To see all the films and show times, view the film schedule. 

Ticket information coming soon!

Opening Night: On The Map

Directed by Dani Menkin. Israel / USA. 2016. 85 min
English, Russian, and Hebrew with English subtitles. 

Saturday, March 3 at 7:30pm
Guest Speaker: Dani Menkin, Writer and Director of
On the Map
On the Map tells the against-all-odds story of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 1977 European Championship, which took place at a time when the Middle East was still reeling from the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1972 Olympic massacre at Munich, and the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight from Tel Aviv. Through the of lens of sports, On the Map presents a much broader story of how one team captured the heart of a nation amidst domestic turmoil and the global machinations of the Cold War.
​
Seating is limited for this exclusive event! Purchase your tickets here.​

Bye Bye Germany
Directed by Sam Garbarski. Germany. 2017. 102 min.
English and German with English subtitles.

​Sunday, March 4 at 1pm
Guest Speaker- Dennis Salle, German Consulate
Tuesday, March 6 at 7:30pm
Guest Speaker: Dennis Salle, German Consulate
Frankfurt, 1946. David Bermann (Moritz Bleibtreu) and his Jewish friends have escaped the Nazi regime and are now dreaming of leaving for America. But how will they get the money in these tough postwar times? The smooth-talking businessmen focus on what the Germans now need most: fine bed linens nicely wrapped in amusing stories! The six talented entertainers go from home to home, praising housewives with blatant chutzpah until the flattered ladies have no choice but to buy their irresistible items. Business flourishes and a bright new future can be seen on the horizon. But questions about Bermann’s past catch up with him. Why does he have two passports? What about his visit to Hitler’s mountain retreat? Could he have collaborated with the Nazis? The smart and attractive but uncompromising U.S. officer Sara Simon (Antje Traue) refuses to close the interrogation. She wants to get to the heart of Bermann’s wartime memories. Sara matches his quick wit with iron severity, but it becomes increasingly difficult for her to escape his charm. View Trailer

Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me
Directed by Sam Pollard. USA. 2017. 100 min.

​Sunday, March 4 at 4pm
Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30pm
Screening In Memory of Goldie Arkin, Member of the HJFF Film Committee
Friday, March 9 at 1pm
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me is the first major film documentary to examine Davis’ vast talent and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America.
 
Sammy Davis, Jr. had the kind of career that was indisputably legendary, so vast and multi-faceted that it was dizzying in its scope and scale. And yet his life was complicated and contradictory. Davis strove to achieve the American Dream in a time of racial prejudice and shifting political territory. He was the veteran of increasingly outdated show business traditions trying to stay relevant, and frequently found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and the distaste for black America. He was the most public black figure to embrace Judaism, thereby yoking his identity to another persecuted minority.
 
The film features new interviews with such luminaries as Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg, and Kim Novak, with never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection and excerpts from his electric performances in television, film, and concert. Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory blazed across the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the 1980s. View trailer.

Itzhak
Directed by Alison Chernick. USA. 2017. 80 min.

Sunday, March 4 at 7pm
Guest Speaker: Rachel Saul, Honolulu Symphony Violinist
Tuesday, March 6 at 1pm
Wednesday, March 7 at 1pm
If there’s anyone who personifies the resilience, the vision, and ultimately the contribution of the Jewish people, it’s Itzhak Perlman. The violin is Perlman’s chosen instrument, the vehicle he has used to overcome his own challenges and express himself to the world. In Perlman and his music, we hear the story of obstacles and survival. We trace the path of the Jewish people from the chaos of Europe to the promise of Israel. We see the comfort of home and family and witness how humor and talent combine with discipline and drive.
 
We hear his tales of growing up as the child of Polish survivors, where his mastery of the instrument takes him from his small neighborhood in Tel Aviv to the world’s most prominent stages. We hear his perspective on music and life. Through Itzhak Perlman, we’re able to see an artist at work; a modern Jewish family embracing its heritage while living in a world of changing expectations; and how the legacy of both the Jewish people and the violin are knitted together in one remarkable human being.

A Quiet Heart
Directed by Eitan Anner. 2016. Israel. 92 min. Hebrew with English subtitles.

