The Boston Jewish Film Festival presents the best contemporary films from around the world on Jewish themes at its annual November Festival and throughout the year. Through features, shorts, documentaries, and conversations with visiting artists, the Festival explores Jewish identity, experience, and culture in relation to a diverse modern world. The Boston Jewish Film Festival, Inc. is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit arts organization.

Heart of Stone is the first full-length feature documentary by executive producer Zach Braff of Scrubs fame.

This is a film about the most unlikely of partnerships – aging Jewish alumni and rival gangs coming together to save their school – and the future of an entire lost generation.

The film showed at the Newburyport Documentary Film Festival at the end of September to rave reviews.

The launch date in Boston is Thursday, October 22ndat the MFA and Friday, October 23rdat the W. Newton Theater.

The director Beth Toni Kruvant will host a Q&A both opening days.

PROTEKTOR (PROTECTOR)
Directed by Marek Najbrt (2009, Czech Republic/Germany, 98 min., Czech with English subtitles)
Tuesday, March 2, 7:00 pm
West Newton Cinema (1296 Washington Street/Route 16)

The year is 1938; the country, Czechoslovakia. Hana has her first big success in film – and the German Occupation, or Protectorate, begins. As a Jew, Hana’s dreams for a successful career are smashed.

THE LITTLE TRAITOR (HABOGED HAKATAN)

Directed by Lynn Roth (2007, Israel/USA, 98 min., English and Hebrew with English subtitles)
Thursday, March 25, 7PM
West Newton Cinema (1296 Washington Street/Route 16)

The Boston Jewish Film Festival is pleased to present The Little Traitor, with director Lynn Roth present for a question-and-answer session.

Director Lynn Roth was also the Executive Producer for 39 Pounds of Love, our 2005 Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary Film.

Meet filmmaker Joan Micklin Silver at our Work-in-Progress Screening of:
The Bagel: An Immigrant's Story
Tuesday, May 25, 7:30PM

Bagels in Boise? A schmear in San Antonio? Absolutely!

Spend a memorable evening with renowned director Joan Micklin Silver. Learn about her impressive career and her current project -- the history of the bagel in America. The Bagel: An Immigrant's Story explores the evolution of the bagel from its origins in Eastern European Jewish life to the innovations that helped make it a mainstream American food.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
7:30PM - 9:00PM

See the first three episodes of Israeli TV’s hit series, “Srugim,” with director Eliezer Shapiro in person.

Date and time: Tuesday, May 4, 7PM
Location: West Newton Cinema
Tickets: $15 general admission; $12 discounted for students, seniors (65+), members of The Boston Jewish Film Festival and WGBH members. Purchase tickets online by credit card at www.bjff.org

Leap of Faith
Part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival ENCORES AND MORE
at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, May 20 – June 27, 2010

Directors: Antony Benjamin
and Steven Z. Friedman, USA,
2009, 95 min., Documentary, Video, in English

Four American families struggle with a life-altering decision
to abandon their childhood Christian faith for conversion to
Orthodox Judaism. Filmed over a three-year period, Leap
of Faith chronicles not only the deeply emotional process
of religious conversion, but also its effects on children and
extended families.

Thursday, May 20, 7:30pm