The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF), the largest Jewish film festival in the world, recently kicked off its 25th anniversary festival, which runs through March 16.
This year’s festival will present 50 films – 22 documentaries and 28 narrative works – that celebrate the diversity of Jewish experience around the world.
Dozens of these films are from Israel, which is especially important now that few, if any, Israeli films are being released abroad. These include Tom Nesher’s Ophir Award-winning Come Closer, Yousef Abo Madegem’s Eid (in its North American premiere), Sophie Artus’ Halisa, Maya Dreifuss’s Highway 65, Yair Raveh’s His Own Way: The Films of Avi Nesher, Gidi Dar’s Legend of Destruction, Erez Tadmor’s Matchmaking 2 and Soda, Shemi Zarhin’s Bliss, Pinehas Veuillet’s Nor by Day, Nor by Night, and Dana Modan’s The Property.
The festival opened with the Atlanta Premiere of Bad Shabbos (2024) at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and guests included stars Kyra Sedgwick, Jon Bass, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Milayna Vayntrub, Meghan Leathers, and Theo Taplitz, as well as director and writer Daniel Robbins and producer Adam Mitchell.
This year’s lineup includes the world premiere of Charles Grodin: Rebel with a Cause, a portrait of the acclaimed actor, who was raised in an Orthodox home and became known for his deadpan comic performances in such movies as Midnight Run, The Heartbreak Kid, and Heaven Can Wait. The festival features many documentaries about well-known Jewish artists, including Janis Ian: Breaking Silence, Eli Wiesel: Soul on Fire, and Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse.
Explosion of antisemitism
The current war between Israel and Hamas and the wave of antisemitism all over the world are examined in several films, including October H8te, about how anti-Israel hatred was stirred up, and Torn, a look at how hostage posters were ripped down by anti-Israel protesters. Dani Rosenberg’s Of Dogs and Men, about a girl looking for her lost dog in the remains of Kibbutz Nir Oz, is also on the program.
“Our 25th anniversary represents a quarter-century of fostering connections and understanding through the transformative power of cinema,” said Kenny Blank, executive and artistic director of the AJFF.
“This year’s lineup not only highlights stories that resonate deeply with Jewish life but also redefines what it means to be a ‘Jewish’ film. It’s about the intersection of Jewish experiences with the broader world, creating space for meaningful dialogue and connection between communities.
Many films are available online for those in the state of Georgia.
For more information, go to the festival website at ajff.org.