Pioneer Valley Virtual Passover Film Festival

Source: Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival

The Virtual Passover Film Festival is an exciting way to engage with the themes of Passover through great films! From April 14 – 24, 2022, you can stream eight diverse and engaging films from your own home and on your own schedule. In addition to the eight films, there will be educational resources provided by My Jewish Learning and interviews with filmmakers that link to the themes of the holiday.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here are by following the links below.! Tickets for individual films are $5 each, plus a $1.25 ticketing fee. Full Festival Passes give access to all eight films and cost $18, plus a $1.95 ticketing fee. Trailers for each of the films can be viewed using the links below. For more information on the festival, look here.

The Eight Festival Films Are Listed Below

Leaving Paradise Cleo fulfilled his dream: to leave the big city with his wife and fifteen children, to establish a family commune on a farm in Brazil. Exploring their family roots leads the children to discover their surprising heritage, which undermines the existence of communal paradise. Documentary | 2021 | 86 minutesHebrew | Israel | Director: Ofer Freiman Buy Tickets Watch Trailer My Hero Brother A group of remarkable young people with Down syndrome embark on a demanding trek through the Indian Himalayas, accompanied by their siblings. Unresolved conflicts and the complexities of growing up with a Down syndrome sibling come to surface, as they deal with formidable physical and emotional challenges. Documentary | 2019 | 78 minutes Hebrew | Israel | Director: Yonatan Nir Buy Tickets Watch Trailer The Other Story Two rebellious young women – one fleeing the chaos of secular hedonism for the disciplined comforts of faith; the other desperate to transcend her oppressive religious upbringing for sexual and spiritual freedom – cross paths unexpectedly in Jerusalem, to startling consequences. Drama | 2018 | 112 minutesHebrew | Israel | Director: Avi Nesher Buy Tickets Watch Trailer Rabenu (Our Rabbi) – I’m a Wonder Man How did a controversial rabbi who passed away over 200 years ago become an influential figure in the lives of many of Jews? This film delves into the biggest spiritual movement in Judaism today and brings the magic of Rebbe Nachman of Breslow, one of Judaism’s most mysterious Hassidic rabbis, to the screen. Documentary | 2021 | 90 minutesHebrew | Israel | Director: Ori Gruder Buy Tickets Watch Trailer Redemption Menachem, a former frontman for a rock band, is now religious and a father to a six-year-old. When his daughter is diagnosed with cancer, he reunites his band for one last tour as a creative solution for funding the expensive treatments. The journey to save his daughter exposes old wounds and allows him to reconnect with his secular past.  Drama | 2018 | 104 minutesHebrew | Israel | Directors: Joseph Madmony and Boaz Yehonatan Yacov Buy Tickets Watch Trailer Shadow in Baghdad A young Iraqi journalist sets out to write about Linda Abdul Aziz, who escaped to Israel in the early ’70s and whose father, a prominent lawyer, had been kidnapped in Baghdad. The continuous dialog between the two slowly uncovers the tragic end of her father, as well as that of a whole Jewish community that thrived in Iraq for over 2,000 years.  Drama | 2013 | 70 minutesHebrew | Israel | Directors: Duki Dror and Galia Dror Buy Tickets Watch Trailer There are No Lions in Tel Aviv Arriving in Tel Aviv in 1935, Rabbi Max Shorenstein left his honorable position in order to fulfill a longtime dream: to build a zoo and teach children about the love of animals. His dream had come true and, against all odds, the Tel Aviv Zoo became the city’s greatest attraction. Documentary | 2019 | 63 minutesHebrew | Israel | Director: Duki Dror Buy Tickets Watch Trailer Yerusalem, the Incredible Story of Ethiopian Jewry This film shares the long, dramatic, and tumultuous journey of the Jewish Ethiopian community, also known as “Beta-Israel,” finally finding their way back to Jerusalem. This is the story of ancient Jewish traditions, of heroic actions, and daring covert operations.  Documentary | 2021 | 90 minutesHebrew | Israel | Director: Levi Zini Buy Tickets Watch Trailer

The Pioneer Valley Virtual Passover Film Festival is presented by the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan with the support from the Maimonides Fund and in partnership with the Springfield JCC.