Come out and enjoy a strong slate of intriguing films
With the Chattanooga Film Festival finishing its fifth year as a wild success, Chattanooga has become a powerhouse for independent film in the South. However, the CFF isn’t the only film event in Chattanooga.
There have been an increase of festivals and screenings around the city in recent years. Events like the Lookout Wild Film Festival or the new Chattanooga State Student Film Festival are all part of the rich fabric that is being woven in the Scenic City film scene.
Another event, one that might have escaped notice in recent years, is the Chattanooga Jewish Film Series, which according to chairman Sanford Winer, began “with a conversation eleven years ago with Michael Dzik, the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga.”
Winer says, “There was and still is a need for outstanding international films in this city. The Adult Education Council ended its international series and a huge void was created which commercial theatres did not fill.”
After attending the Jewish Film Festival in Atlanta, Winer sought to bring something similar to Chattanooga. “These films offer terrific stories with universal themes such as xenophobia, independence, topics important to women, history, distortion of history, love, divorce, biography, sports, drama, comedy, suspense, etc.,” he says. “The list can continue infinitely. Seeing these movies are like reading a novel.”
I can’t say I disagree. This year, the films can be seen every Wednesday in May, starting on May 2nd, at the Jewish Cultural Center.
The films in the series are as follows:
In Between: Winer calls In Between “his favorite movie of this year.” The film is about three Palestinian women sharing an apartment in Tel Aviv. One is secular, one is Christian, and one is Muslim. The movie dramatizes the effect of modernity on each as well as such issues as homosexuality, abuse of women, and freedom to choose a lifestyle.
The film has won or been nominated for awards at fifteen international film festivals, including Israel, Berkshires, Glasgow, Haifa, Istanbul, Kosmorama, Trondheim, Odessa, Palm Springs, San Sebastian, Toronto, Amsterdam and Zagreb.
Maktub: Winer says that the selection committee liked Maktub so much they decided to show it twice. Billed as “Goodfellas as guardian angels,” this dark comedy won the Audience Award at Monte Carlo International Film Festival.
It also won Best of Festival at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. “Although politically incorrect, Maktub is a warmhearted…very funny film,” says Winer.
The Last Suit: According to Winer, this film follows eighty-eight-year-old Abraham Bustein, a Holocaust survivor, [who] leaves his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina to find a Christian friend who saved his life in Poland. This “road trip” movie takes us to Argentina, Spain, Germany and Poland.
Abraham meets characters along the way who both help him and also need his help. Comedic and poignant in equal measure, this movie has already won the audience award at the Miami and Atlanta Jewish Film Festivals.
A Quiet Heart: This film is billed as a “a tense, slow burn drama about the evils of intolerance that [builds] into a gripping suspense thriller.” It follows Naomi, a concert pianist, [who] seeks refuge from the pressure of everyday life.
Despite her intentions to stay alone, she makes two unexpected connections—one with a musically gifted young boy and also with a charismatic Italian Catholic monk.
The film is set on a fault line between religions, conservatives and secular liberals in contemporary Israel. A Quiet Heart has emotional bite and dramatic punch.
Shelter: In the last film of the series, Shelter is a tension filled spy thriller where two women, isolated from the outside world, flirt and begin to merge identities, each becoming more like the other.
“Be prepared to be seduced by Mona, a Lebanese informant recovering from plastic surgery to assume a new identity,” Winer says. Naomi, an Israeli Mossad agent, is sent to Germany to protect her. Winer says the film is a complex multi-dimensional labyrinth of trust and mistrust, honesty and deception and loyalty and betrayal.
As I mentioned, each film will be screened at the Jewish Cultural Center for $8 per ticket (which includes popcorn and a drink). It’s a great time to be a film fan in Chattanooga—don’t miss this this event.
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