Temple House of Israel with
The Spencer Center at Mary Baldwin College

present

Community: Diversity

February 5-6, 2011

The 4th Annual Staunton Jewish Film Festival (SJFF) will be screened at Mary Baldwin College’s Francis Auditorium.

Saturday February 5, 2011
2:00 pm – Seven Minutes in Heaven
Galia, a young woman from Jerusalem, and her boyfriend, Oren, board a local bus. The bus explodes, leaving Oren in a coma and Galia with severe burns and memory loss. The film begins one year after the attack, upon Oren’s death. As Galia undergoes physical and mental therapy, she attempts to stitch together the shattered fragments of her life and soul. A necklace sent to her from an unidentified source sets her off on a journey to find the missing pieces of the puzzle from that horrific day. The film presents an exploration of memory and meaning.

5:00 pm – Jaffa
In the heart of the Israeli city of Jaffa (Yaffo), Reuven’s garage is a family-run business. The garage workers consist of Reuven’s beautiful daughter Mali, his aggressive and distant son Meir, as well as the young Palestinian man, Toufik. No one suspects that Mali and Toufik have been in love for years, and that Mali is pregnant with Toufik’s child. As the two lovers secretly make their wedding arrangements, tension steadily builds between Toufik and Meir, who openly voices his disdain and prejudices about Arabs. As these relationships intensify, emotions begin to boil, resulting in an astonishing conclusion.
Family dynamics when an Israeli woman falls in love with a Palestinian man who works in her family’s business.

8:00 pm – For My Father
Tarek, a Palestinian forced on a suicide mission in Tel Aviv to redeem his father’s honor, is given a second chance when the fuse on his explosive vest fails to detonate. Forced to spend the weekend awaiting its repair, Tarek must live amongst the people he was planning to kill, caught between the men that sent him (who can blow up his bomb remotely) and his new-found companions. To his surprise he connects with several Israelis on the outskirts of society, including the beautiful Keren, who has cut off contact with her Orthodox family. With nothing to lose, Tarek and Keren open up to one another, and an unlikely love blooms between two isolated and damaged individuals, raised to be enemies. Tarek discovers the spark of life returning to fill his soul, but when the weekend ends, Tarek must make the decision of his life.

Sunday February 6, 2011

1:00pm - Arranged
Arranged centers on the friendship of an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who are both starting their careers as first-year teachers in a Brooklyn public school. Over the course of the year they learn they share much in common, not least of which is that they are both going through arranged marriages. The story shows the struggles both face as religiously observant young women when interacting with an unsympathetic secular world. Similarly, the girls’ parents have a hard time accepting that their daughters could be friends. The film’s uplifting tenor examines religious differences in contemporary situations, with respect and understanding.

3:00 pm – Inside Hana’s Suitcase
The delivery of a battered suitcase to Fumiko Ishioka at the Tokyo Holocaust Museum begins the true-life mystery that became the subject of Karen Levine’s best-selling book Hana’s Suitcase. The suitcase came from the Auschwitz Museum and had Hana Brady’s name painted on it. Larry Weinstein’s masterful film follows Fumiko’s search to discover the details of Hana’s life, which leads to the discovery of her brother George, in Toronto. This is a film of astonishing power and hope.

Tickets are $35 for the complete festival.
$8 for single tickets
$5 for student single tickets
MBC students – no charge

Tickets are available at the door, as well as in advance at Stone Soup (908 West Main, Waynesboro) and Coffee on the Corner (140 East Beverley, Staunton). More locations announced soon.

Snow date is February 12-13, 2011.

(click the poster to download a copy for yourself in .pdf)