WEST HARTFORD – Sophie Tucker, Theodore Bikel, Nancy Spielberg, Kara Sundlun, and Darko Tresnjak are some of the big names on screen and in person that will light up the Mandell JCC’S 19th Annual Hartford Jewish Film Festival, March 12 – 22, announced Festival co-chairs Nicole Greenblatt and Benson Monastersky.

Daring Israeli flyboys and soldier girls; prime ministers and pastrami kings; heroes, homeruns and heartthrobs star in nine films from 10 countries screening in seven venues during Connecticut’s 10-day celebration of Jewish culture and identity. Throughout the festival, a series of original short films, “Through a Centennial Lens” will screen to celebrate the Mandell JCC’s 100th birthday.

For tickets, stop by the Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Ave., call (860) 231-6316, visit www.hjff.org or call the Mandell JCC, (860) 236-4571.

Thursday, March 12
Opening Night
5:30 p.m. dinner reception
7:30 p.m. live cabaret & film
Infinity Music Hall & Bistro,
32 Front St., Hartford

THE OUTRAGEOUS SOPHIE TUCKER
(USA, 2014, 96 minutes, English)

The rags to riches story of superstar Sophie Tucker, Hartford’s most famous daughter, who ruled the worlds of vaudeville, Broadway, radio, television, and Hollywood throughout the 20th century.

Prior to the film, Hartford’s Next Sophie Tucker, Colleen Welsh, a senior at The Hartt School, will perform a live cabaret show. Filmmakers Susan and Lloyd Ecker will speak at a dessert reception following the film.

Saturday, March 14
8 p.m. reception;
9 p.m. film; Herbert Gilman Theater,
Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus,
335 Bloomfield Ave.

IT HAPPENED IN SAINT –TROPEZ
(France/Belgium, 2013, 100 minutes, French with English subtitles)

This comedy of manners begins with a family wedding and funeral and severe case of sibling rivalry. Roni, a secular and successful gem merchant with a trophy wife, is the polar opposite of his just-widowed observant brother Zef, a cultured classical musician. Bound by their wise elderly father and beautiful daughters, the family experiences odd love pairings and triangles.

Sunday, March 15
4 p.m.; Herbert Gilman Theater, Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Ave.

HAVANA CURVEBALL
(USA, 2014, 55 minutes, English and Spanish with English subtitles)

San Francisco teen Mica is enthusiastic, good-hearted and dreams baseball. He embarks on a quest to deliver baseball bats, gloves, shoes and balls to kids in Cuba as part of his bar mitzvah service project and in gratitude to the country that welcomed his grandfather during the Holocaust.

Screens With
HANNAH COHEN’S HOLY COMMUNION
(Ireland, 2012, 13 minutes, English)

A spirited 7-year-old, growing up in Dublin in the 1970’s, can’t wait to make her Holy Communion. The only problem is – she’s the wrong religion. Reel Talk and dinner immediately following film with Invited Guest Speaker Mica Jarmel-Schneider.
1 p.m.; Spotlight Theatres,
39 Front St., Hartford

ABOVE AND BEYOND – BRUCE SUNDLUN’S INCREDIBLE WWII JOURNEY
(USA, 2014, 60 minutes, English and French with English subtitles)

Long before he was the Governor of Rhode Island, Bruce G. Sundlun survived one of the most amazing escape stories of World War II. Narrated by his daughter, WFSB Anchor Kara Sundlun, this is the incredible story of Sundlun’s heroic great escape after being shot down over Nazi-occupied Jabbeke, Belgium on Dec. 1,1943. Reel Talk immediately following film with Tim Gray, Writer/Producer and Chairman, World War II Foundation and Kara Sundlun, News Anchor, WFSB, co-producer, moderated by Dennis House, News Anchor, WFSB.
4 p.m.; Spotlight Theatres,
39 Front St., Hartford

THEODORE BIKEL: IN THE SHOES OF SHOLOM ALEICHEM
(USA, 2014, 75 minutes, English)

The stories of two beloved Jewish icons are woven together in this enchanting film: Theodore Bikel, troubadour, singer, civil rights activist and actor and Sholom Aleichem, the great Jewish storyteller. A mix of acting, music and biography, the film shows how much the two have in common: wisdom, humor, humanity, huge talent, and a gift for Yiddish.
4 p.m.; Spotlight Theatres,
39 Front St., Hartford

