Squirrel Hill

Tuesday, October 5 | 7 PM
Written by Mark Oppenheimer
Author Series
 
This hybrid event can be attended either in person at the JCC of Greater New Haven or via zoom. On October 27, 2018, a gunman killed eleven Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill–the most deadly anti-Semitic attack in American history. In his book "Squirrel Hill," Mark Oppenheimer poignantly shifts the focus away from the criminal and his crime and instead presents the historic, spirited community at the center of this heartbreak. Click below to register for either in-person or virtual participation. Further details will be provided upon registration.

Welcome to the Kutsher's

Monday, October 11 - Sunday, October 17
Directed by Caroline Laskow, Ian Rosenberg
Film Series

Kutsher's Country Club was the last surviving Jewish resort in the Catskills. One of the legendary Borscht Belt hotels during its heyday, Kutsher's was family-owned and operated for over 100 years. Exploring the full Dirty Dancing-era Catskills experience— and how it changed American pop culture in the comedy, sports and vacation industries— this award-winning documentary captures a last glimpse of a lost world as it disappears before our eyes. The Catskills resorts were not only a Jewish refuge and family vacation paradise, they also gave birth to American stand-up comedy, an NBA All-Star tradition, and all-inclusive resorts. This film brings to life how Kutsher’s thrived at the center of all this growth and excitement. Watch Wilt Chamberlain both playing ball and working as a bellhop at Kutsher’s; Red Auerbach as the Kutsher’s Sports Director; and Kutsher’s Maurice Stokes benefit game create an All-Star basketball tradition. Laugh with appreciation at Freddie Roman as his classic Borscht Belt routine still brings down the house, and wonder in amazement as Andy Kaufman wrestles a female Kutsher’s guest for $50. Marvel at the abundance of hearty kosher feasts where no one can get away with ordering just one main dish, and the non-stop whirl of recreational activities. And as the Catskills decline, this film provides unprecedented eye-witness documentation of Kutsher's from its 100th anniversary season through the next seven years until the hotel is sold and demolished in 2014. The story of Kutsher’s is uniquely American, unexpectedly moving and a vital chapter – previously unexplored – of the modern Jewish experience.

Nora's Will

Monday, October 18 - Sunday, October 24
Directed by Mariana Chenillo
Film Series

Nora's Will is a comedy like nothing you've seen before, a truly unique tale of lost faith and eternal love from one of Mexico’s most talented new filmmakers, writer/director Mariana Chenillo. Nora's Will was named Mexico’s Best Picture of the Year, taking home seven Ariel Awards. Chenillo is the first female director ever to win Mexico’s Best Picture award.

When his ex-wife Nora dies right before Passover, José (Fernando Luján) is forced to stay with her body until she can be properly put to rest. He soon realizes he is part of Nora's plan to bring her family back together for one last Passover feast, leading José to reexamine their relationship and rediscover their undying love for each other.

Can We Talk About Israel?

Monday, October 25 | 7 PM
Written by Daniel Sokatch
Author Series

Daniel Sokatch is frequently asked for the abridged version of the Israel conflict. His book is an examination of the century-long struggle between two peoples that both perceive themselves as (and indeed are) victims.

Matchmaker

Monday, October 25 - Sunday, October 31
Directed by Avi Nesher
Film Series

Arik, a teenage boy growing up in Haifa in 1968, gets a job working for Yankele Bride, a matchmaker. Yankele, a mysterious Holocaust survivor, has an office in back of a movie theater that shows only love stories, run by a family of seven Romanian dwarves in the seedy area by the port. Yankele introduces Arik to a new world, built on the ruins of an old one.

Once In A Lifetime

Monday, November 8 - Sunday, November 14
Directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
Film Series

A dedicated history teacher at a French high school, Anne Gueguen (Ariane Ascaride), is determined to give the best education she can to her underprivileged inner-city pupils. Overcoming their apathy, however, is proving to be more difficult than expected. Frustrated but undaunted, Anne tests her multicultural classroom with a unique assignment: a national competition on the theme of child victims of the Nazi concentration camps. The project is initially met with extreme resistance, until a face-to-face encounter with a Holocaust survivor changes the students’ attitudes dramatically. Despite their long-shot odds of winning, these once-rebellious teens soon begin to see one another – and themselves – in a whole new light. Once In A Lifetime demonstrates the enduring impact of the Holocaust in transforming future generations.

