Queer Films And More To Check Out At Seattle Jewish Film Festival…Including An Oscar Party and Gene Wilder Tribute

The 29th Seattle Jewish Film Festival (SJFF) kicks off this weekend offering up a mix of live, in-person screenings and events at local cinemas and venues plus virtual programs to enjoy from the privacy and coziness of your own home. The festival runs March 2nd through the 17th and passes and tickets are on sale at SeattleJFF.org.

This years festival opens with the local premiere of ONE LIFE, a biopic about the life of the amazing British stockbroker who helped rescue hundreds of Jewish children during World War II. This true story stars two time Academy Award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Lena Olin. It screens Saturday, March 2nd at AMC Pac Place in downtown Seattle. Tickets still available at https://seattlejff.org/events/sjff2024onelife/

Other major events include the Sunday Brunch+Film event featuring a screening of REMEMBERING GENE WILDER, a documentary about the life of beloved actor, Gene Wilder. There’s also a fun Oscar watching party on March 10th, plus the return of the annual LGBTQ+ Spotlight/Gay Gezunt! Film Program which screens virtually this year and can be watched between March 4th and the 17th and includes the following films:

THE HOLY CLOSET 

As religious LGBTQ Israeli individuals and families mark important milestones, they must navigate how sexual orientation, gender identity, and observance juxtapose in their lives. It screens with the documentary:

QUEER AND FRUM

Award-winning short documentary about two formerly Orthodox Jews in New York—one from the Chabad Lubavitchers in Crown Heights and the other from Yeshiva University—and their unique journeys leaving their communities to become openly queer. 

More on the festival via the press release:

SJFF features 18 film programs from around the world, including Hungary, India, Poland, Israel, Italy, and more. In-person screenings take place at AMC Pacific Place, the Stroum Jewish Community Center, and the annual short film program at University of Washington (free for students) and in Walla Walla. Virtual screenings will be released each Monday of the festival (March 4 & 11). All virtual screenings have a 48-hour viewing window once the film is started, and expire on Sunday, March 17. Many films screen in person only, and select films are only available virtually.

The festival opens at AMC Pacific Place with the Pacific Northwest premiere of ONE LIFE starring two-time Academy Award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, and Lena Olin. Hopkins delivers a riveting performance as the mild-mannered British stockbroker who helped rescue hundreds of Jewish children from Europe on the verge of the Second World War. This incredible true story, and Winton’s acts of compassion, were almost completely forgotten for 50 years. Based on the book “If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton,” written by his daughter as well as Winton’s personal archives and letters, the film depicts the man now known as the “British Schindler” and his indefatigable mother, played by Bonham Carter. Having recently won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at The Palm Springs International Film Festival, this captivating film is anchored by Hopkins’ subtle, emotional power on screen that is a tribute to a remarkable humanitarian effort. ONE LIFE will be preceded by opening night festivities featuring truffle popcorn and mocktails.

The Sunday Brunch + Film, a beloved SJFF event, features the screening of REMEMBERING GENE WILDER. This heartfelt and enchanting tribute to the life and legacy of the star of such classics as BLAZING SADDLES, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY has won multiple awards at Jewish film festivals across the country. Using a myriad of hilarious and touching clips, outtakes, never-before-seen home movies, and interviews with friends and colleagues—including Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Kane, Harry Connick Jr., Rain Pryor, and Peter Ostrum (who portrayed Charlie to Wilder’s Willy Wonka)—Ron Frank’s film shines a light on the genius and humanity of this essential performer. Brunch + Film tickets include a spread of homemade Jewish comfort food before the screening. Film-only tickets include coffee and tea.

New this year is the SJFF Red Carpet Oscars Party on March 10. Watch the stars arrive and walk the red carpet, then experience the 96th Annual Academy Awards ceremony on the big screen in the SJCC’s theater. Fill out your Oscar ballot and win prizes; enjoy appetizers, a gourmet popcorn bar, and celebrate a year of cinema.

Close out the film festival at the Stroum Jewish Community Center with a unique screening experience of the silent film MAN WITHOUT A WORLD accompanied by a live original score, composed and performed by world-renowned klezmer violinist (and founder of The Klezmatics) Alicia Svigals and pianist Donald Sosin. The pair have previously presented silent films and live original scores as part of STG’s Silent Movie Mondays and in partnership with SJFF. This unusual silent drama looks like a rediscovered “lost” 1920s film; but is the contemporary cinematic masterpiece and brainchild of the director Eleanor Antin, conceived as a love letter to her mother, a Yiddish theater actress. MAN WITHOUT A WORLD is a moving, comic melodrama set in a typical shtetl (village) in Poland, where two star-crossed lovers seek happiness while defying many obstacles, including disapproving parents, a seductive gypsy dancer (played by Antin), and a suffering younger sister. A champagne toast and dessert reception follow the screening.

A duo of multi-nominated and award-winning films comprise SJFF’s Israeli Cinema Spotlights. Winner of 10 Ophirs (informally known as the Israeli Academy Awards), including best film, best screenplay, and best director, and Israel’s official entry to the Oscars, SEVEN BLESSINGS is an offbeat dramedy about Marie (Reymonde Amsellem, who also co-wrote the screenplay) who returns to Israel after 40 years for her wedding. There, she reunites with her large, boisterous Moroccan Jewish family for the traditional matrimonial week of celebratory meals, during which family secrets and lies are also on the menu. THE MONKEY HOUSE, from legendary Israeli director Avi Nesher and nominated for 11 Ophirs, is a mix of literary mystery, witty comedy, and a moving character study that follows the inventive plan and connection between two lost souls that alters their lives forever.

Additional highlights include RABBI ON THE BLOCK, a documentary about rabbi and activist Tamar Manasseh who bridges the gap between African Americans and American Jews from a street corner on the South Side of Chicago; the LGBTQ+ Spotlight films THE HOLY CLOSET, about religious LGBTQ+ Israelis and their families as they navigate the juxtaposition of sexual orientation, gender identity, and observance and QUEER AND FRUM, which depicts two Orthodox Jews from New York who leave their communities to become openly queer; CALL ME DANCER, the multi-award-winning documentary (including Audience Award for Best Documentary at Seattle’s Tasveer South Asian Film Festival) that takes the viewer on a journey from the streets of Mumbai to the stages of New York; and STAY WITH US, starring the famous Moroccan-born, French Jewish comedian Gad Elmaleh (who also directs) in this comedy about his real-life conversion to Catholicism.

Passes and ticket packs and single tickets are on sale at SeattleJFF.org.
Single film ticket prices range from $13-$15, and virtual household (2+) tickets are $18-$20. In-person special events are $15-$30. Ticket packs range from $70-$115, and Hybrid Full Festival Passes are $180-$200 and include all in-person and virtual screenings. Add on virtual access to any in-person ticket for $5. Discounts are available for seniors 65+, students, youth under 13, and TeenTix members.

Full festival schedule and online ticket sales at SeattleJFF.org