ZERO MOTIVATION
(Israel, 2014, Hebrew with English subtitles, 101 minutes)

“M*A*S*H” meets “Girls” in this zany, dark and comedic portrait of life for a unit of young, female Israeli soldiers set in a remote army base. More concerned with battling boredom, computer games and boyfriends, the rebellious Zohar, frustrated Daffi and their overwhelmed commander Rama lead a wonderfully universal cast of male and female characters.
7:30 p.m.; Spotlight Theatres,
39 Front St., Hartford

HANNA’S JOURNEY
(Germany/Israel, 2013, 100 minutes, Hebrew and German with English subtitles)

Unexpected complications arise when Hanna, a young German business student, travels to Israel to escape her country’s past. She takes volunteer jobs with special needs adults and elderly Holocaust survivors to selfishly boost her resume and career. Befriending Itay, a charming Israeli social worker, Hanna becomes interested in both German and her own secret family history.
7:30 p.m., Spotlight Theatres,
39 Front St., Hartford

THE FAREWELL PARTY
(Israel, 2014, Hebrew with English subtitles, 93 minutes)

This poignant and darkly comic tale centers around a geriatric gang of friends and lovers in a Jerusalem retirement home who secretly build a euthanasia machine to help their terminally ill friend end his life in dignity. As rumors about their invention spread and they receive more pleas for help, boundaries begin to blur and events absurdly collide.

Monday, March 16
1:30 p.m.; The Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford

DELI MAN
(USA, 2014, 90 minutes, English)

The story of the American deli, accented by a tender cut of corned beef, a garlicky pickle and a crusty knish, is the story of Jews – their immigration, migration, upward mobility, and western assimilation.

7 p.m., The Emanuel Synagogue,
160 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford

24 DAYS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE ILAN HALIMI AFFAIR
(France, 2014, 108 minutes, French with English subtitles)

With “24 Days”, Alexandre Arcady offers a gripping and carefully-plotted thriller that tells the true story of the 2006 kidnapping-for-ransom and torture of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi in a Paris suburb by The Gang of Barbarians. Based on the book by Ilan’s mother, Ruth, Arcady’s white-knuckle dramatization follows the massive police manhunt and the family’s nightmarish ordeal as they race the clock to find Ilan and his abductors.

Tuesday, March 17
7 p.m.; Herbert Gilman Theater, Mandell JCC

Run Boy Run
(France/Germany, 2013, 108 minutes, German/Polish/Russian/Yiddish with English subtitles)

Tribute: Observations on Survival and Spirit Lessons From The Holocaust

The story of 10-year-old Yoram “Srulik” Friedman, who escaped the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 and lived in the woods, hunted by the Nazis. Following the film, pianist Mona Golabek and Darko Tresnjak, Artistic Director of Hartford Stage, will present “Behind the Sacred Screen and Stage,” a preview of their upcoming one-woman show “The Pianist of Willesden Lane,” moderated by Prof. Avinoam Patt of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies.

Wednesday, March 18

Encore Screening
1 p.m.; Herbert Gilman Theater, Mandell JCC

THEODORE BIKEL: IN THE SHOES OF SHOLOM ALEICHEM
(USA, 2014, 75 minutes, English)
See March 15 for film description

Screens With
HANNAH COHEN’S HOLY COMMUNION
(Ireland, 2012, 13 minutes, English)
See March 15 for film description

6 p.m.; Bow Tie Cinemas,
Blue Back Square, West Hartford

THE GO GO BOYS: THE INSIDE STORY OF CANNON FILMS
(Israel/France, 2014, 86 minutes, Hebrew and English with English subtitles)

Capturing the life and times of legendary Israeli producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, this movie recounts the inside story of two cousins in pursuit of the Hollywood dream who produced over 30 films and turned its power structure upside down.

