Saturday Gala Gets This Year’s Jewish Film Festival Started

By From staff reports

The Maine Jewish Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Greenhut Galleries, 146 Middle St., Portland. Tickets cost $25 and include a cocktail party and screening of the dramatic comedy “My Mexican Shivah.”

A limited number of tickets for the film will be available at the Nickelodeon, 1 Temple St. The screening begins at 8 p.m.

Set in Polanco, a Jewish quarter of Mexico City, “My Mexican Shivah” is a funny and moving tale of the death of a man and a celebration of his life. According to Jewish belief, from the moment a Jew is born, he or she is accompanied by two angels: an angel of light and an angel of darkness.

When Moishe Tartakovsky, patriarch of his family, dies of a heart attack, he leaves behind a complicated web of secrets and relationships that become untangled over the course of his seven- day shivah.

Tickets for individual films during the festival cost $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors, and may be purchased at www.mjff.org. An all-festival pass costs $85.

The festival schedule includes feature, documentary and short films from around the world, including the United States, Israel, Mexico and Germany. Guests include Ilil Alexander, director of “Keep Not Silent – Ortho Dykes”; “At Home in Utopia” director Michal Goldman; Aviva Kempner, director of “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg”; and director Kate Feiffer of “Matzo and Mistletoe,” among others.

Films are screened at The Movies on Exchange, Nickelodeon Cinemas, Space Gallery, the Portland Museum of Art and the Maine Historical Society.

In addition, two films will be screened at new locations: at 12:30 p.m. March 31, a free screening of “Clara Lemlich: A Strike Leader’s Diary” will be at McArthur Public Library, 270 Main St., Biddeford, and the film will screen again for free at 7:30 p.m. April 2 at Teamsters Local 340, 144 Thadeus St., South Portland.

Here’s the full schedule:

SATURDAY

5:30 p.m., party at Greenhut Galleries

8 p.m., “My Mexican Shivah,” Nickelodeon Cinemas

SUNDAY

1:30 p.m., Women Filmmakers’ Forum screening of “Arranged,” Portland Museum of Art

4 p.m., Youth Program screening of “Mechina: A Preparation,” The Movies, 10 Exchange St., Portland

7 p.m., “Three Mothers,” The Movies

MONDAY

12:30 p.m., free screening of “Clara Lemlich: A Strike Leader’s Diary,” McArthur Public Library, Biddeford

5 p.m., LGBT Film Project screening of “Keep Not Silent — Ortho Dykes,” with director Ilil Alexander, Space Gallery

7 p.m., “The Front,” feature film from 1976, The Movies

TUESDAY

Noon, senior lunch, screening of “Souvenirs,” Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress St., Portland

7 p.m., “At Home in Utopia,” The Movies

9 p.m., “Souvenirs,” The Movies

WEDNESDAY

7 p.m., “The Bubble,” The Movies

7:30 p.m., Free screening of “Clara Lemlich: A Strike Leader’s Diary” and after-film discussion facilitated by Peter Kellman, president of the Southern Maine Labor Council, Teamsters’ Local 340, 144 Thadeus St., South Portland

9 p.m., “Orthodox Stance” and discussion with director Jason Hutt, The Movies

APRIL 3

7 p.m., “Young, Jewish, and Left” with director Konnie Chameides, Space Gallery

7 p.m., “A Slim Peace,” The Movies

9 p.m., “At Home in Utopia” with an appearance by director Michal Goldman, The Movies

APRIL 4

Noon, Lefty Shorts Film Forum, including screenings of “They Were Not Silent,”"Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg,”"Bread and Roses, Too: Celebrating the Legacy of Moe Foner,” an excerpt from “Young, Jewish, and Left,” and an excerpt from “At Home in Utopia,” with a forum including Arieh Lebowitz, communications director of Jewish Labor Committee; Aviva Kempner, director of “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg”; Esther Cohen, executive director of “Bread and Roses, Too”; Konnie Chameides, director of “Young, Jewish, and Left”; and Michal Goldman, director of “At Home in Utopia.”

1 p.m., “KZ,” The Movies, with after-film discussion facilitated by Steve Wessler, executive director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence

APRIL 5

7 p.m., “The Chosen Ones,” Space Gallery

7 p.m., “Toots,” The Movies

8:45 p.m., “Matzo and Mistletoe” with director Kate Feiffer, The Movies9 p.m., “The Bubble,” The Movies

APRIL 6

1:30 p.m., “Beethoven’s Hair,” Portland Museum of Art

3:30 p.m., “Jellyfish,” Camera d’Or winner at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, with Udi Urman, representative of the Consul of Israel to New England, Portland Museum of Art

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