Five feature films, three Central Florida venues and one weekend is the formula for this year's Central Florida Jewish Film Festival, running Saturday through Monday across the Orlando Science Center, Enzian and Aloma Cinema Grill. Tickets range from $15 for a single screening up to $118 for a pass covering all five programs.
Orlando Weekly describes the event as a three-day showcase of Jewish films from around the globe, spotlighting cinema that explores Jewish culture, history and family; Shalom Orlando co-presents the festival. Shalom Orlando and Heritage Florida both identify this as the 28th annual edition of the festival, though a listing from Arts in Orlando refers to it as the 29th annual edition — the discrepancy remains unresolved.
All five films showing this year are feature-length, with no shorts on the slate, according to the same Heritage Florida report. Four of the five center on family relationships, a thread running through much of this year's lineup, according to Heritage Florida, while Orlando Weekly offers its own rundown of the festival's offerings.
What's Screening and Where
The festival opens Saturday, November 7, with “We Met at Grossinger's,” a documentary about the Borscht Belt comedy circuit in the Catskills, showing at 8 p.m. at The Dome at Orlando Science Center. Orlando Weekly describes the film as part of a lineup spotlighting Jewish culture, history and family across generations.
Sunday, November 8, brings “Hola!...Chao,” an Argentinian-Israeli family comedy-drama, to Enzian at 1:45 p.m. Monday, November 9, closes out the festival with a double feature at Enzian: “Once Upon My Mother,” a drama set in the 1960s about a Jewish immigrant family from Morocco, screens at 3:45 p.m., followed by “The Ring,” described as a comedy with a hint of drama, at 6:30 p.m.
Also on the schedule is “The Stamp Thief,” a documentary-as-mystery centered on the Holocaust, which screens Sunday, November 8, at 4:45 p.m. at Aloma Cinema Grill.
Ticket Prices and Sponsorship
Individual tickets run $15 per screening, according to the Heritage Florida report. Festivalgoers looking to catch all five programs can opt for a $70 Series Pass or a $118 Mensch Pass, both described as available in limited quantity. Shalom Orlando also notes that sponsorships start at $500 and include premier seating. The festival itself is sponsored by Enzian and Shalom Orlando.
