On behalf of Knesset Israel and the Berkshire Jewish Film Festival, we extend a warm Welcome Back to you as BJFF embarks upon its 38th season. We are so happy to be able to present six Mondays of excellent film programming in person at the Duffin Theater at the Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.
Our screening committee has chosen the best of the many films they watched this year. We are excited to bring you a wide range of documentaries and narrative films from the US, Israel, Germany, Italy and Canada. Please visit our website to read about the films and speakers, sign up for our e-newsletter, make a much-appreciated donation, and purchase your Season Pass. As in past years, individual tickets can only be purchased on the day of the show.(Cash or Check Only)
Schedule:
4pm - The Caretaker (short)
Based on a true story, this suspenseful 18-minute film celebrates the bravery of an otherwise ordinary caretaker in a Hamburg museum in the ‘30s who rescues art that is designated “degenerate” and slated for confiscation by the Nazis. The film depicts the connection the man feels to the art and its creators, including the avant-garde Jewish painter Anita Ree. It shows us the risks he is willing to assume in the face of that connection and of the responsibility he feels for the art.
Germany 2023, German (English subtitles), Narrative,18 minutes
Director: Roland Puknat
4pm - Children of Peace
Children of Peace documents the Israeli experiment of Neve-Shalom or Oasis of Peace – Wahat al Salam in Arabic - and is especially compelling, challenging and relevant now. The film tracks the vision of Utopians who sought in the 70’s to create a community between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel could grow up and live side by side governed by the principles of equality, mutual respect and partnership. Through archival film footage and contemporary interviews, the documentary chronicles the experience of the children who came of age in this utopia and who candidly and poignantly reflect on its impact. Director Ma’ayan Schwartz, one of the member- “children,” doesn’t flinch as he looks at the project’s complexity and the challenges posed over the years - by Jewish members serving and dying in the IDF, the failure of the Oslo Accords, and the conflicts between Arabs and Jews in the Israel beyond their village. Viewers are left to grapple with whether this was a singular social experiment or a living model for peaceful co-existence for larger Israeli society. Israel 2022, Hebrew (English subtitles)
Documentary, 60 minutes
Director: Ma’ayan Schwartz
8pm - Supernova Massacre: The Music Festival Massacre
This 52-minute film documents in harrowing, minute by-minute detail the cold-blooded and methodical Hamas massacre of young revelers at the Israeli Supernova music festival on October 7. The rampage left 360 dead and more than 40 who were taken hostage. The documentary weaves retrospective interviews of survivors with real-time footage from the cameras of the terrorists, concert-goers and first responders, chronicling the tragedy as well as the resilience of the human spirit. Made by veteran Israeli documentarian Duki Dror, this is disturbing to watch but compelling in its demand that history not look away. “I think it is the hardest film I ever made,” Dror has said.
Israel 2023, Hebrew (English subtitles) Documentary, 60 minutes
Director: Yossi Bloch
Date: July 8 - August 12
