THE NEW YORK SEPHARDIC JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2016 EDITION

Updated: Aug 30, 2023

THE NEW YORK SEPHARDIC JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2016 EDITION

MARCH 10th to 17th 2016

at the Center for Jewish History

The American Sephardi Federation presents the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival for its 19th edition from March 10th to 17th 2016 at the Center for Jewish History in New York City (15 West 16th Street).

Through the poignant medium of film, the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival (NYSJFF) provides viewers with an understanding of the rich mosaic culture of Jews from the Middle East and greater Sephardic Diaspora. Contemporary voices steeped in history and tradition are celebrated throughout this week-long series of events, including première screenings, intriguing stories, poignant documentaries, filmmaker Q&As, and the Pomegranate Awards ceremony.

Trailer: https://goo.gl/yqpSzK

Tickets are available on asffilmfestival2016.bpt.me or 1.800.838.3006

Official website: www.nysephardifilmfestival.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/164172433943306/


 
FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE :

March 10th - OPENING NIGHT - 7 pm

POMEGRANATE AWARDS CEREMONY
 
ENSEMBLE (Short Film) by Mohamed Fekrane (US PREMIERE)

The director will be in attendance for the Q&A
 

 

 
March 12th - 9 pm: HOW TO WIN ENEMIES by Gabriel Lichtman
 

March 13th - 2 pm: PRINCE OF EGYPT by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner & Simon Wells
 

 
Free film screening, kids party, and special prize awarded for best costume. Ages 8+
 

March 13th - 5 pm: ORO MACHT FREI by Jeffrey Bonna

Filmmakers are in attendance for the Q&A.
 

 

 
March 13th - 7pm : Journey through Jewish Bollywood; 8PM : BEQASSOR by K. Amarnath
 
Bollywood Night

March 14th - 4 pm: SHATTERED RHYMES by Sami Shalom-Chetrit
 

 
Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A.
 

March 14th - 6 pm: A SONG OF LOVES by R. David Buzaglo (US PREMIERE)
 

 

 
March 14th - 8 pm: MIDNIGHT ORCHESTRA by Jérôme Cohen-Olivar (US PREMIERE)
 

 
Followed by an After Party by ASF’s Young Leadership Board
 

 

 
March 15th - 6 pm: MY EMO LIFE by Rafael Attias
 

 
Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A, followed by a Sneak Peek.
 

 

 
March 15th - 8 pm: CARVALHO'S JOURNEY by Steve Rivo
 

 
Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A.
 

 

 
March 16th - 6 pm: ARABIC FILM by Eyal Sagui Bizawe & Sara Tsifroni
 

March 16th - 7:30 pm: SHORE OF LOVE by Henry Barakat
 

 

 
March 17th - 7 pm: FOR SABBATH by Oron Cohen (US PREMIERE)
 

 

 
March 17th - 7:15 pm: ON THE BANKS OF THE TIGRIS by Marsha Emerman

(NY PREMIERE)
 

FESTIVAL FULL PROGRAM:


 

 
MARCH 10th - OPENING NIGHT - 7 pm

AWARD CEREMONY
 
ENSEMBLE (Short Film)
 

 
Director: Mohamed Fekrane
 

 

 
In 1942, Ahmad, an Imam from Paris, makes a life-changing decision to help save as many children as possible after Isaac, a young Jewish boy escaping a Nazi concentration camp, finds refuge in his mosque. Inspired by a true story.
 

 

 
The director will be in attendance for the Q&A
 


 

 
MARCH 12th - 9pm
 
HOW TO WIN ENEMIES
 

 
Director: Gabriel Lichtman
 

 

 
Lucas is a young and handsome lawyer with a penchant for detective stories. Barbara is a lustful and smart lawyer who also loves literature. After a night together, Lucas awakes to find Barbara has gone, along with his financial savings. Determined to solve this mystery, Lucas finds himself in a captivating, twisted, romantic comedy plot.

TICKETS: http://asfhowtowinenemies.bpt.me/
 

MARCH 13th - 2pm
 
PRINCE OF EGYPT
 

 
Director: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner
 

 
& Simon Wells
 

 

 
In this animated retelling of Shemot (Exodus) accompanied by the soulful singing of
 

 
Israeli-Yemeni legend Ofra Haza, Egyptian Prince Moses discovers his roots as a Jewish slave and embarks on a quest to free his people from bondage.
 

 

 
Free film screening, kids party, and special prize awarded for best costume. Ages 8+
 


 

 
MARCH 13th - 5pm
 
ORO MACHT FREI
 

 
Director: Jeffrey Bonna
 

 

 
In 1943, the Nazi-allied Italian Social Republic issued an order of arrest for all Jews, who had already suffered under Mussolini’s Racial Laws, in its territory. This riveting documentary explores the aftermath through the testimonies of nine Roman Jews, archival footage, family photos, and the perspectives of renowned historians.
 

 
Filmmakers are in attendance for the Q&A.
 

 

 
Journey through clips of the glory days of Bollywood, when Pramila, Sulochana, Nadira, and other Jewish stars and scriptwriters dominated silver screens across India. Kenneth
 

 
X. Robbins, author of a multi-volume history of the Jews of India and the curator of
 

 
ASF’s Bollywood & the Bene Israel in Bollywood and Beyond exhibition will present an interactive lecture.
 