Thursday, March 8 at 1pm
Sunday, March 11 at 1pm
Tuesday, March 13 at 7:30pm
A riveting suspense thriller about the evils of religious intolerance. Ania Bukstein (Game of Thrones) stars as Naomi, a secular Israeli suffering a personal crisis that threatens to derail her career as a concert pianist. Fleeing Tel Aviv, she moves to Jerusalem and rents an apartment in a Haredi neighborhood. Disdain towards a secular woman soon turns to outright hostility when Naomi befriends an Italian monk who teaches her to play the pipe organ. The film delivers a compelling examination of the tensions between Jerusalem’s secular and religious communities.
View trailer.

Shelter
Directed by Eran Riklis. 2018. Israel. 93 minutes.
English, Arabic, and Hebrew with English subtitles.

Thursday, March 8 at 7:30pm
Saturday, March 10 at 5pm
Sunday, March 11 at 4pm
Naomi, an Israeli Mossad agent (Neta Riskin), is sent to Germany to protect Mona (Golshifteh Farahani, Paterson), a Lebanese informant recovering from plastic surgery to assume her new identity. Together for two weeks in a quiet apartment in Hamburg, the relationship that develops between the two women is soon exposed to the threat of terror that is engulfing the world today. In this game of deception, beliefs are questioned, choices are made, and their fate takes a surprising turn in this suspense-laden, elegant neo-noir. Also starring Lior Ashkenazi (Norman, Foxtrot).

The Jewish Cardinal
Directed by Ilan Duran Cohen. 2012. France. 90 min.
French with English subtitles.

Saturday, March 10 at 8pm
Guest Speakers: Rabbi Aronowitz and Monsignor
Gary Secor
Tuesday, March 13 at 1pm
The Jewish Cardinal tells the amazing true story of Jean-Marie Lustiger, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, who maintained his cultural identity as a Jew even after converting to Catholicism at a young age, and later joining the priesthood. Quickly rising within the ranks of the Church, Lustiger was appointed Archbishop of Paris by Pope Jean Paul II—and found a new platform to celebrate his dual identity as a Catholic Jew, earning him both friends and enemies in both groups. When Carmelite nuns settle down to build a convent within the cursed walls of Auschwitz, Lustiger finds himself a mediator between the two communities—and may be forced at last to choose his side. View trailer.

Crossing Delancey  30th Anniversary
Directed by Joan Micklin Silver. 1988. USA. 97 min.

Sunday, March 11 at 7pm
Guest Speaker- Herb Latner, Former Yiddish Theater Member
Thirty-something Izzy Grossman (Amy Irving) is a New York City success. She’s got a blossoming career in publishing and a rent-controlled uptown apartment. Of course, that’s not enough for her grandmother, Bubbie (Reizl Bozyk), who has hired a matchmaker to find a husband for her attractive, single granddaughter. Amid her grandmother’s matchmaking attempts, Izzy grows closer to a humble pickle seller.  View trailer.

The Cakemaker
Directed by Ofir Raul Graizer. 2017. Germany / Israel.
English, German, and Hebrew with English subtitles.

​Wednesday, March 14 at 1pm
Saturday, March 17 at 8pm
Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, a married Israeli man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates the life of Anat, his lover’s newly widowed wife, who owns a small café in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her, creating German cakes and cookies that bring life into her café. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation, and to protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return. View trailer.
 

The People vs. Fritz Bauer
Directed by Lars Kraume. 2015. Germany. 105 min.
German with English subtitles.

​Wednesday, March 14 at 7:30pm
Speaker Dr. Didier Lenglare, professor at Leeward Community College
Saturday, March 17 at 5pm
Guest Speaker-Dr. Didier Lenglare
Germany, 1957. Attorney General Fritz Bauer receives crucial evidence on the whereabouts of SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann. The lieutenant colonel, responsible for the mass deportation of the Jews, is allegedly hiding in Buenos Aires. Bauer, himself Jewish, has been trying to take crimes from the Third Reich to court ever since his return from Danish exile. However, he has no success due to the fierce German determination to repress its sinister past. Because of his distrust of the German justice system, Fritz Bauer contacts Mossad, the Israeli secret service, and, by doing so, commits treason. Bauer is not seeking revenge for the Holocaust—he is concerned with the German future. View trailer.

Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators

Thursday, March 15 at 1pm
Sunday, March 18 at 4pm
Guest Speaker Bill Sage, Actor
Curious George is the most popular monkey in the world. Since his introduction in the first publication in 1941, the beloved series has sold over 75 million books in more than 25 languages. Monkey Business explores the lesser-known tale of George’s creators, Hans and Margret Rey. Originally from Hamburg, Germany, the Reys first met when Hans was dating Margret’s older sister. Years later, having heard that Hans was wasting his artistic talents as a bookkeeper in Rio, Margret traveled to Brazil to persuade him to marry her and do something creative together. After their four-week honeymoon to Paris turned into a four-year residency, they accidentally became children’s book authors when a publisher suggested they create a book out of a cartoon Hans had drawn. Being German Jews, however, their life in Paris abruptly came to an end in June 1940 when the Reys were forced to escape from the Nazis by riding makeshift bicycles. A manuscript of the first Curious George book was one of the few possessions they could smuggle out with them. Arriving in New York as refugees, they started their life anew, and over the next three decades they created a classic that continues to touch the hearts and minds of children around the world.

Doing Jewish: A Story from Ghana
Directed by Gabrielle Zilkha. 2016. Canada / Ghana. 80 min.

​Thursday, March 15 at 7:30pm
Guest Speaker Marlene Booth, Independent Film Maker
Friday, March 16 at 1pm
What does religion mean to you? When Gabrielle Zilkha volunteered to work in Africa, religion wasn’t at the forefront of her mind. But when the Jewish New Year came along she realized she was a lone Canadian Jew awash in a sea of Christians. Surprisingly, she found, in remote Sefwi Wiawso, Ghana, a group of people dedicated and devout, who practiced special rites, including circumcision and keeping Kosher dietary laws—and had done so for centuries. Only recently had they discovered they were part of a worldwide religion with millions of followers: Judaism.
 
Doing Jewish: A Story from Ghana, is an exploration of the background and day-to-day lives of the Jews of Sewfi Wiawso. At the same time, it shows the importance of connections, as we see the Sefwis try to reach out to other Jews worldwide and witness their ongoing struggle for acceptance and growth. Their leader, Alex Armah, tells us that his dream is to see his congregation achieve official status, and to know and understand their history. But what is their history? Could they be descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel?
 
Made over the course of five years, Doing Jewish: A Story from Ghana is a work of love. The affection between the filmmaker and the Sefwi shines as an unspoken part of the story; this is a fascinating study of Judaism and belonging. View trailer.

Family Film Sunday: An American Tail
Directed by Don Bluth. 1986. USA. 80 min.

​Sunday, March 18 at 10:30am + 1pm  FREE
From director Don Bluth and creator David Kirschner, this critically acclaimed full-length animated triumph chronicles the wide-eyed adventures of a courageous little mouse named Fievel. Journeying by ship from Russia to turn-of-the-century America, Fievel is lost at sea during a ferocious storm. Washing ashore in New York Harbor, Fievel braves the perils and wonders of a strange new world in a thrilling quest to find his family. Featuring the voices of Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, and Christopher Plummer, it's a rousing, heartwarming animated adventure for the entire family!
 

Yentl • 35th Anniversary
Directed by Barbra Streisand. 1983. USA. 134 min.

Sunday, March 18 at 7pm
Guest Speaker Dr. Loretta Chen, Professor at Leeward Community College 
Based on a short story, "Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy," by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Yentl is the story of a young Eastern European woman, who, very early in our century (pre-WWI), disguises herself as a boy in order to pursue her passion for studying the Torah. Yentl (Streisand) has no trouble passing for a boy as she pursues her studies, but when she falls in love with a fellow student (Mandy Patinkin) she cannot, of course, express her feelings. Barbra Streisand broke barriers when she became the first, and, to this day, only female recipient of the Best Director Golden Globe.