The fifth Annual New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival is coming to Keene on April 13 and 14, with three films to be screened at the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College.
The Festival is sponsored by the not-for-profit Jewish Federation of New Hampshire, along with the generous support of statewide corporate sponsors and individual Friends of the Festival.
The first Keene screening, on Saturday, April 13 at 8:30 p.m., will be “Hava Nagila (The Movie)” (2012) a hilarious and surprisingly deep film that follows the infectious party song on its fascinating journey from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the cul-de-sacs of America. This film is sponsored by Keene's Congregation Ahavas Achim.
On Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m., the first film is “Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story” (2012). This powerful film tells the true story of the Portuguese Consul in Bordeaux, who in 1940 defied the direct orders of his government and granted visas out of Occupied France to an estimated 30,000 refugees, including some 10,000 Jews.
Following the film, there will be a reception and panel discussion. This film is sponsored by the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College.
The Festival will conclude with the showing at 7 p.m. of “My Australia” (2011). This Polish/Israeli film begins in Poland in the 1960s. Ten-year old Tadek and his brother fall in with an anti-Semitic gang. When arrested, the boy learns that although he was raised Catholic, he and his family are in fact Jews. Believing they are going to Australia, land of his fantasies, he boards a ship bound for Israel. This tender, humorous drama is based on the filmmaker's own experiences.
With diverse subject matter appealing to all cultures, the festival offers New Hampshire audiences the opportunity to view an eclectic mix of internationally acclaimed films, which draw on humor, conflict and the day-to-day realities of modern Jewish life.
Additional award-winning premiere film selections are being presented at other locations from April 4-14.