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2020 JCC Film Festival Going Virtual!

Cathy Gardner | May 4, 2020
2020 JCC Film Festival Going Virtual!

Join us for an exciting experience this year for our 20th anniversary Jewish Film Festival! We’re going VIRTUAL, you can watch from the comfort of your couch! All films are available for free through jewishdayton.org.

We’re kicking off our 20th Anniversary with the documentary, Heading Home, with a special Opening Night at the Dixie Twin Drive-in on June 9 at 9PM. Heading Home is the David-and-Goliath story of Israel’s national baseball team as it competes for the first time in the World Baseball Classic. After years of crushing defeats, Israel finally ranks among the world’s best in 2017. Its roster includes many Jewish-American major leaguers, most with a tenuous relationship to Judaism, barely any ever having set foot in Israel. The connection to Israel that the players forge pushes them to unexpected heights as they represent the country on the world stage.

This year’s virtual festival features an internationally award-winning selection of feature and documentary films that will be available during specific windows of time between June 4 and ending July 2. Five of the films feature special Zoom events, including a special “Fiddler on the Zoom” event on June 2 for our Sneak Peek streaming film, the documentary Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles.

Our 2020 Dayton Jewish Film Festival Corporate Sponsors are Economy Linen, Inc. and Morris Home, Brady Ware, The Dixie Twin Drive-In, and Wiley’s Comedy Club.

2020 Film Fest Line Up

2020 SNEAK PEEK: Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles
Available online June 4 – 8
*Fiddler on the Zoom — SPECIAL ZOOM EVENT  with Hazzan Jenna Greenberg June 2 @ 7PM* Register HERE
The origin story behind one of Broadway’s most beloved musicals, Fiddler on The Roof, and its creative roots in early 1960s New York, when “tradition” was on the wane as gender roles, sexuality, race relations and religion were evolving.

2020 Opening Night
Heading Home
Tuesday, June 9
9PM @ The Dixie Twin Drive-In (6201 N Dixie Dr., Dayton 45414)
*SPECIAL ZOOM DISCUSSION WITH Marc Katz June 10 @ 7PM* Register HERE
The Tale of Team Israel is the David-and-Goliath story of Israel’s national baseball team as it competes for the first time in the World Baseball Classic. After years of crushing defeats, Israel finally ranks among the world’s best in 2017. Its roster includes many Jewish-American major leaguers, most with a tenuous relationship to Judaism, barely any ever having set foot in Israel. The connection to Israel that the players forge pushes them to unexpected heights as they represent the country on the world stage. RSVP HERE

The Keeper
Link Available Online at JewishDayton.org June 12 – 15
The Keeper tells the incredible true story of Bert Trautmann (David Kross), a German soldier and prisoner of war who, against a backdrop of British post-war protest and prejudice, secures the position of goalkeeper at Manchester City, and in doing so becomes a footballing icon.

Crescendo
Link Available Online at JewishDayton.org June 16 – 17
*SPECIAL ZOOM DISCUSSION WITH Dr. Sam Dorf June 17 @ 7PM* Register HERE
When world-famous conductor Eduard Sporck (Peter Simonischek, Toni Erdmann)  accepts the job to create an Israeli-Palestinian youth orchestra, he is quickly drawn into a tempest of sheer unsolvable problems.

Prosecuting Evil
Link Available Online at JewishDayton.org June 19 – 22
*SPECIAL ZOOM DISCUSSION WITH Marcy L. Paul, PhD June 22 @ 7PM* Register HERE
Barry Avrich’s gripping new documentary tells the fascinating story of Ben Ferencz—the last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor and lifelong advocate of “law not war.” After witnessing Nazi concentration camps shortly after liberation, Ferencz became lead prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen case at Nuremberg, which has been called the biggest murder trial in history.

Tel Aviv on Fire
Link Available Online at JewishDayton.org June 23 – 24
*SPECIAL ZOOM DISCUSSION WITH Marcy L. Paul, PhD June 24 @ 7PM* Register HERE
Salam, an inexperienced young Palestinian man, becomes a writer on a popular soap opera after a chance meeting with an Israeli soldier. His creative career is on the rise – until the soldier and the show’s financial backers disagree about how the show should end, and Salam is caught in the middle.

Those Who Remained
Link Available Online at JewishDayton.org June 26 – 29
A 42-year-old doctor in Budapest and a 16-year-old girl hoping to see her father and mother again, bond, soon to be hampered by the Communist Party, which misunderstands their relationship.

Love in Suspenders
Link Available Online at JewishDayton.org June 30 – July 2
A 64-year-old widow (Tammy) and a 70-year-old widower (Beno), each suffering from the loss of loved ones, meet in an unlikely manner to become friends and, eventually lovers. From their first unfortunate encounter, when Tammy hits Beno with her car until they unite in front of the altar, Tammy and Beno’s relationship travels on comically and emotionally-fueled hairpin turns.

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