We are delighted to present our Thirty-Second Annual Berkshire Jewish Film Festival featuring thirteen award-winning films from around the world.

As we celebrate Israel’s 70th anniversary, we are very excited to be showcasing five Israeli films: The Oslo Diaries, Shelter, Foxtrot, The Cakemaker and To Be A Child Again—Israel.

Foxtrot won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, Best Foreign Language Film at the National Board of Review, and nine Ophir Awards.

Levinsky Park, set in Israel, won IndieFEST’s Humanitarian Award of Distinction. The film’s Director, Beth Toni Kruvant, will be speaking to us on July 16.  We also have Oslo Diaries’ Director Mor Loushy speaking to us on July 9, and Rachel Israel, Director of Keep the Change speaking on July 30.

BJFF has grown to be a go-to film festival of national reputation, showing compelling, thought-provoking films. Welcome and enjoy our 32nd season!

Season passes will be available at the door on the first night, by clicking here, or by calling 413-445-4872, x10. And please “like” our new Berkshire Jewish Film Festival page on Facebook! 

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BJFF's 2018 Summer Line-up

July 9, 4:00 p.m. – The Oslow Diaries
The Oslo Diaries is a documentary about a group of Israelis and Palestinians who secretly come together in Oslo for unsanctioned peace talks during the 1990s.
[ view trailer ]

July 9, 8:00 p.m. – A Bag of Marbles
This movie depicts the story of the Nazi occupation through the eyes of two young Jewish boys struggling to survive on their own. Joseph, age 10, has such little understanding of the persecution of the Jews that he thinks nothing of swapping his yellow star for a bag of marbles. The boys survive on courage and ingenuity as they make their way through France hoping to reunite with their families. [ view trailer ]
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July 16, 4:00 p.m. – Levinsky Park
A documentary about the tens of thousands of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa who are seeking relief and safety in Israel only to find a society bitterly divided on how to treat them.  
[ view trailer ]

July 16, 8:00 p.m. – Shelter
A drama about two women—a Mossad agent and a Lebanese informer—who find themselves trapped in a labyrinth of deception, paranoia, and intrigue in this Israeli espionage thriller.  
[ view trailer ]
 

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July 23, 4:00 p.m. – Sammy Davis, Jr: I've Gotta Be Me
The first major film documentary to examine Davis’ vast talent and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during twentieth century America. Davis was the most public black figure to embrace Judaism thereby yoking his identity to another persecuted minority.

New interviews with Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg, and Kim Novak are featured with never-before-seen photos from his personal collection.
[ view trailer ]

July 23, 8:00 p.m. – Foxtrot
Israel’s bold and highly controversial Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film. This audacious and brilliantly crafted critique of Israel’s military confronts the absurdity of war through the ordeal of a young Israeli soldier and his grief-stricken parents. Nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards.
[ view trailer ]

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July 30, 4:00 p.m. – Keep the Change
While protagonist David struggles to come to terms with his own high-functioning autism, he unexpectedly falls for Sarah, a quirky and outgoing woman whose lust for life both irks and fascinates him. As their relationship evolves, Keep the Change blossoms into a refreshingly off-kilter story about the ups and downs of romantic life and the rewards of acceptance and mutual trust
[ view trailer ]

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August 6, 4:00 p.m. – A Classy Broad
A film portrayal of the life and career of trailblazing Hollywood executive Marcia Nasatir who broke through the glass ceiling as the first woman to serve as VP of Production at a major Hollywood studio. Nasatir championed such classics as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Rocky, Carrie, Coming Home, Apocalypse Now, and The Big Chill. [ view trailer ]

August 6, 8:00 p.m. – The Cakemaker
Unwittingly united in grief by a closet affair, a gay German baker and his deceased lover’s weary Israeli widow seek mutual catharsis in this compassionate meditation on the human urge for connection. Mature content. [ view trailer ]

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August 13, 4:00 p.m. – Hannah Cohen's Holy Communion
Hannah, a spirited seven-year-old girl from Dublin, can't wait to make her Holy Communion. The only problem is she’s Jewish!
[ view trailer ]

August 13, 4:00 p.m. – To Be A Child Again, Israel
A snapshot of Israel as seen through the lens of eleven children from different backgrounds and demographics. This candid view casts an intimate and personal light on Israel’s youth—what they see, how they think, what they learn—and the astonishing impact their thoughts and lives have on their country and the world they will soon inherit. [ view trailer ]

August 13, 8:00 p.m. – The Last Suit
Eighty-eight-year-old Abraham Bursztein feels that he’s about to be put out to pasture by his children who have sold his house in the suburbs of Buenos Aires and booked him into a retirement home. Refusing to bow to family pressure, Abraham sets off on an adventure halfway around the world to find the man who saved him from Auschwitz and to fulfill a promise he made years before. A poignant message of the enduring importance of family, friends, and honor. [ view trailer ]