DAS HAUS IN DER AUGUSTSTRASSE

PRELUDE

DAS HAUS IN DER AUGUSTSTRASSE
Documentary film, Director: Ayelet Bargur, Israel/Germany 2007, 63 min., Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones.

One of the few places in the history-charged Mitte district in the center of Berlin that is beleaguered neither by the commemoration hype in Germany’s capital nor by the raging parties and nightlife there, is the building at no. 14–16 Auguststrasse. Since Regina Scheer wrote her book Ahawa. Das vergessene Haus (Ahava: The Forgotten House) in 1992, little has changed about the hermetic solitude guarded by a heavy iron gate secured with a camera and intercom. Now Israeli filmmaker Ayelet Bargur has taken on the house, its history, and its former residents. Based on the few extant documents and the few survivors from that time, her film The House on Auguststrasse manages to tell all that can still be told.
ARAB WORK

AUFTAKT

ARAB WORK (AVODA ARAVIT)
Nine-part TV series, Director: Ron Ninio, Israel 2007, 120 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

This „feisty sitcom (...), which made mince-meat of taboos regarding Israel's Palestinian citizens“ (LE MONDE) kept Israelis glued to their TV sets for weeks on end. After all, it was the first time they had ever met, so to speak, an Arab family right in their own living room, and during prime time, no less. The filmmaker satirizes prejudices and idiosyncrasies of both Muslim and Jewish Israelis in a masterful and humorous manner. Another of Ron Ninio's TV series, A TOUCH AWAY, opened last year's Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin & Potsdam & Potsdam.

Special guest: Festival patron Jan Josef Liefers

DANS LA VIE

TWO LADIES
Feature film, Director: Philippe Faucon, France 2007, 73 min. French/Arabic with English subtitles, German over headphones

Esther, an elderly Jewish woman, is about to move into a senior home in the French countryside despite all the efforts of her son. But when Selima - a young Arab woman who has grown up in France - shows up, everything seems to change for the better.

The friendship that grows between this nurse and her patient bridges all gaps of age and ethnic origin. French cinema doesn't get any better!

WAVES OF FREEDOM

ALAN ROSENTHAL PRESENTS

WAVES OF FREEDOM
Documentary film, Director: Alan Rosenthal, Israel 2007, 73 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

Using spectacular documentary material and interviews, WAVES OF FREEDOM tells the story of a few Americans who attempted to bring 2,000 Jewish „Displaced Persons“ out of Germany after 1945. To do so, they had to risk their lives and break through the British blockade of Palestine.

Plus excerpts from SALVADOR: THE SHIP OF SHATTERED HOPES (Director: Nissim Mossek, Israel 2006)

LEMON TREE

LEMON TREE
Feature film, Director: Eran Riklis, Israel/France/Germany 2007, 106 min. Hebrew/French with English subtitles, German over headphones

Salma, a Palestinian, lives in a small village in the West Bank. When the Israeli Defence Minister builds his house next door, Salma's lemon trees become a security risk. But she decides to take on the authorities to save her orchard...

The film won the Panorama Audience Award at the 2008 Berlinale International Film Festival.

MAZEL TOV OU LE MARIAGE

Claude Berri on his 74th birthday

MARRY ME! MARRY ME!
Feature film, Director: Claude Berri, France 1969, 87 min. French with German subtitles

During a summer vacation, the inhibited Claude meets the lovely Isabelle, daughter of Jewish diamond dealers from Antwerp. When Isabelle becomes pregnant, both her family and Claude's press them to marry. But then Claude meets another woman and is confronted with true love.

Introduction: Jerome Segal, cultural sociologist, Vienna

LE CINÉMA DE PAPA

LE CINÉMA DE PAPA

Feature film, Director: Claude Berri, France 1970, 100 min. French with English subtitles, German over headphones

In the Paris of the 1960s, young Claude is seeking his true path. Should he follow his father into the fur business or try his luck as an actor? When he discovers his father's theatrical talent, he manages to get film roles for both of them. Here again, director Claude Berri grapples with autobiographical material only one year after the filming of MARRY ME! MARRY ME!

