As the Minnesota JCC prepares to launch the 2023 Twin Cities Film Festival, there has never been a more important time to come together. This year’s Festival, now in its 29th year, will feature 12 films in two weeks plus a month-long streaming package of binge-worthy shorts and shows. In addition to films from all around the world, the festival includes many award-winning films from Israel.
“Film is a powerful medium to educate, engage, and create connections within the Jewish community and beyond,” said Riv Shapiro, Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival’s producing director. “Coming together to share ideas, laugh, and cry, has never been more meaningful than during these heartbreaking times.”
Featured in-person films from Israel (all of which are Midwest or Minnesota premieres) include opening night’s outrageously fun romantic comedy Matchmaking; America, a twist-of-fate romantic drama in which an Israeli swimming tutor living in Chicago returns to Israel after 10 years of absence; Children of Peace, a documentary about children who were brought up in a social experiment in the only community in the world where Palestinians and Israelis chose to live together in co-existence; 1341 Frames of Love and War, the intimate portrait of photo-journalist Micha Bar-Am who took photos over 50 years of atrocities and war; Exodus 91: the Untold Story of Operation Solomon, a docu-narrative film that tells the story of Asher Naim, an Israeli diplomat caught between worlds and facing a crisis of faith in himself and his country during the 1991 airlift from Ethiopia; and closing night’s humor-filled The Money House, the latest hit from acclaimed filmmaker Avi Nesher, about a once successful novelist trying to revive his fading career by launching a highly inventive scam.
The festival’s virtual package, available for streaming throughout November, includes the popular new Israeli TV series Chanshi, and Israeli films The Holy Closet, It’s a Wrap, Under Her Wing, plus several documentary and narrative shorts from Israel and around the globe.
In addition to the extraordinary line-up of films, the festival includes speakers and after-events – a time for the community to spend time together to extend the film experience.
“The breadth of films from Israel and around the world offers something for everyone,” said Shapiro. “With the festival, we hope to open your minds and move your hearts in the way that only film can.”
To see the full line-up and to purchase tickets, go to the festival website. There’s also a downloadable (or printable) guide.
This article is sponsored content from the Minnesota JCC as part of TC Jewfolk’s Partnership program. For more information, check out our media kit.
