Five Jewish-themed, award-winning films produced in the France, Israel, Poland and the United States will be shown in-person and virtually on five consecutive weeks beginning Sunday, October 15 and continuing through Friday, November 17.
Each in-person screening will begin at 7:00 p.m. and be held at the Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 North Terrace Road. Each virtual film screening will be available from noon on Sunday and conclude at noon on Friday.
To register to view the films in-person or virtually visit www.jewishchattanooga.com. Films are available for $12, $3 for students with ID.
All films in the Series have garnered international film awards and nominations, and have received recognition at film festivals throughout the United States, Europe and Israel. Walk-ins for in-person screenings are available and encouraged. Masks are optional.
Virtual screenings must be pre-paid in advance. You will receive the login code the first morning of the screening and a link for recordings of discussions and interviews for specific films.
Farewell Mr. Haffmann
- Occupied Paris, 1941: all members of the Jewish community are instructed to come forward and identify themselves to authorities. Dedicated jeweler Joseph Haffmann, fearing the worst, arranges for his family to flee the city and offers his employee François Mercier the chance to take over his store until the conflict subsides. But his own attempts to escape are thwarted, and Haffmann is forced to seek his assistant’s protection.
- 115 minutes, French with English subtitles
- In-person Monday, October 16, 7 p.m./ Virtually noon October 15 – noon October 20
Matchmaking
- An entertaining and good-hearted romantic comedy that gives an Ashkenazi and Sephardic Orthodox twist to "Romeo and Juliet".
- 96 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles
- In person Monday, October 23, 7 p.m./Virtually noon October 22 to noon October 27
Love Gets A Room
- Is a musical drama, a play inside of a play, set in the Warsaw ghetto (1940), and is the story of a Jewish stage actress who must make the decision whether or not to follow her heart. The film is a romantic tale of love and survival in the face of harrowing circumstances.
- 103 minutes, English
- In-person Monday, Monday, October 30, 7 p.m./Virtually noon October 29 to noon November 3
The Future
- When Israel’s Minister of Space and Tourism is murdered in the lead-up to the country’s first mission to the moon, Yaffa, a young Arab university student from the occupied West Bank, confesses to the murder. Scientist Nurit asks for permission to interview the assassin. The two women face off, determined to give nothing away, over a potentially fraught series of encounters.
- 80 minutes, Arabic, Hebrew with English subtitles
- In-person Monday, November 6, 7 p.m./Virtually noon November 5 to noon November 10
March 68
- Two young students, Hania and Janek, meet and fall in love in the midst of social turmoil and Jewish discrimination in 1960’s Warsaw. While the young lovers are uninterested in politics, they find themselves unable to avoid it when Hania's father and mother lose their jobs due to the anti-Semitic purge and are forced to emigrate. Hania does not want to leave Janek. The couple participates in a protest rally where they discover freedom comes at a high price.
- 115 minutes, Polish with English subtitles
- In-person Monday, November 13, 7 p.m./Virtually noon November 12 to noon November 17
A committee of dedicated volunteers reviews an average of 35 feature films each year in order to choose six films. Films screened at major national and international film festivals, those recommended by peers throughout the United States, and those brought to the committee’s attention by filmmakers are included in the selection process.
The Jewish Cultural Center, funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, offers programs, classes and exhibits, social services, and a preschool—all rooted in Jewish values. The facility enables the Jewish community to raise its visibility, foster relationships, and strengthen its identity in the Chattanooga area. Located at 5461 North Terrace, the Center and its programs are open to everyone regardless of religious affiliation.