Austin Jewish Film Festival In Full Swing

AUSTIN, TX — The Austin Jewish Film Festival is in full swing after its launch this Sunday, with more intriguing films scheduled through Friday, Nov. 8.

The festival is in its 17th year highlighting accomplished filmmakers while building cross-cultural alliances throughout the Austin community by building bridges with thoughtful engagement and entertaining audiences through the medium of Jewish films and filmmakers, organizers wrote in a press advisory.

AJFF has also launched a new website at austinjff.org, part of its revised marketing and messaging for the festival with an all-inclusive campaign, "For Jew and You Too."

On Monday, "Ask Dr. Ruth” was screened at Regal Arbor 8 at Great Hills. The film chronicles the amazing life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who emerged in later years as arguably the most famous sex therapist. The film juxtaposes her childhood as a Holocaust orphan with a playful retelling of her career highlights.

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Another fascinating look at a real-life person is set for a Tuesday, Nov. 5, screening with "Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People" set to be screened at Regal Arbor. The 86-minute film examines how Pulitzer’s New York newspaper “The World” came to transform American media, making the titular subject wealthy, admired and feared. The film recounts the life and times of modern journalism’s founding father. He's best remembered today for the journalism prize bearing his name.

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Also scheduled to be shown on Tuesday is "The Other Story," telling the story of Anat Abadi, a bright young woman and long part of Tel Aviv’s wild club scene finding God. Renouncing promiscuity for a life of solemn devotion, she moves to Jerusalem and gets engaged to a charismatic musician who’s also recently found religion. Complications arise when Abadi’s family tries to lure their willful daughter away from Orthodox Judaism and schemes to foil her upcoming nuptials.

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On Wednesday, Nov. 6, "Beyond the Bolex" is scheduled to be shown. Plot: In 1927, the world was falling in love with "moving picture" but the new art form remained reserved for the elite and thus unattainable for the masses. But Jacques Bolsey, a Russian refugee, envisioned a future where everyone would have access to make movies. To that end, he would invent the Bolex — a camera simple and flexible enough that anyone could use it.

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Also Wednesday, "The Unorthodox" is set for a 7:30 p.m. screening. When Yakov Cohen’s daughter is expelled from school for ethnic reasons, he decides to fight back. It’s 1983, and Yakov, a printer in Jerusalem, is just a regular guy. He has no knowledge of politics, no money, no connections, and no political experience. But he does have the will and the passion to take action, and a belief that he and other Sephardic Jews should be able to hold their heads up high. The film will be preceded by the short film “A Thousand Kisses."

To see the full schedule and to purchase tickets, click here.

Related story: Austin Jewish Film Festival Lineup Revealed