2022 St Louis Jewish Film Festival is virtual through March 13

By Cate Marquis | March 12, 2022

The annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival has returned, again in a virtual format, March 6 -13 but shifted to a new spring season instead of its previous summer slot. Being virtual means all the exciting lineup of films, including documentaries on an array of subjects plus comedy and drama narrative films, are available to view anytime during the festival, through March 13, from the comfort of your own home. For tickets and more information, visit their website https://jccstl.com/arts-ideas/st-louis-jewish-film-festival.

The 27th annual festival, which is virtual like the last two, has an array of 13 international and U.S. films with Jewish themes, with five outstanding documentaries on varied topics, and eight engrossing narrative features including dramas, comedies, historical films and thrillers, plus a trio of enticing discussions and a pre-festival bonus short film, “Touch the Sky,” which is available to stream starting Jan. 17.

Countries represented include Israel, France, Switzerland, and Germany, and languages include English plus Hebrew, German, French, and Italian, with English subtitles. Three of the films also have intrguing discussions, which are available free of charge.

Documentaries include the charming “The Automat,” featuring Mel Brooks, which takes a loving look back at a New York culinary institution, and the uplifting, music-filled “The Conductor,” about Marin Alsop, the first woman conductor to lead a major American symphony. “Not Going Quietly” is a moving documentary about Ady Barkan, a new father with a promising career in progressive politics, who suddenly finds himself battling ALS.

Narrative feature films include the touching drama “Tiger Within” featuring Ed Asner in his last role, “Greener Pastures,” a hilarious hit Israeli comedy about retirees and cannabis, and an intriguing Israeli/German historical drama, “Plan A,” based on true events, about a group of Jews plotting revenge on Germany in the wake of WWII.

The film selections range from comedy to drama to thrillers, plus documentaries, with films to appeal to a wide range of interests and tastes. Other documentaries are “High Maintenance: The Life and Work of Dani Karavan” about the nearly 90-year-old award-winning Israeli artist, “Blue Box” about the legacy of the young Israel’s historic effort to plant forests but which also displaced Arab villages.

Additional narrative features include “Neighbours” a Swiss kid-centric story about a Kurdish boy and his Jewish neighbors, and “200 Meters” a Palestinian Israeli thriller, both of which also played last fall’s St. Louis International Film Festival. There are also the light-hearted “Tango Shalom” about a Hasidic rabbi and a tango contest, “Wet Dog” a German autobiographical drama about a Jewish-Iranian teen in Berlin, “The Specials,” a French comic drama about a Jewish man, played by Vincent Cassels, taking care of autistic youths who partners with another man named Malik, who is helping other young people in need.

For many years, the St Louis Jewish Film Festival took place in June, but the Covid pandemic changed things. The 2020 film festival shifted to fall and went virtual. The 2021 film festival was still virtual but returned to its usual summer season. Now that is changing to spring, which will be the fest’s new time going forward.

Once again the film festival will be virtual but the film festival committee did considered going back to in-theater this time.

“The committee really pondered whether to go back to the theater for the festival,” said Marilyn Brown, one of three co-chairs of the Jewish film festival, along with Jeffrey Korn and Paula Sigel. “So, after discussing the pros and cons, [such as] watching a film on the big screen, enjoying movie popcorn, etc., we decided to go virtual. All of the committee members were just not comfortable going back to the theater with the uncertainty of the COVID situation.”

“And we considered some of the advantages of the virtual experience,” Brown said. “Patrons can view the films at their convenience during the week of March 6-12. They don’t have to watch any film at a pre-scheduled, inflexible time. That is something we would have to do in the theater. Also, patrons can be comfortable in their own homes and pause the films whenever they want or need to. And most people are used to streaming videos now, so the learning curve would be minimal.”

“We also had great positive feedback regarding the film discussions last year. And this year will be just as good, if not better, than last year! We would not be able to have the hour-long discussions in a theater, so this is another benefit of a virtual festival,” she said.

All festival films and discussions will be available on-demand anytime from March 6 through March 3 with purchase of a ticket or All-Access pass, and can been seen through the festival’s viewing platform. Details on that are below and on the festival website https://jccstl.com/arts-ideas/st-louis-jewish-film-festival. Although the festival is virtual again. some changes have been made to make it a smoother experience, including using the same viewing platform that worked well for the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival last year.

Intriguing discussions, all free, accompany three of the documentaries. Last year, these discussions were a big hit with festival audiences. “I am particularly interested in the discussion on ‘The Conductor.’ Erik Finley from our own St. Louis Symphony [Orchestra] is interviewing Bernadette Wegenstein, the film’s director,” Brown said. “This is an example of being able to virtually interview the director of the film from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. For “Not Going Quietly,” another excellent, moving documentary, we have Stacey Newman, former member of the Missouri House of Representatives, interviewing the film’s director, Nick Bruckman. And [for “High Maintenance – The Life and Work of Dani Karavan”‎], Ellen Futterman, [Editor-in-Chief] of The St. Louis Jewish Light, will introduce and interview the film’s director, Barak Heymann. All three discussions are free of charge, but I would recommend watching them after viewing the film.”

“The speakers seem to be very pleased with the virtual format, since they can participate in the comfort of their homes or offices,” Brown said. “And we can have speakers from all over the world without having to pay travel expenses!”

Single movie tickets are $15 and the All-Access Pass is $98. All-Access Passes is the best deal, as it provides access to all 13 films and can be used by a whole household. All film discussions are free. To buy tickets or for ticket questions, contact the JCC Box office by phone at 314-442-3179 or by email at boxoffice@jccstl.org.

Tickets or passes also can be purchased via the festival’s viewing platform which is also how all films and discussion will be shown. You will need to create an account to purchase tickets through the film festival’s JCC website. After buying your tickets or pass, you will receive an email with information on how to unlock films for viewing. Festival tech support is available through the festival hot-line at 314-442-3179. Live technical support will be available during the festival.