Seattle is a city of film festivals…the big daddy of SIFF, the LGBT festival in October and dozens of festivals focusing on films from specific regions and ethnic groups. One of the best smaller festivals is the Seattle Jewish Film Festival, now in its 15th year and presented by the American Jewish Council which officially opens Saturday, March 13th at SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall with the local premier of the Oscar nominated Ajami. The festival continues through March 21st at various venues including SIFF Cinema, Cinerama, the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma and the Stroum Jewish Community Center and features 30 films from 10 countries and appearances by many of the filmmakers including Michael Verhoeven, director of the acclaimed 1991 Oscar nominated film The Nasty Girl (which will screen on Thursday, March 18th at Cinerama). Verhoeven will be presented with the 1st annual SFJJ Reel Difference Award for his body of work and will participate in a dialogue after the screening of the film. Other films being screened include “Jaffa”, “Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story”, “Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueberger” with Toni Collette, “Zruvabel”, the closing night film “Matter of Size” and of special interest for LGBTQ audiences,
Eyes Wide Open, (Israeli title: Einaym Pkuhot)director Haim Tabakman’s story of an Israeli married father of four, an Orthodox Jew, who is shocked to discover he has feelings for a new, young, and very sexy male neighbor.
The camera of first-time feature director Haim Tabakman breathes down the backs of his subjects, creating a tightly wound universe of quiet desperation and a sharp, heartbreaking investigation of his own religion. Warning: mature sexual content.
This film (in English and Hebrew with subtitles)sounds very interesting, a look at a society that few Americans are very familiar with, and it looks like it has been sensitively and intelligently shot, and, let’s be honest, kind of sexy…both lead actors, Zohar Strauss and Ran Danker are very attractive). Check out the trailer for the film here. Eyes Wide Open plays Saturday, March 20th at SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall.
And, to kick the festival off, a pre-opening cocktail party with music by Anna He, food by Tom Douglas and an appearance by local Oscar nominated producer Andy Schocken whose film “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardener” was up for the Best Short Documentary Oscar last week, will be hosted at Palace Ballroom tonight from 7 to 10pm. Tickets are available here, and as far as I’m aware, they are still available at the door. We’ll follow up with more info on SJFF during the entire run of the festival.
About the Author: Michael Strangeways
