PALM SPRINGS — At the end of March, the Palm Springs Jewish Film Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary. The festival screened 16 narrative features, documentaries and short films from the United States, Israel, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic and Colombia. The wide range of depictions shows that Jewish stories continue to resonate across the world.
Thematically, many films have come together in their exploration of aging and intergenerational relationships, the preservation of Jewish traditions, and the lingering trauma of the Holocaust. Dark themes were balanced with dark humor, heartfelt moments, and fantasy sequences. Although I was raised a Conservative Jew and am well educated in the history of my culture, I have learned more than ever about the Beta Israel community of Ethiopian Jews (Exodus 91, 2022), Jews at the American Border (Wild West Jews, 2022), and World War II refugees who sought safety in South America (My neighbor Adolphe, 2022).
Many times, however, the movies’ nuance has suffered at the hands of harsh dialogue; the significance of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust was rarely mentioned obliquely, and the specter of Nazis, living and dead, was often the source of conflict. But perhaps it is better to warn this great evil openly than to bury it in subtlety. This way viewers, especially non-Jewish audiences, will never forget the horrors of the past.
Below are some highlights from the 10th Annual Palm Springs Jewish Film Festival. Many of these films are available on VOD and streaming platforms. Support these independent filmmakers as your mitzvah of the day.
Exodus 91: The untold story of Operation Solomon
Although Micah Smith’s feature film about Ethiopian Jews is a documentary, it blurs the genre by combining archival footage with scripted dramatization. The story follows the efforts of Israeli diplomat Asher Naim to bring the Beta Israel, an African community of 15,000 Jews who had settled in Ethiopia for centuries, to Israel stubbornly for their protection during a civil war. Naim, a proud Zionist, finds that his government has put up more obstacles than accommodations for the immigration process, forcing him to confront racism deeply rooted in Israeli culture. Smith inserts images of modern protests in Israel to show that discrimination against Beta Israel is still a point of contention for the displaced community. Although Smith ultimately paints Naim as a hero, he raises questions about what should define a home: the ancestral land or the physical place one has inhabited for generations.
Exodus 91: The Untold Story of Operation Solomon is not currently airing. Learn more about the movie here.
Old West Jews
Amanda Marshall Kinsey explores Jewish prospectors, traders and ranchers in her feature documentary. Although we don’t associate westward expansion with Jewish communities, Kinsey’s hometown of Denver was ultimately the nexus of Jewish life west of the Mississippi and sparked his curiosity about Jewish history. of the region. Kinsey divides the film into short segments about notable Jewish pioneers, from Broncho Bill, the first cowboy movie star, to Levi Strauss, the king of denim. Antisemitism, while present, was less intense on the border, which led to so many Jews and other marginalized people settling there. While I was hoping to learn more about places like the Jewish Pioneer Memorial in Tombstone’s famous Boot Hill Cemetery, Kinsey chooses to tell stories about individuals rather than general trends.
Eastern Wild West Jews currently on tourand also available Video on Demand.
iMordecai
Intergenerational relationships were an important theme in many films, and comedy iMordecai hunkered down in the tech chasm between baby boomers, their millennials, and Gen Z digital natives. Oscar-nominated Judd Hirsch plays the titular Mordecai, a holocaust survivor who gets his first iPhone. The device gives him new independence and, through an endless digital catalog of klezmer music, unlocks childhood memories. A frustrating subplot about a Zoomers’ secret Nazi SS grandfather causes irreconcilable problems in the script, but Hirsch’s performance is charming enough to solve the problems and bring laughs. This is a movie that adult children should watch with their Luddite parents.
iMordecai is coming to video on demand on April 11.
My neighbor Adolf
My favorite film of the festival was Leonid Prudovsky’s story of a reclusive Holocaust survivor, now settled in South America, who suspects his new neighbor might be Adolf Hitler. The absurd premise stems from a genuine conspiracy theory that claims Hitler survived the war and defected to Argentina. Prudovsky treats dark comedy with surprising realism and sentimentality. Our protagonist, Mr. Pulsky, perfectly portrayed by Scottish actor David Hayman, convincingly makes us believe in his paranoia. On his secret mission to reveal his neighbor’s true identity, the two neighbors become unlikely friends through a game of chess, and an unexpected twist makes this relationship even more complicated.
My Neighbor Adolf release date to be announced.
Simchas and sorrows
Very few films from the festival were told from a young person’s point of view, but Simchas and sorrows delivered this narrative focusing on millennial hipsters in Brooklyn balancing their interfaith relationship. Director and star Genevieve Adams, who based the film on her own experience converting to Judaism for marriage, channels the energy of shows like HBO’s Girls as she accepts a marriage proposal in her underwear and consults with an eccentric, tattooed rabbi (played by Hari Nef) about the conversion process. Simchas and sorrows could benefit greatly from tighter editing and a deeper exploration of its own theme. Adams only briefly mentions the dwindling number of endogamous marriages and practicing Jewish millennials. The film does, however, address a controversial sentiment that some Jews have towards “symbolic conversions”, when a member joins the tribe, but still insists on celebrating the customs of their home religion (Christmas, primarily). At the end of the day, Simchas and sorrows is a typical romantic comedy, proving that even love is stronger than tradition.
Simchas and Sorrows is streaming on all major video-on-demand platforms.