 
TICKETS: http://asforomachtfrei.bpt.me/
 


 

 
MARCH 13th - 8pm
 
BEQASSOR
 

 
Director: K. Amarnath
 

 

 
In this Bollywood classic featuring musical interludes, Pramila (aka Esther Abraham), a Baghdadi Jewish star and the First Miss India (1947), plays a young, naïve girl caught in the cross-fire of a deep-rooted sibling rivalry between her upright husband and her scheming brother-in-law. The brother-in-law exploits the girl’s trusting nature to falsely implicate her husband in a corruption case and turns the husband against the wife by wrongly defaming her character.

TICKETS: http://asfbollywoodnight.bpt.me/
 


 

 
MARCH 14th - 4pm
 
SHATTERED RHYMES
 

 
Director: Sami Shalom-Chetrit
 

 

 
A cinematic portrait of Algerian-born Moroccan-Israeli poet Erez Bitton, recipient of last year’s Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement and the first Sephardi to win the Israel Prize in Literature. The film explores the social, cultural, and political experience of Moroccan and other immigrants to Israel through Bitton’s poetry and life milestones, especially his tragic loss of eyesight at age 11.
 

 

 
Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A.

TICKETS: http://asfshatteredrhymes.bpt.me/
 

MARCH 14th - 6pm
 
A SONG OF LOVES
 

 
Director: R. David Buzaglo
 

 

 
Moroccan Rabbi David Buzaglo, frequently considered the greatest Hebrew liturgical poet of the 20th century, had a major impact on Maghrebi Jews. Buzaglo’s poetry while faithful to a Moroccan tradition dating back to Andalusian Spain was also innovative (e.g., he transmuted secular, even risqué, Arab pop music tunes, into the sacred). This film is an intimate look at Buzaglo’s life and legacy, from his prolific period in the Diaspora through the Piyyut revolution in Israel today.
 

TICKETS: http://asfasongofloves.bpt.me/
 


 

 
MARCH 14th - 8pm
 
MIDNIGHT ORCHESTRA
 

 
Director: Jérôme Cohen-Olivar
 

 

 
In this cross-generational, interfaith comedy, the son of a once-famous Jewish musician returns to his home country to bury his father. Aided by an eccentric cab driver, his search for the former members of his father’s band unexpectedly transforms his life forever. Starring Gad Elmaleh, Hassan El Fad, and Jade Chkif.
 

 

 
Followed by an After Party by ASF’s Young Leadership Board
 

 
TICKETS: http://asfmidnightorchestra.bpt.me/
 


 

 
MARCH 15th - 6pm
 
MY EMO LIFE
 

 
Director: Rafael Attias
 

 
In this introspective, historical, and contemplative narrative, Rafael Attias creates a poetic exploration of place and belonging, weaving together themes of generational and geographical displacement, family continuity, fatherhood, marriage, and aging.
 

 

 
Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A.
 

 
Followed by a Sneak Peek.
 

 
TICKETS: http://asfmyemolife.bpt.me/
 


 

 
MARCH 15th - 8pm
 
CARVAHLO’S JOURNEY
 

 
Director: Steve Rivo
 

 
A real-life 19th-century American Western adventure, Carvalho’s Journey tells the extraordinary story of Solomon Nunes Carvalho (1815–1897), a Sephardic Jew born in Charleston, South Carolina, who became a ground-breaking photographer, artist, and pioneer in American history.
 

 

 
Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A.
 

 
TICKETS: http://asfcarvahlosjourney.bpt.me/
 


 

 
MARCH 16th - 6pm
 
ARABIC FILM
 

 
Directors: Eyal Sagui Bizawe & Sara Tsifroni
 

 

 
Back in the day, when there were only a few television channels to choose from and when Israel and Egypt were at war, families across Israel would gather in their homes on Friday nights to watch old Arab-language classics. How did Israeli television obtain these films? Why were they shown? This unexpected documentary brings us the stars, and the stories, and takes us directly into living rooms brimming with nostalgia.
 

 
TICKETS: http://asfarabicfilm.bpt.me/

MARCH 16th - 7:30pm
 
SHORE OF LOVE
 

 
Director: Henry Barakt
 

 

 
Layla Mourad, the widely popular Egyptian film diva whose Sephardi (and Ashkenazi)
 

 
Jewish roots have largely been forgotten, and stars in this musical romance as a beautiful, penniless girl with a voice from the heavens. She marries Adel, a rich young bachelor while their scheming families try to break them up. Released in 1950 and considered a masterpiece of the Golden Age of Cinema in Egypt, this classic includes many of Mourad’s most memorable songs.

TICKETS: http://asfshoreoflove.bpt.me/
 


 

 
MARCH 17th - 7pm
 
FOR SABBATH
 

 
Director: Oron Cohen
 

 

 
Filmmaker Oron Cohen deftly films his Iraqi grandmother, Malka, while she teaches him how to make the traditional dish she’s been perfecting since 1950, kubba. A scented tribute to the women we all hold dear to our hearts—our talented grandmothers.
 

 

 
MARCH 17th - 7:15pm
 
ON THE BANKS OF THE TIGRIS
 

 
Director: Marsha Emerman
 

 

 
When Majid Shokor escaped from Iraq he discovered that the songs he loved as a child in Baghdad have a hidden history. To find out more, Majid makes a bold journey from his home in Australia to Israel, countries in Europe, and Iraq to meet Iraqi musicians, hear their music and stories, and unite them in a concert celebrating coexistence.

TICKETS: http://asfiraqinight.bpt.me/

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