Jewish Film Festival Dates Announced
DENVER, Colo., January 15, 2020 – The 24th Annual JCC Mizel Arts and Culture Center’s Denver Jewish Film Festival presented by the Sturm Family Foundation takes place February 5-19, 2020. The Festival includes 43 films showcasing Israeli and Jewish cinema from around the globe, featuring 16 Denver premieres, six Colorado premieres and 14 Rocky Mountain premieres.
“The Denver Jewish Film Festival provides an opportunity for people of all faiths and backgrounds, film lovers and international film buffs to watch a variety of one-of-a-kind movies that are not available in other theaters in Colorado,” said Steve Wilson, executive artistic director of the JCC Mizel Arts and Culture Center. “We are thrilled to announce the incredible line-up of films in the 2020 film festival.”
The festival kicks off on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. with a VIP reception and a screening of Crescendo (Drama, 2019) at 7 p.m. The film is about a world famous conductor who tries to create an Israeli-Palestinian orchestra, taking all his skill and resources to overcome the discord and get them to play in harmony.
Films shown at the Festival are from 12 countries including Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, UK and the USA. The festival includes films about a variety of topics including coming-of-age debuts (Fig Tree; Leona); intergenerational heart-warmers (Witness Theater; Shoelaces; Back to Maracanã); a slew of biographies, from the story of a baseball-playing spy (The Spy Behind Home Plate) and a basketball icon (Aulcie), to a fashion designer (Mrs. G), Israeli politicians (King Bibi; Golda), a media mogul (Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People), a daring wildlife photographer (Picture of His Life), a French novelist (Promise at Dawn), and even record label founders (It Must Schwing! The Blue Note Story).
A handful of featured films include:
- Crescendo (Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.)
- Drama, 2019. When a world famous conductor tries to create an Israeli-Palestinian orchestra, it takes all his skill and resources to overcome the discord and get them to play in harmony.
- Golda’s Balcony, the Film(Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.)
- Drama, 2019. A riveting portrait of one of the great women of our time, portrayed Off-Broadway by the legendary actress Tovah Feldshuh. Producer Dave Fishelson will be in attendance at this show.
- Standing Up, Falling Down (Feb. 8 at 9:15 p.m.)
- Comedy, 2019. A failing stand-up comedian Ben Schwartz (from Parks and Recreation) and an alcoholic dermatologist (Billy Crystal) give each other the confidence to face the failures in their lives. Director Matt Ratner will be in attendance at this show. This is the Denver premiere of this film.
- Picture of His Life(Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.)
- Documentary, 2019. World-renowned wildlife photographer Amos Nachoum dreams of photographing a polar bear underwater. Writer/Director Dani Menkin will be in attendance at this event.
- Aulcie (Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. and an encore on Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m.)
- Documentary, 2020. The inspiring story of Aulcie Perry, a basketball legend who led Maccabi Tel Aviv to an upset win in the European Championship.
Additional Festival highlights of note include:
- Films from ten female filmmakers
- Seven first time feature filmmakers
- The first public screening of the short film titled Keh-hee-lahby University of Denver student, Myles Goldstein, showing on Feb. 16
- 24 award-winning films
- Two foreign language Oscar submissions, from Hungary and Luxembourg
- Coming-of-age dramas from Ethiopia and Mexico
- Films highlighting environmental justice to honor the Jewish holiday Tu B’shvat on Feb. 10
The premiere of Anne Frank: Parallel Stories featuring Helen Mirren will be shown as a prologue to the festival on Sunday, January 26 at 3 p.m. The film will be playing at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Sloan’s Lake. For tickets visit https://www.jccdenver.org/anne-frank-parallel-stories/
Seating for all films is reserved. Tickets to each film cost $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and students. Multi-film festival passes are also available for purchase at varying costs. Festival tickets can be purchased at www.jccdenver.org/film.
The JCC Mizel Arts and Culture Center box office is located at 350 S. Dahlia Street in the Staenberg-Loup Jewish Community Center lobby and is open for phone inquiries Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. for walk-up business. The box office at the JCC Mizel Arts and Culture Center is open one hour before all screenings. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.jccdenver.org/film or call (303) 316-6360.