Introduction: Jerome Segal, cultural sociologist, Vienna

CHILDREN OF THE SUN

CHILDREN OF THE SUN
Documentary film, Director: Ran Tal, Israel 2007, 70 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

„Children of the Sun“ – that's what they called the first children born in kibbutzim after the turn of the 20th century. This film - consisting of amateur films about children born prior to the establishment of the Jewish State, augmented by audio interviews, children's songs and old recordings - reveals a world that's a long time gone.

Introduction: Eldad Beck, Germany correspondent, „Yedioth Ahronoth“

VILLA JASMIN

VILLA JASMIN
Feature film, Director: Ferid Boughedir, France 2008, 90 min. French with English subtitles, German over headphones

Serge, a Frenchman of Jewish-Tunisian background, returns to his Tunisian hometown of La Goulette after a 20-year absence. Once there, he becomes caught up in a family story that begins in the 1920s and is profoundly marked by developments under the Vichy government during Germany's occupation of France. Filmmaker Fèrid Boughedir won acclaim for his 1996 film A SUMMER IN LA GOULETTE, shown at the 2005 Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin & Potsdam & Potsdam.

Special guest: Director Ferid Boughedir

HIS WIFE´S LOVER

HIS WIFE’S LOVER
Feature film (black and white), Director: Sidney M. Goldin, USA 1931, 80 min. Yiddish with English subtitles

This screen version of a successful stage play is considered the „first Jewish musical talkie" ever. Eddie Wien, a good-looking and successful actor, is consumed with marriage plans. But his Uncle Oscar never misses an opportunity to warn him that all women are actually just after his bulging wallet. The two make a bet. But then the young Golde Blumberg, Eddie's first choice, brings on some unforeseen surprises.
JELLYFISH

JELLYFISH
Feature film, Director: Shira Geffen and Etgar Keret, Israel/France 2007, 78 min. Hebrew/French with English subtitles, German over headphones

The protagonists of this tragic-comedy float like jellyfish through their lives. There is Keren, who breaks her leg at her own wedding and has to give up her honeymoon in the Caribbean; or Batya, who meets an odd girl on the beach, and suspects her of having emerged from the sea.

The film won the „Camera d’Or“ at the Cannes film festival in 2007.

DARLING! THE PIETER-DIRK UYS STORY

DARLING! THE PIETER-DIRK UYS STORY
Documentary film, Director: Julian Shaw, Australia 2007, 53 min. English

South African Cabaret artist Pieter-Dirk Uys, who comes from a Berlin Jewish family, is famous for his struggle against apartheid. Today he is deeply involved in combating the spread of AIDS. His alter ego is Evita Bezuidenhout, South Africa's „most famous white woman.“ Sequences of his (and their) appearances are combined with biographical segments in this film, which won the second-place Panorama audience award at the 2008 Berlinale International Film Festival.
THE TRIBE

THE TRIBE
Short film, Director: Tiffany Shlain, USA 2005, 18 min. English

What can the most famous doll in the world tell us about modern Jewish life? An „electric" journey through the complex history of the Barbie doll and the Jews.
A HEBREW LESSON

A HEBREW LESSON
Documentary film, Director: David Ofek, Ron Rotem, Israel 2006, 123 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

An „Ulpan“ is a place where people from all corners of the world meet. They come from China, the former Soviet Union, Peru and Germany. Israeli society takes on a new aspect when seen through their eyes, and those of their teacher. The film, David Ofek's 17th, has received prizes at festivals in Jerusalem and Rotterdam.

It was shown at the 2004 Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin & Potsdam & Potsdam.

Special guest: Yoella Saar (the film's protagonist)

MY FATHER, MY LORD

MY FATHER, MY LORD
Feature film, Director: David Volach, Israel 2007, 73 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

The first feature film by David Volach, who grew up with 19 siblings in an Orthodox family in Jerusalem. This dark and disturbing film, which grapples with the difficulties of religious life and beliefs, has received international recognition. Assi Dayan plays the lead.
THE CLOWN AND THE FÜHRER

JFFB EXTRA – An event presented by the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance

THE CLOWN AND THE FÜHRER
Feature film, Director: Eduard Cortés, Spain 2007, 95 min., Spanish with English subtitles

The film touches on an historical event: In 1944, the famous Catalonian clown Charlie Rivel was to perform on the birthday of the „Führer" in Berlin. As in the eponymous play by Gerard Vazquez, the theme here is an artist's responsibility within a dictatorship.