8:15 p.m.; Bow Tie Cinemas,
Blue Back Square, West Hartford

DANCING ARABS
(Israel/France/Germany, 2014, 105 minutes, Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles)

Child prodigy Eyad, born into a devoted Muslim family in the village of Tira, is selected to be the first Arab to attend a prestigious Jerusalem boarding school. Contending with racism, ignorance and his family’s secrets, teenage Eyad’s search for identity gets complicated as he desperately tries to fit in with his Jewish peers and Israeli society.

Thursday, March 19

ENCORE SCREENING 6 p.m.,
Bow Tie Cinemas,
Blue Back Square, West Hartford

ZERO MOTIVATION
(Israel, 2014, Hebrew with English subtitles, 101 minutes)

See March 15 for film description

8:15 p.m.; Bow Tie Cinemas,
Blue Back Square, West Hartford

BERLIN CALLING
(USA/Czech Republic/France/Germany, 2014, English, 81 minutes)

Kastle Waserman, an ex-punk chick rebel from Los Angeles, always knew growing up a big, dark cloud hung over her family. “Berlin Calling” pulls back the suburban veil to uncover the chilling secrets of her father Ben’s dark days during World War II, taking them both on a journey of discovery to Berlin, Prague, Terezin, Paris, Los Angeles and Houston.

Saturday, March 21

8 p.m. reception; 9 p.m. film
Herbert Gilman Theater, Mandell JCC

FELIX AND MEIRA
(Canada, 2014, French, Yiddish and English with English subtitles, 105 minutes,)

This nuanced, romantic drama set in the present-day Montreal of hipsters and Hasids, is an unconventional romance between two people with seemingly nothing in common: Meira, a discontented ultra-Orthodox wife and mother and Felix, a lonely, eccentric artist.

Sunday, March 22

12 p.m. (noon); Herbert Gilman Theater, Mandell JCC

THE OUTRAGEOUS SOPHIE TUCKER
(USA, 2014, 96 minutes, English)

ENCORE SCREENING
See March 12 for film description

2:15 p.m.; Herbert Gilman Theater, Mandell JCC

THE PRIME MINISTERS, PART TWO – SOLDIERS AND PEACEMAKERS 
(USA, 2014, English and Hebrew with English subtitles, 110 minutes)

Based on Ambassador Yehuda Avner’s bestselling and award-winning book, The Prime Ministers, this sequel to last year’s runaway hit follows the diplomat’s experiences during the years he worked for Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin.

2:15 p.m.; Bow Tie Cinemas,
Palace 17, Hartford

RUN BOY RUN
(ENCORE SCREENING)
(France/Germany, 2013, German/Polish/Russian/Yiddish with English subtitles, 108 minutes)

See March 17 for film description

2:15 p.m.; Bow Tie Cinemas,
Palace 17, Hartford

IT HAPPENED IN SAINT-TROPEZ
(ENCORE SCREENING)
(France/Belgium, 2013, French with English subtitles, 100 minutes)

See March 14 for film description

HANNA’S JOURNEY
4:30 p.m.; Bow Tie Cinemas,
Palace 17, Hartford
(Germany/Israel, 2013, Hebrew and German with English subtitles, 100 minutes)

See March 15 for film description

4:30 p.m., Bow Tie Cinemas,
Palace 17, Hartford

CLOSED SEASON
(Germany/Israel, 2012, German with English subtitles, 104 minutes)

Set in 1942, this tale finds bookish young Jewish refugee Albert in hiding at the remote Black Forest farm of Fritz and Emma, a childless couple desperate for a family. The impotent Fritz suggests an unorthodox arrangement: He asks Albert to impregnate his wife. An unpredictable drama unfolds, only to be solved decades later when a young German shows up at an Israeli kibbutz looking for his biological father.

CLOSING NIGHT:
7:30 p.m.; Beth El Temple,
2626 Albany Ave., West Hartford

ABOVE AND BEYOND – THE BIRTH OF THE ISRAELI AIR FORCE
(USA, 2014, English and Hebrew with English subtitles, 87 minutes)

In 1948, a group of World War II pilots from America, Canada and England volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of “Machal” – volunteers from abroad – this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth; they also laid the groundwork for today’s Israeli Air Force. Filmmakers Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielberg will be interviewed by Gary Greenberg at the conclusion of the film. A closing reception will conclude the festival.