Each year, a dedicated committee of culture-savvy-enthusiasts comb through many stories of Jewish culture to showcase in the annual OC Jewish Arts Festival.
Seeking to enthrall and inspire audiences, we review over a hundred movies, and select three to screen. Here is a sneak preview of the best of the best.
“Orchestra of Exiles”
Thursday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m.
We are always thrilled to partner with the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education at Chapman University, as the Center’s offerings are consistently the best, bar none. “Orchestra of Exiles” is no exception.
Josh Aronson is the author of the book and the film. He has star quality and a passion for this story. The awe-inspiring, multi-faceted film explores Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman’s founding of the orchestra that would become the Israel Philharmonic. Witnessing the rising threat of Nazism, Huberman arranged the safe passage of hundreds of Jewish musicians and their families out of Nazi controlled territories. His tireless campaigning for the project saved nearly 1,000 Jews.
The film will be followed by a Q&A session with Josh Aronson, Academy Award-nominated documentary and film writer, producer and director.
Challah Tasting with
the film “Dough”
Saturday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
Our committee voted hands down to screen this funny film. You will never look at challah the same way. Jonathan Pryce stars as a Jewish baker whose faltering business is inadvertently saved by his young Muslim apprentice when he accidently drops his marijuana into the challah dough and then the challah starts flying off the shelves. This comedy is a warm-hearted look at overcoming prejudice and finding redemption in unexpected places.
We promise to provide challah…
“The Prime Ministers 2:
Soldiers and Peacemakers”
Wednesday, November 16, 7 p.m.
The documentary is the second in a series of two films based on Ambassador Yehuda Avner’s 2010 best-selling book, The Prime Ministers. Two years ago we screened the first of the series and were awed by the expert exploration of the evolution of the leadership of Israel.
“Prime Ministers 2,” opens with Rabin’s election in 1974 as the country’s first native born Israeli leader and focuses on the premierships of the Labor Party’s Rabin and Likud’s Begin, two men who went from the opposite ends of the political spectrum to eventually share common goals and perspectives. It travels from the first bilateral treaty between Israel and Egypt in 1975 to Rabin’s assassination in 1995, and the many historical events in between. Utilizing never before seen film and photographs, “The Prime Ministers 2” offers insight into major historical events and leaders.
We are thrilled to have the Academy Award winning director Richard Trank with us for a Q&A after the screening.
Bring your blue and white flags as you’ll leave proud of this small and mighty country!
Dana Susson is a contributing writer and co-chair, OC Jewish Arts Festival.
EVENT INFO
For the schedule and tickets, visit the OC Jewish Arts Festival 2016 at JCCOC.org.