Followed by a panel discussion in German: “Eyes Closed, or Open? – Artists caught between courageous intervention and conformity“

With screenplay writer Gerard Vazquez, leading actor Ferran Rañé, and additional guests. Presenter: Juan Moreno (SPIEGEL magazine)

GDANSKI RAILWAY STATION

Forty years ago: 1968 in Poland

GDANSKI RAILWAY STATION
Documentary film, Director: Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz, Poland 2007, 55 min. Polish with English subtitles, German over headphones

In 1968, after the „Six Day War“ and Poland's Communist-Party orchestrated "anti-Zionist" campaign, Poland saw a wave of hysterical anti-Semitic attacks that led to a massive exodus of Jewish citizens. For the past 20 years, some of these emigrants have been meeting in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. They haven't forgotten the land of their birth and the pain of expulsion.
OVER MY DAD´S BODY

OVER MY DAD’S BODY
Documentary film, Director: Taliya Finkel, Israel 2007, 70 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

Filmmaker Taliya Finkel was always told that her Ukrainian-born Uncle Sterik was in the KGB. At any rate, her father Shmuel – Sterik's brother – is convinced of it. Shmuel's suspicions go even further: He believes Sterik actually was killed and replaced by a secret agent from the former Soviet Union. And now Shmuel fears his "fake" brother wants to kill him. Is this a true crime story? Or is Shmuel's diagnosed schizophrenia the real culprit?

Special guest: Director Taliya Finkel

PAUWELS CIRCUS
Documentary film, Director: Agnès Bensimon, Belgium 2008, 52 min. French with English subtitles, German over headphones

A moving film about a Jewish circus dynasty. The current circus proprietor - who himself takes to the big top as clown and musician – and his son, an amazing juggler, face the task of preserving their greatest inheritance.

World premiere, with special guest: Director Agnès Bensimon

THE 10TH MAN

THE 10TH MAN
Short film, Director: Sam Leifer, Great Britain 2006, 10 min. English

Faced with the challenge of building a „minyan“ to save their prayer services, members of a small Jewish community in London's East End hit upon an unusual idea.
WAITING FOR GODIK

WAITING FOR GODIK
Documentary film, Director: Ari Davidovich, Israel 2007, 62 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

The rise and fall of the king of Israeli musicals, legendary producer and impresario Giora Godik. He brings a Hebrew “My Fair Lady” to the Israeli stageand invites Marlene Dietrich twice to Israel. But bankruptcy sends him running to Germany, where he dies in poverty.
STEFAN BRAUN

STEFAN BRAUN
Documentary film, Director: Itamar Alcalay, Israel 2007, 62 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

The life- and love story of the successful furrier Stefan Braun and tailor Eliezer Rath begins in the 1950s, when same-sex partnerships are still banned in the young state of Israel. Stefan Braun has many internationally renowned, wealthy clients. Through interviews with Eliezer and with Stefan's family, and with the help of photos, diaries and old 8 millimetre films, a colourful portrait is painted of the most famous furrier in the Middle East.

CONNECTED
Short film, Director: Norma Drimmer, Germany/Israel 2007, 85 min.

