Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival Showcases Global Jewish Narratives

The Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival kicks off its 31st year on October 23, 2023, and continues until November 2, 2023. This annual event, held primarily at the Minnesota Jewish Community Center’s Sabes Center in St. Louis Park and the Capp Center in St. Paul, features a total of 47 films that explore diverse Jewish stories from both local and global perspectives. Additional screenings will take place at various venues in Minneapolis, including the Riverview Theater, the Main Cinema, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Tickets and showtimes are available at tcjff.eventive.org.

Among the films is Joy Sela‘s debut documentary, The Other, which examines the ongoing conflicts in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The festival emphasizes the broad spectrum of Jewish experiences, featuring a biopic on Brian Epstein, the gay Jewish manager of The Beatles, and a contemporary Hungarian family drama titled All About the Levkoviches. On Halloween, audiences can look forward to a block of horror shorts, including selections in Yiddish.

Local talent is well represented, with projects such as Michael Greenberg‘s short film The Combination and a documentary inspired by a play by Minnesota playwright Carson Kreitzer, titled The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & the Art of Survival. The festival will also preview Milkweed, touted as the first feature-length animation created in Minnesota, which is expected to be completed in 2027.

Sela, who began filming The Other in 2017, originally did not intend for it to become a documentary. Through a nonprofit she founded, she aimed to facilitate conversations between opposing viewpoints via performance art. However, upon bringing her work to Israel, she found a compelling desire among individuals to share deeper personal narratives. This led her to gather stories that reflect the complexities of life in the region.

The film highlights the experiences of individuals like Ahmed Helou from the Gaza Strip and Maoz Inon from Israel. Both have endured significant trauma; Helou lost over 60 family members in Gaza, while Inon’s parents were killed during Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. Despite their losses, both men are actively working to build bridges between their communities.

Reflecting on her journey, Sela expressed the challenges of confronting her own biases and understanding the conditioning that shaped her perspective. She stated, “The people (in the film) doing this courageous work are coming from backgrounds of conflict, or having lost a child, or having experienced or enacted violence and chosen nonviolence now. These experiences can lead to profound transformations.”

Sela continues to film through 2024, including follow-ups with her interviewees in light of the current Israel-Hamas war that erupted on October 7, 2023. Since that date, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed or displaced, and approximately 67,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have died, according to United Nations figures. In such a volatile environment, Sela acknowledges the difficulty of encouraging individuals, especially Palestinian women, to share their stories on camera.

Building trust over the years has been vital for Sela, who emphasizes the importance of portraying her subjects authentically while ensuring their safety. She aims to use the documentary as a means to “rehumanize the conversation” and foster constructive engagement among viewers.

The festival, with its focus on varied Jewish narratives, not only highlights the richness of the Jewish experience but also serves as a platform for dialogue during a time of significant global turmoil. Through these films, audiences are invited to explore complex stories that resonate deeply with the human experience.