JIMENA at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

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This year, JIMENA will present two films at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival:


The Hangman

Israel, 2010, 60 min., Hebrew w/Eng. subtitles
Director: Netalie Braun

"The administrator of the mass deportation of Jews to the Nazi death camps Adolf Eichmann, was hanged in Israel's first and only execution. Shalom Nagar, a religious Jewish ritual slaughterer and street philosopher who believes in charity, was the hangman.

His life encapsulates the story from the perspective of "the other" the marginalized Sephardi prison warden who was forced to do the dirty work of hanging the arch-enemy, and thus to carry a national burden that dramatically shaped the country, and his life.

Shaloms job as a slaughterer in the abattoir, together with memories of his past, create a complex portrait of character who repeatedly finds himself at the cusp of historical events yet remains simple and humane, and despite all his personal tragedies maintains his characteristic faith and humor."

San Francisco JCC. Sun, July 31st at 4:45 pm
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep. Tues, Aug 2nd at 4:40 pm
Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. Sat, Aug. 6th at 4:30 pm



The Matchmaker

Israel, 2010, 112 min., Hebrew w/Eng. subtitles
Director/Screenwriter: Avi Nesher

"In this affectionate, bittersweet feature, Israeli director Avi Nesher conjures up the port city of Haifa in the late 1960s, weaving together stories of coming of age and coming to terms with the past. Arik Burstein is a teenager whose summer vacation explodes with novel attractions, namely the sexy Iraqi-Jewish-American niece of his best friend and a seedy downtown movie theater run by Sylvia and a group of Jewish dwarfs (based on historical persons) who met at Josef Mengele’s clinic in Auschwitz. But it is Yankele Bride, a matchmaker and shady businessman from the Old World, who captivates Arik with his peculiar talents for bringing the misfits of Haifa together in love. Among the additional heroes in Arik’s summer adventures are Meir, a reclusive librarian, and Clara, a Holocaust survivor from Poland whose attempts to battle horrors and sleepless nights are heartbreaking. Nesher’s vibrant film mixes tensions between youth and maturity, between Eastern European–influenced Israeli socialism and the infiltrating trends of the American
1960s, and between the Israeli Sabras and the Holocaust refugees from “there” who will never make a true home “here.” Like Nesher’s other films, The Matchmaker richly reflects the unique Israeli mosaic and is bound to turn into a cherished classic."

San Francisco JCC. Sat, July 30th at 6:30 pm
Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. Mon, Aug. 1st at 8:30 pm
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep. Sat, Aug. 6th at 8:55 pm
Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. Mon, Aug 8th at 8:55 pm