Impressions of everyday life in Jerusalem
GO IN PEACE RAIN

GO IN PEACE RAIN
Documentary film, Director: Reuven Hecker, Israel 2007, 84 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

A journey in search of a Jewish melody: It starts as a prayer from the olden days, returns in, among other works, Smetana's „Moldau Suite“ and concludes in „Hatikvah“, the national anthem of the State of Israel.
ALLES KOSCHER IM CAFÉ

ALLES KOSCHER IM CAFÉ
Documentary film, Director: Uri Schneider, Germany 2008, 30 min., in german only

AUF JÜDISCHEM PARKETT

Berlin Jews on German TV

AUF JÜDISCHEM PARKETT (IN THE JEWISH HALLS)
Documentary film, Directors: Arielle Artsztein and Esther Slevogt, Germany (ZDF / Das Kleine Fernsehspiel) 2005, 86 min., in german only

For an entire year, Arielle Artsztein and Esther Slevogt observed comings and goings in the halls of Berlin's Jewish community centre. They encountered the very people who define the essence of Jewish life here: the rabbi, the community's elderly photographer, new Russian immigrants and old established members, secular and religious Jews, old and young.

Special guests: Arielle Artsztein and Esther Slevogt, and the film's protagonist, Inge Robert

THE ASHKENAZIM

THE ASHKENAZIM
Documentary film, Director: Dalia Mevorach, Dani Dothan, Israel 2005, 50 min. Hebrew with English subtitles, German over headphones

Witty and moving film about young Israelis seeking their roots.
STOCKHOLM. SYNDROME

Igal Avidan presents: Young Israelis - something different

STOCKHOLM. SYNDROME
Experimental film, Director: Amit Epstein, Israel 2007, 26 min. (no dialog)

In STOCKHOLM. SYNDROME the artist and fashion designer Amit Epstein describes his situation as an Israeli in Europe.
LIEBESLEBEN

Opening with reading and film

LIEBESLEBEN
Director: Maria Schrader, Feature Film: Israel/Germany 2007, 113 min., hebrew with german subtitles

The film adaptation of the bestselling novel by Israeli author Zaruya Shalev is actress Maria Schrader’s directing debut. The two met on a book tour. The story is about a young woman (Netta Garti) who has a nice husband, diffi cult parents, and prospects for a position at the university. She falls in love with an older man (Rade Sherbedgia) who is weary of life and doesn’t pay attention to her feelings, needs, or longings, and just takes what he needs. The fact that it later turns out that what seems to be fate is actually a coincidence is at fi rst irrelevant to her obsession. And what distinguishes the fi lm is that it does not linger on the façades of unfulfi lled bourgeois life, but instead plunges head fi rst into this crazy love. The sensational thing about the work of Schrader and her cinematographer Benedict Neuenfels is the sensitive way the tension-fi lled emotional world of the heroine is transformed into fi lm images, how abrupt lust and sudden disgust, up-close intimacy and humiliating distance alternate, how emotional chaos and colourful dance go hand in hand. Usually only the French can do that.
malt First published in F.A.Z., 10 November 2007 Translated by Allison Brown
SWEET MUD

SWEET MUD
Feature Film, Director: Dror Shaul, Israel 2006, 90 min., only in german

Twelve-year-old Dvir is growing up on a kibbutz. It is 1974, the year of his Bar Mitzvah. There are a lot of things he has to do before maturing into a man, but hardest of all is coping with his mother, Miri, whom he loves more than anything. Miri is an unstable young woman who feels vulnerable since Dvir’s father committed suicide. Dvir doesn’t know about that, however, since his mother and the entire kibbutz, as well as his older brother are joined in silence.
MADE IN ISRAEL

MADE IN ISRAEL
Feature film, Director: Ari Folman, Israel 2001, 100 min., hebrew with german subtitles

Egon Schultz, easily recognised as the Austrian Alois Brunner, Eichmann’s second in command and organiser of the mass murder of Vienna’s Jews, is extradited as the last surviving Nazi on the Golan Heights to Israel from Syria. The filthy rich businessman Danni Hoffman does not want to miss this unique opportunity. He offers a bounty of two million dollars for Schultz – played by Jürgen Holtz – and just to be sure he hires not one but two teams to snatch the Nazi away from the Israeli police. Hoffman, son of a Holocaust survivor, fears that an Israeli court will acquit Schultz due to lack of evidence, as was the case with John Demjanjuk. So he wants to shoot him himself, on Mount Mars, the highest elevation in the country. He will be accompanied by his nine-year-old daughter, who shot 228 Nazis in one day in the computer game Nazi Doom 4.