 moves online as it extends its reach by allowing viewing across the Atlantic region.){kind=link}
Following the lead of the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival back in September, this year’s Atlantic Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) is not only moving online due to the pandemic, but it is also extending its reach by allowing viewing across the region.
Running November 19 through November 22, the seventh annual AJFF will feature ten films via the Cineplex Store platform, available across all devices for those with an Atlantic IP address. Viewers can purchase a festival pass for all ten films or choose individual screenings.
“We’ve selected comedies, dramas and documentaries that will sweep you away from present realities,” says AJFF committee chair Lynn Rotin in a media release. “Now everyone in Atlantic Canada can watch the movies when they want from the comfort of home, and there’s something for every taste.”
Documentaries will make up the bulk of this year’s offerings. Included among them is A Miracle of Miracles, an in-depth documentary chronicling the story of turning the iconic Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof into a film. In Divorce Denied, David Ofek and Mia Webb examine the struggles of Jewish women whose husbands refuse to grant them a divorce through the conservative rabbinical courts.
A little closer to home, Halifax filmmaker Lynda Medjuck Suissa pays tribute to the Jewish communities of Atlantic Canada who founded the children’s summer camp on the shores of Lake William in Camp Kadimah: The Story of our Lives. The documentary is free to watch with any ticket purchase.
Dramatic works will include the much-anticipated film adaptation of Judith Kerr’s novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, the semi-autobiographical story of a young girl forced to leave her beloved stuffed animal behind when she and her family flee from Nazi Germany to Switzerland. In the satire, The Humorist, a favourite stand-up comedian of the waning Soviet Russian regime of the 1980s, begins challenging censorship.
Others in the line-up include the romantic dramedy Art of Waiting, the family road trip movie Back to Maracanã and the documentary My War Hero Uncle.
The 7th annual Atlantic Jewish Film Festival takes place online from November 19-22. Visit ajff.ca for more information.