MIDDLETOWN – The Twelfth Annual Ring Family Wesleyan University Israeli Film Festival, Spring 2019, will be screened on Wednesdays, 8 p.m., at the Goldsmith Family Cinema, Center for Film Studies, 301 Washington Terrace in Middletown. Each film will be followed by a speaker. Admission to all films is free and open to the public. On-site free parking.

Wednesday, January 30

“Working Woman”
Speaker: Laura Blum, film critic

Life at work becomes complicated for Orna. Her boss promotes her while making inappropriate advances. Her husband struggles to keep his new restaurant afloat, leaving Orna the family’s main breadwinner. When her world is shattered, she must pull herself together to fight for her sense of self-worth.

Wednesday, February 6

“Shelter”
Speaker: Dalit Katz, director of the Center for Jewish Studies, Wesleyan University

Naomi, an Israeli Mossad agent, is sent to Germany to protect Mona, a Lebanese informant recovering from plastic surgery to assume her new identity. Their safety threatened, the women develop a relationship of dependence and intimacy.

Wednesday, February 13

“Shoelaces”
Speaker: Eran Polishuk, director of Film & Media, Consulate General of Israel

The story of a complicated relationship between an aging father, Reuben, and his special-needs son, Gadi, whom he abandoned while he was still a young boy. Reuben’s kidneys are failing and his son Gadi wants to donate one of his to save his father’s life.

Wednesday, February 20

“Redemption”
Speaker: Laura Blum, film critic

Menachem, a former front man for a rock band, is now religious, and a father to a six-year-old daughter. When his daughter is diagnosed with cancer, he must find a creative solution to fund the expensive treatments. He reunites his band for one last tour.

Wednesday, February 27

“The Kindergarten Teacher”
Speaker: Lisa Dombrowski, associate professor of Film Studies, Wesleyan University

Nira discovers that her young kindergarten student, Yoav, has an otherworldly talent for language and poetry. She becomes interested in cultivating the boy’s gift. However, her fascination morphs into obsession.

Wednesday, March 6

“The Unorthodox”
Speaker: Amir Bogen, scholar in residence, Center for Jewish Studies

When Yakov Cohen’s daughter is expelled from school for ethnic reasons, he decides to fight back to form a new religious party for Sephardic Jews.

The Ring Family Wesleyan University Israeli Film Festival is sponsored by the Ring Family, the Center for Jewish Studies and co-sponsored by the College of Film and the Moving Image and The Wesleyan Film Series.

CAP: Working Woman