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2024 Summer Jewish Film Festival Opens on July 9, with screenings Tuesday evenings through August 9 at Falmouth Jewish Congregation, 7 Hatchville Road, E. Falmouth, MA 02536 Falmouth Jewish Congregation’s 2024 Summer Jewish Film Festival returns and opens on Tuesday, July 9 at 7:30pm. The festival is open to everyone and brings to Cape Cod the best of Jewish films from the festival circuit, culling award-winners in both drama and documentary categories for a varied selection of entertaining and thought-provoking films. The 2024 season will offer a single screening of each film at 7:30pm on five Tuesday evenings, from July 9 to August 6. Doors open at 7:00pm. Tickets ($13 for FJC members / $16 for general admission) and a discounted season pass ($60 FJC members / $75 general admission) are exclusively available in advance online and screenings include free popcorn and refreshments. Following each film, Pamela Rothstein, festival director and Falmouth Jewish Congregation’s Director of Lifelong Learning, leads a discussion for those wishing to stay and exchange impressions. Films have a unique ability to open windows onto the world, providing entry into stories and perspectives that can change our own outlook in just a brief time. Join us for viewing and conversation. Prepare yourself for an entertaining trip backwards in time with the festival opener, The Catskills. Director Lex Gillespie’s feature-length and high-spirited documentary chronicles the rise and fall of the Borscht Belt. With a trove of lost-and-found archival footage and a cast of characters endowed with the gift of gab, The Catskills journeys into the storied mountain getaway that served as refuge for Jewish immigrants fleeing poverty as well as a lavish playground for affluent Jewish families. The Catskills is a humorous and nostalgic tribute that keeps the stories coming and offers fresh insight into the socio-historical meaning of the time and place. Through the lens of stand-up comedians delivering their finest routines and the reminiscences of former waiters, entertainers, and dance instructors, the film captures the essence of the family-run resorts and bungalows that served as the inspiration for iconic films like Dirty Dancing. By piecing together personal anecdotes, home videos, promotional images, postcards, and menus, this cinematic time capsule offers a comprehensive overview of Jewish immigration to New York. It’s a fascinating and joy-filled film that addresses the meaning of The Catskills for people from all backgrounds: working-class Jews seeking a respite from poverty in overcrowded New York City tenements, the affluent seeking a lavish summer playground, workers, entertainers and diverse guests, including politicians, athletes and Holocaust survivors, all of whom found refuge in the mountains. Perhaps most importantly, “the Sour Cream Sierras” became a place of resistance against antisemitic exclusion and a flourishing haven for Yiddishkeit. We invite you to bring your own Catskills stories to share in the discussion following the screening. The diverse roster of remaining four films includes three feature films from Canada and Israel, as well as another inspiring and entertaining documentary. The dramatic feature Seven Blessings, a mega hit in Israel and at Jewish film festivals worldwide, won ten Israeli Academy Awards. It’s culturally specific and richly universal in the best possible way, with immense talent and heart tapped to tell a deeply moving story set in early 1990s Jerusalem. A boisterous Moroccan-Jewish-Israeli clan reunites for a cross-cultural wedding, celebrating the Moroccan-Jewish bride and French-Ashkenazi groom over the course of seven nights of dinners and ceremonies each hosted by a different family member in honor of the newlyweds. The week-long ritual of sheva brachot (seven blessings) occasions joy, laughter, dancing, and oh so much delicious food. But behind the joie de vivre and togetherness, are family secrets and lies. With humor, pathos, and confidence, Seven Blessings puts Mizrahi mothers, daughters, and sisters at the beating heart of this rich enveloping story. Victory, a captivating Israeli musical, has it all: great music, saturated color sets, spark and seriousness. Set during the euphoria following the Six-Day War, it tackles serious issues of war’s lasting on young couples. Boasting award-winning melodies, beautifully sung and staged with top-notch art direction and choreography, this distinctive song-and-dance production with a potent anti-war message delivers and unexpected emotional punch and great entertainment. Less Than Kosher, winner of the Best Film at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, is probably unlike any Jewish film you’ve seen – except for The Jazz Singer! But this film is decidedly contemporary, described as a “Jewish Electro-Pop Musical.” It’s electric, eclectic, fun and funny, with amazing music and talent. It’s a bit of a crazy, but thoroughly charming story of a young singer – a self-proclaimed “bad Jew – finds herself reluctantly accepting the unlikely position as a Cantor at her family’s synagogue. What happens next – complete with fantasy production numbers – is a rollicking story of recovering her joy in singing. The documentary Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella, is the winning, upbeat and inspiring profile of Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella, an exceptional woman who spent her entire life reminding us that we must never forget how the world looks to those who are vulnerable. Born to Holocaust survivors, Abella studied law. At 29 years old, was appointed a judge, becoming both the youngest and the first pregnant judge in Canadian history. In 2004 she was appointed a Supreme Court Justice becoming the first Jewish woman and the first refugee to sit on the bench — and she’s probably the first Canadian justice who became a human rights phenomenon. Abella was at the forefront of major decisions on employment equity, gay marriage, constitutional law, and many more landmark cases. Meet a fireball of a person who is curious, accessible and still ambitious at the age of 75 as she begins the next act of her life. Comparisons with RBG are sure to come to mind, but Avrich’s winning documentary will help you to distinguish between these two extraordinary justices, similar in their enormous judicial significance but different in their distinct personalities. All screenings are open to the public and take place in the congregation’s Blanche & Joel D. Seifer Community Center at 7 Hatchville Road, East Falmouth. Everyone is welcome and facilities and parking are accessible to all. For further information about the film festival or this welcoming, Reform Jewish congregation, please visit www.falmouthjewish.org, like us on Facebook or call 508-540-0602. Purchase tickets and season passes at www.falmouthjewish.org