coming months. In the meantime, enjoy a preview with this trailer.


A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

"The Womens' Balcony" Adds Delightful Comedy to Israel Film Festivals

The Women's Balcony (Hebrew title: Yismach Chatani) a comedy from Israel, has been playing to sellout audiences at Jewish Film Festivals from Maine to California. We saw it on Sunday night at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center in Deal, New Jersey. We recommend it highly. Here is a synopsis:

Women fight for their rights in unexpected ways in this warm and funny film. When the women’s balcony in an Orthodox synagogue collapses, leaving the rabbi’s wife in a coma and the rabbi in shock, the congregation falls into crisis.

Then young rabbi David arrives and they think they’ve found a savior. But when he starts pushing fundamentalist ways – suggesting the women’s immodesty might have caused the accident – a rift emerges between the sexes!

This intimate portrait of a community trying to maintain its traditions while resisting extremism, set to a lively soundtrack amid the evocative back alleys of old Jerusalem, is sure to leave you smiling.

The film, in Hebrew with English subtitles, was made in the Bukharian quarter (Shechunat Habucharim in Hebrew) a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem. 

This trailer will give you a taste of the film, but we urge you to find it and see it for a delicious evening of  Jewish humor at its best. It's playing now at the Lincoln Center Cinema in New York City and other selected theaters. Be sure to watch for it at a theater or at a Jewish/Israel Film Festival near you.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

16th Annual Rutgers Jewish Film Festival Opens October 28 With David Broza Musical Film

For the 16th year in a row, the Bildner Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, will be sponsoring a Jewish Film Festival. This year's program, running from October 28 through November 8, will feature 15 new films with a variety of Jewish themes.

We will be attending the opening night film, East Jerusalem West Jerusalem, starring Israeli singer/songwriter David Broza. In this film, Broza journeys to East Jerusalem to record his latest album with Israeli, Palestinian, and American musicians. Broza hopes that bridging cultures through music can be one small step toward peaceful coexistence. The film weaves together soulful music and personal conversations of hope in a time and a place where hope is most needed.

Other films shown at the festival will be Apples From the Desert, a film adaptation of an award-winning Israeli play, documentaries about the rise of Zionism, the lost wooden synagogues of Poland, and Julius Rosenwald, the philanthropist and top executive at Sears and Roebuck.

David Broza will appear on opening night which will have a question and answer session as well as Broza performing live music. Ticket information is available at the Rutgers website. Last year tickets sold out early for many of the films, so don't wait until the last minute if you plan to attend. 

Here's the trailer for East Jerusalem West Jerusalem, featuring Broza and Haitian musician and actor. Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)

Rutgers Jewish Film Festival to Feature Comedies Including "Hunting Elephants," "Quality Balls: The David Steinberg Story," and "Sturgeon Queens"

 

Every year we see a new crop of films of Jewish interest made in Israel, the USA, and other countries. They make their first appearance at Jewish film festivals from New York to California and lots of places in-between.

We've been tracking these festivals to watch for movies of special interest to us, which naturally means funny films, or films that evoke a nostalgic kick that give us a good dose of Yiddishe nachas.

The Rutgers Jewish Film Festival, which will run from October 29 through November 9 at the Regal Cinema Commerce Center in North Brunswick, New Jersey, will show 15 films that touch on serious themes as well, but we'd like to call attention to the three that fit our Jewish humor profile.

Hunting Elephants, a film made in Israel in 2013 by director Reshef Levi (107 minutes, English and Hebrew with English subtitles), is a bank robbery caper pulled off by a collection of aging former Zionist underground fighters. The group is led by a visiting uncle who is a disgraced British lord played by Sir Patrick Stewart.

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)



Quality Balls: The David Steinberg Story, a 75-minute-long documentary made in Canada in 2013 by director Barry Avrich, tells the story of Canadian comedian David Steinberg. After attending yeshiva in Chicago, Steinberg went on to comedy fame with performances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and directing stints that included Seinfeld, Mad About You, Golden Girls, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.



The Sturgeon Queens, a film we reported on back in January, will also be shown at the festival. While not a comedy that will leave you laughing out loud, it's a film that will make you smile and leave you hungering for some pickled herring, lox, or whitefish as served for the last 100 years at the Lower East Side appetizing store of Russ and Daughters.



Tickets for each film are available online for $12, $10 for seniors, and $6 for students.

Enjoy!

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Moses Parts Traffic and Spilled Coca-Cola in Film Festival Commercials

Jewish Film Festivals are popping up all over the world. Just about every major city, and some minor ones, are presenting new films to eager audiences. In reviewing lists of the films that are being shown, we noticed that most explore serious themes, and very few are true comedies. When we find a comedy, we try to bring it to your attention.

The lack of comedy in Jewish film doesn't stop the festival promoters from indulging in humor, sometimes irreverent, in calling attention to the festivals themselves.

The scene of Charlton Heston as Moses parting the Red Sea in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments was just too powerful an image not to inspire comedic copying in commercials for Jewish Film Festivals in Mexico and Canada.

In the first clip below, a couple is driving through busy Mexico City traffic, trying to get to a movie theater before the film starts. When traffic comes to a standstill, they despair and ask for a miracle.

Moses appears atop a van in full DeMille regalia, raises his arms and extends his staff. The cars split into two rows, allowing the couple's car to pass through.

In the second clip, a couple buys a large cola at a movie theater concession stand, and the guy spills it all on the floor. Enter Moses, actually a janitor with a mop, who raises his arms and with a mighty roar splits the cola puddle and lets the girl pass through on dry land. 

When she passes through, the Moses character lowers his arms. Her date tries to follow her, but fails as the cola spill returns to its original form as the Moses character says "Loser!"

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)