DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHTS AT THE JEWISH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (JIFF) 2021

Twitter @rolmar

www.jiff.com.au

The Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF) is back this year at the Ritz Cinema in Randwick, Sydney from 18 February to 24 March 2021. The festival spans a varied collection of Jewish films in both documentary and narrative feature formats. There is a bit for everyone, including movies and TV series from Israel, stories about the Holocaust, and compelling profiles of prominent Jewish personalities. 

Among the documentaries, here are my highlights to guide you when selecting what to watch.

RUTH: JUSTICE GINSBURG IN HER OWN WORDS

This is my personal favourite among the rest of the bunch. This tribute to the pioneering and indefatigable Justice Ginsberg is a worthy accompaniment to the other celebratory doco RBG. There are many emotional moments in this piece as it unfolds with a stirring soundtrack. The narrative is pieced together from rare archival footage, including interviews and highlights of her career. Check out a young Joe Biden deliberating her nomination to the Supreme Court. It is emotive and a celebration of life with a strong determination for equality and overcoming discrimination.

ALAN PAKULA: GOING FOR TRUTH

Alan Pakula is a great director with credits such as TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN. He is also trained in psychology, and his works reflect that mastery of entering the human mind and its motivations. A stellar cast of doco subjects honouring Pakula including Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. There is a pleasant surprise appearance from Jennie Livingston of PARIS IS BURNING and who also happens to be Pakula’s niece. A treat for the cineastes.

CHURCHILL AND THE MOVIE MOGUL

There are many little-known trivia about Winston Churchill and the Jewish British movie producer Alexander Korda in this revealing doco. Excellent use of archival and the inclusion of that very unflattering insight on the America First program. This one is for the history buffs as it unearths Churchill and Korda’s movie legacy before the Churchill we know today.

COMRADE DOV

An up-close portrait of left-wing Israeli activist and former Knesset member Dov Khenin. A member of the Arab-Jewish communist party, Hadash, Khenin is also the only Jewish member of the Arab political parties alliance in Israel known as the Joint List. There is so much humanity in this film, regardless of one’s political affiliations. Khenin offers hope and optimism in a climate of growing division. A must-see for those who want a glimpse of Israel’s current political climate. 

HOLY SILENCE

A searing exposé of controversial Pope Pius XII’s inadequate response to Hitler and the evils of Nazism and anti-Semitism during World War II. The Catholic Church’s response to the Holocaust is re-examined, and its moral authority questioned through rare archives and revealing interviews. This hard-hitting doco strongly debates the inaction and neutrality of the Catholic leadership in the face of ongoing Nazi crimes of inhumanity in Europe. 

BROKEN DREAMS

There are plenty of poignant moments in this piece. Reminiscent of Anne Frank, this shortish doco is a diary account of Renia Spiegel as she struggles to survive with her sister Ariana in Nazi-occupied Poland. Renia writes about her teenage life and her eventual challenges living in a ghetto. Sadly, Renia was killed by a Nazi police at the young age of 18. Ariana survives her sister and discovers the diary later upon settling in America. More than just the personal accounts, this is also quite powerful in providing a first-hand chronicle of the Holocaust.

HONORABLE MEN

This political thriller style doco follows Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s unexpected rise to power and eventual fall in prison. It paints a man with complexity and provides a behind-the-scenes look at the mechanisms and manoeuvres that control politics, justice, war and peace. This doco pushes to present both sides of Olmert’s story and other interviews to validate his views.

ISRAEL, THE LAND OF THE TV SERIES

This is a fascinating look at how Israel has successfully promoted and exported its TV series to the rest of the world, primarily done through sales or adaptations. Despite limited financial means, the show creators overcome the situation through a defined creative process. There are exciting interviews from these emerging artistic forces that are both equally hopeful and frustrated in their craft. If there is anything consistent, it is their common insight to present an accurate portrait of current Israeli society.

MENACHEM BEGIN: WAR AND PEACE

This powerful doco presents a surprising and lesser-known portrait of Israel’s sixth prime minister. Menachem Begin led Israel for six intense and turbulent years. He faced many challenges and made a handful of fateful decisions that led to creating peace and launching a tormenting war. The film merges rare archival shown for the first time and recent interviews held with crucial figures during Begin’s time as Prime Minister. Riveting watch!

JEZ: A LETTER TO LIFE

The only Aussie doco at this festival is both a heartbreaking and uplifting production from Mitzi Goldman. Jeremey Spinak AM is the youngest elected president of the Jewish Board of Deputies. The doco revolves around his rare heart cancer diagnosis and with just six months to live, he documents himself for his two infant twins. The video diaries unveil himself and his life achievements and what gives his life meaning. A very stirring existential piece that examines the value of one’s life while faced with mortality. A very heartfelt emotional cinema experience.

KINERET

This is a unique nature film centred on the intertwined connection between the Sea of Galilee and the orphaned swamp cat trying to survive the wild’s dangers. The Sea of Galilee provides all her needs until she rules the area and establishes her family there. It also encompasses the migration of birds who fly to the Sea of Galilee twice a year. This is mesmerising and supremely layered in its execution — a must-see for Attenborough fans.

KINGS OF CAPITOL HILL

This doco examines the powerful pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). It is known for its bipartisan loyalty in the US capital. The narrative explores some disgruntled insiders who have deep-seated disagreements about President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policy-making. This is a searing and eye-opening look at how the influence of politics can rule and eventually lose ground — a very timely piece, especially with the fall of Trump.

THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK BOOK

This Black Book collects testimonies and articles about the murder of 2,700,000 Jews in the Soviet Union during the Nazi occupation. This book was to be published in Moscow in 1947 but was shelved by authorities.  This intriguing doco pursues the reasons for this event, especially with the notion that it was as if the Holocaust never occurred at all. Why did Stalin decide to hide this vital evidence of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union? With a varied mix of archival and animation quaintly narrated, the film delves deep into this mystery. The answers will astound you.

THEY CALL ME DR. MIAMI

Quite a fascinating doco on the life story of Dr Miami aka Michael Salzhauer, a renowned American plastic surgeon who is as controversial as he is famous. It is a doco shrouded in skin-deep superficiality in a culture of social media madness and body modification. Ironies abound as Salzhauer is a faithful husband and a father to five kids, as well as a conservative Orthodox Jew. This doco’s best facelift is probably the depth of layered meanings with the dichotomy between Salzhauer’s big public persona and the real private individual.

Other powerful docos not to be missed are the eye-opening TIL KINGDOM COME, the quite compelling THE HUMAN FACTOR, the very conflicting LOVE, IT WAS NOT, the delectable BREAKING BREAD and the uncompromising SOROS.