Ethel Rosenberg

Sunday, November 14 | 10:30 AM
Written by Anne Sebba
Author Series

In June 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosen­berg, a cou­ple with two young sons, were led sep­a­rate­ly from their prison cells on Death Row and elec­tro­cut­ed moments apart. Both had been con­vict­ed of con­spir­a­cy to com­mit espi­onage for the Sovi­et Union, despite the fact that the US gov­ern­ment was aware that the evi­dence against Ethel was shaky at best and based on the per­jury of her own broth­er.

This book is the first to focus on one half of that cou­ple for more than thir­ty years, and much new evi­dence has sur­faced since then. Ethel was a bright girl who might have ful­filled her per­son­al dream of becom­ing an opera singer, but instead found her­self strug­gling with the social mores of the 1950s. She longed to be a good wife and per­fect moth­er to her two small boys, while bat­tling the polit­i­cal para­noia of the McCarthy era, anti-Semi­tism, misog­y­ny, and a moth­er who nev­er val­ued her. Because of her pro­found love for and loy­al­ty to her hus­band, she refused to incrim­i­nate him, despite gov­ern­ment pres­sure on her to do so. Instead, she coura­geous­ly faced the death penal­ty for a crime she had­n’t com­mit­ted, orphan­ing her two young sons.

Sev­en­ty years after her tri­al, this is the first time Ethel’s sto­ry has been told with the full use of the dra­mat­ic and trag­ic prison let­ters she exchanged with her hus­band, her lawyer and her psy­chother­a­pist over a three-year peri­od, two of them in soli­tary con­fine­ment. Hers is the res­o­nant sto­ry of what hap­pens when a gov­ern­ment moti­vat­ed by fear tram­ples on the rights of its citizens.

Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me

Monday, November 22- Sunday, November 28
Directed by Sam Pollard
Film Series

Sammy Davis, Jr. had the kind of career that was indisputably legendary, so vast and multi-faceted that it was dizzying in its scope and scale. And yet, his life was complex, complicated and contradictory. Davis strove to achieve the American Dream in a time of racial prejudice and shifting political territory. He was the veteran of increasingly outdated show business traditions trying to stay relevant; he frequently found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and the distaste of black America; he was the most public black figure to embrace Judaism, thereby yoking his identity to another persecuted minority.

Featuring new interviews with such luminaries as Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Kim Novak, with never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection and excerpts from his electric performances in television, film and concert, Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory blazed across the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the 1980s.

The Best Assassination in the Nation

Thursday, December 2 | 7 PM
Written by Joshua Cohen
Author Series

Ben­jamin Gold is a pri­vate eye who in 1952 takes on a mur­der case that impli­cates his ex-in-laws. Gold once prac­ticed law but changed pro­fes­sions after crack­ing up at the end of the war. The mur­der vic­tim was cru­sad­ing lawyer Mor­ry Sorin, who was shot in an appar­ent hold-up. The police con­sid­er the case closed, but Sor­in’s daugh­ter sus­pects a conspiracy.

Gold has a per­son­al score to set­tle with his for­mer in-laws. He is a Jew who mar­ried into a wealthy Gen­tile fam­i­ly that nev­er accept­ed him despite his whole­heart­ed efforts to assim­i­late. Gold’s mar­riage failed, but not before it irrec­on­cil­ably alien­at­ed him from his own par­ents and brother.

Gold relives this his­to­ry as he inves­ti­gates Sor­in’s mur­der. He also finds him­self the tar­get of an F.B.I. sting over his asso­ci­a­tion with Braun­stein, his for­mer psy­chi­a­trist whom the gov­ern­ment is try­ing to deport as a Com­mu­nist. Gold cracks the Sorin case, but to dubi­ous effect, giv­en his ex-in-laws’ suc­cess in skirt­ing pros­e­cu­tion. He’s left to devise his own way of achiev­ing justice.

Leona

Monday, December 13 - Sunday, December 19
Directed by Isaac Cherem
Film Series

"Leona" is an intimate, insightful, and moving film that tells the story of a young Jewish woman from Mexico City who finds herself torn between her family and her forbidden love. Ripe with all the drama and interpersonal conflicts of a Jane Austen novel, watching her negotiate the labyrinth of familial pressure, religious precedent, and her own burgeoning sentiment is both painful and beautiful – there are no easy choices to be made and the viewer travels back and forth with her as she struggles with her heart to take the best path.

The Orphan's Daughter

Tuesday, December 14 | 7 PM
Written by Jan Cherubin

This semi-autobiographical novel provides insight into the life in a Jewish Boys Orphanage in the 1920's and the lasting effects of having lived there.