The New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival is a service of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire.
2020 Free Virtual Summer Film Series
Register for Free Virtual Summer Film Series:
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By phone (603-627-7679) through the Jewish Federation office Monday-Thursday 9am - 3pm.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Our Virtual Summer Film series is free of charge but we encourage a minimum donation of $18.00 to support the New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival.
You can stream each film from the comfort of your own home on your computer, phone, or television. Each film will be available for 72 hours only.
How to View the Films
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Get your Vimeo Account so you can easily view the films.
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See the detailed instructions of how to access the films here!
Love in Suspenders
New Hampshire Premiere
July 9, 2020 - 6 PM
(Film Link Available 72 Hours)
Director: Jorge Weller
Comedy, 2019, Israel
102 minutes
Hebrew with English subtitles
Content Warning: Adult Content
When absent-minded Israeli widow Tami accidentally bumps 70-year-old widower Beno with her car, the last thing on her mind is romance. Hoping Beno won’t sue her, she invites him to her apartment. Circumstances conspire to continually bring the two lonely elders together. Against her wishes, the financially comfortable Tami starts falling for the money-strapped Beno, who is head over heels in love with her. Will their budding relationship survive their own preconceptions and the scrutiny of their children?
Audience Choice Award for Best Drama, Jewish Fairfield County Jewish Film Festival 2019
Selection: Miami Jewish Film Festival, Rio Jewish Film Festival, UK Jewish Film Festival 2019, Philadelphia Israel Film Festival 2020, San Diego Jewish Film Festival 2020, Toronto Jewish Film Festival 2020
My Name Is Sara
New Hampshire Premiere
July 23, 2020 - 6 PM
(Film Link Available 72 hours)
Director: Steven Oritt
Drama, 2019, USA
111 minutes
English
Content Warning: Adult Content, Sexual Situations
Virtual Discussion with special guest,
David Himmelstein, Screenwriter
Sunday, July 26, 2020 - 7 PM
The true story of Sara Goralnik, a 13-year-old Polish Jew whose entire family was killed by Nazis in September 1942. After a grueling escape to the Ukrainian countryside, Sara steals her Christian best friend’s identity and finds refuge in a small village, where she is taken in by a farmer and his young wife. She soon discovers the dark secrets of her employers’ marriage, compounding her own greatest secret that she must strive to protect, her true identity.
Selection: Miami Jewish Film Festival 2020, Denver Jewish Film Festival 2020, Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival 2020, Charlotte Jewish Film Festival 2020, JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival 2020, Boulder International Film Festival (Colorado) 2020, Hartford Jewish Film Festival (CT) 2020, Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival 2020
David Himmelstein – Screenwriter
David's been a writer most of his life, starting as a speechwriter for Sen. Edward Brooke. He transitioned to journalism, covering New England state houses for the Associated Press and reporting for the Gannett papers in Maine.
He was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in Journalism at Harvard and shortly after that a fellowship from the Writers Guild of America, which launched his screenwriting career.
His movies have ranged from politics to sports to horror and suspense -- starting with POWER, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Richard Gere, Denzel Washington and Julie Christie. They also include: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED directed by John Carpenter, starring Christopher Reeve, the HBO movie SOUL OF THE GAME, starring Blair Underwood and Edward Herrmann, and BAD COMPANY starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock.
Futures Past
New Hampshire Premiere
August 6, 2020 - 6 PM
(Film Link Available 72 Hours)
Director: Jordan Melamed
Documentary, 2016, USA
89 minutes
English
Virtual Discussion with special guest,
Jordan Melamed, Director
Sunday, August 9, 2020 - 7 PM
Set against the last days of trading in the legendary Chicago pits, Futures Past captures the power struggle between filmmaker Jordan Melamed and his father, Leo Melamed, Holocaust survivor and kingpin of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. What begins as a documentary of the end of an era becomes a deeply personal exploration by a son returning to the “kill or be killed” world in which he was raised.
“One of the best films I’ve seen this year by far.” — Richard Roeper, Fox 32 Chicago
“It’s in his conversations and confrontations with Leo that Jordan strikes documentary-film gold. Both of them articulate, conflict-hungry men with personal scores to settle, which they proceed to chew over on camera for our delectation.” — Hollywood Report
Director Jordan Melamed spent twelve years in the Chicago trading pits before attending the American Film Institute in Los Angeles where his thesis film, A Corner in Gold, won the Student Emmy for Drama from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and played at Kodak’s Emerging Filmmaker’s Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival. His first feature, Manic, starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, and Don Cheadle, and told the story of a violent adolescent placed in a juvenile psychiatric facility against his will. Manic premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, played at Toronto and film festivals worldwide, and was released theatrically by IFC Films. Showtime bought the rights to create a television series based on the film and Melamed co-wrote the pilot with Davis Entertainment producing. Melamed wrote and produced Twelve based on the best-selling novel by Nick McDonell. Directed by Joel Schumacher, with Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, 50 Cent, and Ellen Barkin, Twelve premiered as the closing night film at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010 and was released worldwide by Hanover. Jordan is currently developing Fountain of Youth, a hybrid documentary/fiction project about beauty and aging set in South Miami Beach.
Shooting Life
New Hampshire Premiere
August 20, 2020 - 6 PM
(Film Link Available 72 Hours)
Director: David Kreiner
Drama, 2018, Israel
84 minutes
Hebrew with English subtitles
Film Star Sponsor:
Ledgewood Wealth Advisors, LLC
Igal Gazit, an unemployed film director from Tel Aviv, moves to Sderot and takes a teaching job at the high school. However, Igal’s first meeting with his new students doesn’t go well. The students, sensing that he is patronizing them, make fun of the “enlightenment” he brings from Tel Aviv. Igal promises the principal that all the kids will pass the State Film Exams. The road to fulfilling that promise is one that the students will never forget.
