Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Reimagines 2021 Festival Experience + You’re Invited

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) is thrilled to announce the return of its annual festival, the 21st edition, to be held as a hybrid event across 12 days from Feb. 17-28, 2021. In response to the ongoing pandemic, AJFF has reimagined the festival experience to combine at-home virtual screenings with select drive-in movies, expanded conversation with filmmakers and special guests, as well as other unique components that prioritize the safety, comfort and convenience of audiences.

The 2021 AJFF film lineup, to be announced over the coming weeks, will include over 30 narrative and documentary features plus short film offerings, representing a diversity of genres and subjects. Powered by CineSend, the festival’s Virtual Cinema will allow audiences to access the very best in international cinema from a smart TV, home theater, computer, tablet or other mobile device.

In addition, thanks to an exclusive partnership with Mercedes-Benz Stadium, AJFF will also offer a limited number of drive-in screenings in the 11-acre The Home Depot Backyard greenspace, a spectacular backdrop for a physically distanced but shared moviegoing experience.

Always core to the festival’s mission of fostering dialogue, AJFF will continue its commitment to community conversation with enhanced guest programming, including speaker introductions and extensive Q&A panels that further explore the themes and topics presented onscreen.

“Cinematic stories feed the soul at a time when we need the help of film artists to make sense of our world, to be inspired, and to reignite our shared sense of humanity. Our festival staff and volunteers have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure the core tenets of the festival – community, representation, storytelling and experience – are preserved in our 2021 hybrid edition,” says AJFF Executive Director Kenny Blank. “It’s gratifying to see that, despite the pandemic, the pipeline of new films on Jewish themes is as strong as ever. We look forward to being ‘together through film’ in February, our motto for these COVID times.”

Additional details on films, virtual screenings, programming, and drive-in dates to come soon.

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It’s a wrap: 36,000+ attend 2018 AJFF

TOP PHOTO: Death in the Terminal, which looks at a 2015 terrorist attack at an Israeli bus station and its aftermath, won the Documentary and Human Rights jury prizes.

THE 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL — 23 days long, with more than 190 screenings at seven venues — attracted more than 36,000 moviegoers, according to festival organizers. Closing night at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, featuring the Southeast premiere of writer-director Pablo Solarz’ The Last Suit, attracted a record-setting crowd of more than 1,600.

As usual, a number of awards were handed out, too. The winners:

NARRATIVE JURY PRIZE (for a feature-length fiction film): The Testament, director Amichai Greenberg’s 2018 story about an uncompromising Holocaust researcher who uncovers a long-buried secret about his family history.

DOCUMENTARY JURY PRIZE (for a feature-length nonfiction film): Death in the Terminal, Israeli directors Tali Shemesh and Asaf Sudry’s 2017 look at a 2015 terrorist attack at an Israeli bus station, and the paranoia-fueled confusion that followed.

“On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani and Popi,” from Canada.

SHORTS JURY PRIZE (run time of 40 minutes or less): On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani and Popi, Canadian directors Brandon and Skyler Gross’ 2017 piece about an ostensibly happy couple marking six decades of marriage and uncovering a painful truth.

EMERGING FILMMAKER JURY PRIZE: Winter Hunt, German filmmaker Astrid Schult’s 2017 psychological thriller about a young woman who seeks reprisal against a suspected ex-Nazi.

BUILDING BRIDGES JURY PRIZE (fosters understanding among communities of diverse religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds): Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds: The Conductor Zubin Mehta, German director Bettina Ehrhardt’s profile of the India-born maestro most often associated with the Israeli Philharmonic.

HUMAN RIGHTS JURY PRIZE: Death in the Terminal, again.

“The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm,” from American director Amy Schatz.

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE: The Last Suit, a 2017 film about a cantankerous, aging Jewish tailor who leaves his life in Argentina for a journey back in time and halfway around the world to find the man who saved him from death at Auschwitz.

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY: Itzhak, director Alison Chemick’s 2017 impressionist, fly-on-the-wall portrait of Itzhak Perlman, the Iraeli-born master violinist.

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST SHORT: The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm, American director Amy Schatz’s 19-minute piece from 2017, about a young boy’s tender questions, his great-grandfather’s tattooed arm and the intimate, emotional conversation about tragedy and perseverance that ensues.

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AJFF 2018 arrives Jan. 24, with 192 films screening in 23 days

by Encore Atlanta

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens in less than two weeks, promising 192 screenings in 23 days and a slew of special events. The ambitious festival begins Jan. 24 and ends Feb. 15, and comprises narratives and documentaries representing 27 countries. For the full lineup, schedule, tickets and program guide, go HERE.

The fest will be all around town. Opening and closing screenings are at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. All other screenings take place at one or multiple venues: Atlantic Station Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX, Hollywood Stadium 24, Perimeter Point 10, Springs Cinema & Taphouse, Tara Cinemas 4 and the Woodruff Arts Center.

Most screenings feature post-film Q&A conversations with filmmakers, actors, community leaders and academics. That lineup includes director Neil Berkeley (Gilbert); comedian Gilbert Gottfried; director Ofir Raul Graizer (The Cakemaker); director Amichai Greenberg (The Testament); director Astrid Schult (Winter Hunt); and director Ferenc Torok (1945).

General admission tickets are $15; $13 for senior citizens, students and children; and $12 for matinees. Ticket details HERE.

Special events include:

A still from the documentary “Sammy Davis Jr: I’ve Gotta Be Me.”

OPENING NIGHT. 

The documentary Sammy Davis Jr: I’ve Gotta Be Me (U.S., 100 mins) screens at 7:30 p.m. The 2017 film includes interviews with Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis and Kim Novak, among others.

A post-screening conversation with filmmaker Sam Pollard follows.

$36. Includes admission and parking. It has no other screenings.

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS NIGHT. On Feb. 3, The Boy Downstairs (U.S., 91 mins) screens at 8:30 p.m. Director Sophie Brooks’ 2017 feature, her first, is described as a “fresh take on the girl-meets-boy story, with a lightly comic and deeply touching contemplation of modern relationships, life choices and independence.” The night begins with a 7 p.m. party. $36, includes the party and the screening. Young Professionals Night is at the Woodruff Arts Center. The movie also screens at 1:40 p.m. Feb. 4 at Regal Atlantic Station and 12:20 p.m. Feb. 9 at Springs Cinema & Taphouse.

A scene from “The Last Suit.”

CLOSING NIGHT. 

The Last Suit (Argen-tina/Spain, 86 mins) screens at 7 p.m. Feb. 15.

This 2017 feature follows an 88-year-old Jewish tailor who leaves his home in Argentina for Poland, hoping to find the man who saved him from certain death during the Holocaust. A discussion with writer/director Pablo Solarz and a dessert reception follow. $36. Includes parking, the screening and the reception. It has no other screenings.

AJFF films are generally for adults, but several selections are family-friendly, including the Israeli teen dramedy Almost Famous (three screenings, two locations) and an adventure about family titled A Bag of Marbles (five screenings, four locations).

Topical movies include The Cakemaker (five screenings, five locations), which documents unconventional relationships; An Act of Defiance, which explores race relations; and The Cousin, Shelter and Remember Baghdad, which looks at political-religious extremism. The Cousin screens four times at four locations; Shelter screens five times at three locations; and Remember Baghdadscreens twice at two locations.

[RELATED: ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FEST RELEASES FIRST 8 TITLES]

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