Selection: Vienna Jewish Film Club 2018, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival 2019, Montreal Jewish Film Festival 2019, Washington Jewish Film Festival 2019
Paris Song
New Hampshire Premiere
August 27, 2020 - 6 PM
(Film Link available 72 Hours)
Director: Jeff Vespa
Historical Drama, 2018, Kazakhstan, Latvia, USA
90 minutes
English, Arabic, French, Hebrew
Virtual Discussion with special guest,
Jeff Vespa, Director
Sunday, August 30, 2020 - 7 PM
The true story of small-town singer Amre Kashaubayev’s journey from Soviet-ruled Kazakhstan to Paris to compete in an international singing competition at the 1925 Paris Expo. Unexpectedly embraced by the high-culture Paris elite, Amre forms a beautiful and unlikely friendship with American Jewish songwriters George Gershwin and Irving Berlin and with photographer Lee Abbott. This inspiring story illuminates what it means to be an outsider and to struggle against adversity.
Best Narrative Film and Best Actor Awards, Richmond International Film Festival 2019
Hollywood Silver Screen Prize of Kazakhstan, Hollywood Film Festival 2018
Jeff Vespa is one of the co-founders of the entertainment photo agency WireImage. His photography has been featured in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and Vogue. Recently, Vespa directed the feature documentary Voices of Parkland about the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Shooting. He also directed the short film Nosebleed, starring David Arquette, which screened at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival during Critics Week. Vespa's producing credits include the documentary $ellebrity, which focuses on the history of publicity, gossip and paparazzi in Hollywood. He also produced three films for the fine art photographer Alex Prager, whose short films Despair and Face in the Crowd screened at the Museum of Modern Art. Vespa previously worked at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. He attended the Master's Program for Producing at the American Film Institute.
Jewish Federation Committee
Ross Fishbein
Patricia Kalik
Film Festival Chairs
Linda Gerson,
Film Festival Chair and Artistic Director Emerita
Sarit Itenberg
Chairman of the Board
Allyson Guertin
Director of Outreach and Engagement
Graphic Design
Grinley Creative
Printing
NH Print & Mail Services
Copy
Fran Berman
Video
Galaxy Editing
Website
Glikstorm LLC
Event Chairs
Pamela Englander: Sociable Saturday Night
Ann Fabian: Closing Event
JoAnn Meyers: Gala Event
Barbara Scotch: Closing Event
Steering Committee
Pamela Englander
Harvey Epstein
Barrie Paster
Film Festival Committee
Paul Bieber
Mark Biletch
Maryellen Biletch
Shana Biletch
Laura Black
Roberta Brayer
Marla Brettschneider
Kathy Brodsky
Zachary Camenker
Marilyn Cavanaugh
Dina Chaitowitz
Pamela Cohen
Debbie Depasse
Martin Fabian
Arlene Fishbein
Darren Garnick
Rylee Hollub
Arlene Kershaw
Richard Kudler
Rachel Kurshan
Andy Kushner
Brandon Latham
Barbara Ann Paster
Reva Rovner
Avia Sagron
Brenda Schadick
Audrey Steinberg
Liliane Sznycer
Abner Taub
Mandi Werner
Russell Wolff
THANK YOU
to All of Our 2020 Sponsors!
The 12th Annual New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival is supported in part by a grant from
the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Executive Producers
Producers
Directors and Film Stars
Maryellen and Mark Biletch
Pam Grich and Louis Fink
Nancy and Richard Kudler
Sarit Itenberg and Jonathan Greenblatt
Honey Weiss and David Lewis
Julia and Ido Preis
Barbara and Barry Scotch
Anonymous
Film Viewing Instructions - Helpful Hints
WATCH THE FILM ON YOUR COMPUTER
1. Click on the link provided in your e-mail
2. Enter the password provided, we recommend you copy and paste it, as it is case-sensitive
WATCH FILM ON YOUR TELEVISION
(WITH NO SMART TV CAPABILITIES)
1. Open the film on your computer (see instructions above)
2. Use an HDMI cable to connect your computer to your television (You can purchase a HDMI cable from Amazon)
3. Make sure the correct input source is selected on your TV
4. Your TV will act as a second monitor for your computer, you can either mirror your computer or use your mouse to drag the Vimeo window onto the TV screen
5. View this YouTube Video for additional information
WATCH ON YOUR SMART TV
OR TV WITH SMART DEVICE (USING FIRESTICK, ROKU, ETC.)
1. Make sure your TV is on the same wifi as your phone or tablet
2. On your phone or tablet download the FREE Vimeo app from your app store and create an account
3. On your phone or tablet open the film link sent in your email and enter the cap- sensitive password
4. At the top of the screen you will see three dots – click there and then click on “Watch Later”
5. Go to your TV and install the Vimeo channel, if it is not already there
6. Open the Vimeo channel on your TV – you may have to log in to your account
7. Go to the “Watch Later” folder and the film should be there
WATCH ON YOUR APPLE TV
1. Make sure your TV is on the same wifi as your phone or tablet
2. Open the Vimeo link sent in your email on your phone or tablet and enter the password
3. On the bottom right of the Vimeo link select the Airplay icon - looks like a rectangle with a triangle
4. Select your TV from the dropdown
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions please email us at filmfest@jewishnh.org or call 603-627-7679
Ross Fishbein and Pat Kalik
Co-Chairs New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival