Pola Negri in THE YELLOW TICKET
Alicia Svigals
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WJFF Year-Round and the Washington
Jewish Music Festival present
THE YELLOW TICKET
MONDAY, MAY 21, 7:30 pm
Film followed by closing night reception
Silent film with premiere of original musical score by special guest ALICIA SVIGALS
This 1918 film was the first to explore Jewish discrimination in Imperial Russia. Lea (silent film star Pola Negri) hides her Jewish heritage to study medicine in St. Petersburg. Coerced into prostitution to pay the rent, Lea is saved by a beloved professor with a secret of his own. The film’s title comes from the yellow tickets that were passportsthat Jews were required to have in order to travel freely and work legally. The glamourous Negri, Hollywood’s first “imported” European film star, is credited as the originator of the cinematic femme fatale.
Alicia Svigals is one of the world's leading klezmer fiddlers and a founder of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics.
More information and tickets
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OR
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 8:00 pm
The Avalon Theatre
5612 Connecticut Avenue NW
Winner of Camera d'Or, and Grand Prix-Semaine de la Critique, Cannes 2004
Ruthie (Ronit Elkebetz) calls her daughter Or (Dana Ivgy) “my treasure,” but Ruthie is really a burden on her 18-year-old daughter. Living together in a small Tel Aviv flat, Ruthie has been a prostitute for the last twenty years while Or works an endless succession of petty jobs—washing dishes in a restaurant, cleaning staircases and collecting deposit bottles, all while attending high school whenever she can. Or has tried many times to get her mother to quit working the street, but Ruthie can’t ignore the call of quick money even though her health is worsening and her “profession” interferring with Or’s life. As her choices narrow, Or decides things must change for good.
Israel/France, 2004, feature, 100 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles. Director: Keren Yedaya (Jaffa, WJFF 2010)
Read more about the director and the film
More information, tickets and trailer
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WJFF and GLOE present
MELTING AWAY
MONDAY, JUNE 4, 7:00 pm
Film and panel discussion
Special award for Breakthrough Performance to Chen Yani, Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival
On a rainy night, parents discover their child is secretly a cross-dresser and kick him out of the house. Years later, when the father is dying of cancer, the mother hires a private detective to track him down. Instead of a son, the detective finds a woman who earns her pay performing at gay cabarets. Will the daughter now manage to overcome the past and forgive her parents? Will the parents be able to adapt to their new daughter? This film is a deeply moving exploration of individuality, family ties, acceptance and forgiveness.
For the first time in the history of Israeli cinema, a feature film dealing with parents coping with their transgendered child. "Melting Away" was conceived after a brutal attack and murder at the Tel Aviv LGBT Youth Center and the deep shock felt by director Doron Eran, and his partner, screenwriter Bili Ben Moshe, after hearing of parents refusing to visit their injured kids at the hospital.
Israel, 2011, feature, 86 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles. Director: Doron Eran
Co-sponsored by the Embassy of Israel
More information and tickets
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NEW DATE, TIME & LOCATION
ITVS Community Cinema Cafe
STRONG!
SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 5:00 pm
Busboys and Poets
2021 14th Street NW at V
FREE with reservations strongly encouraged
Film followed by discussion with weightlifter Cara Heads
Cheryl Haworth is a young woman with a big dream: to be the strongest woman in the world. The film follows the 300-pound US Olympic weightlifter as she prepares for Beijing 2008, struggling with injury, confidence and her place in a world where larger women are not readily accepted. Local weightlifter Cara Heads also appears in the film.
Screening of STRONG! supports the ITVS Women and Girls Lead Initiative designed to focus, educate, and connect women, girls, and their allies across the globe
View film clip
More information about the film and filmmaker
Reservations or call (202)939-0794
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"An enlightening and engaging journey."
Stephanie Merry, The Washington Post
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NOW PLAYING....
FOLLOW ME: THE YONI NETANYAHU STORY
The daring 1976 hostage rescue mission at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda was led by Jonathan “Yoni” Netanyahu, then a 30-year-old commander in the Israeli army who became the mission’s only casualty. Locally-based directors Gruber (Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray, WJFF YR 2011) and Pinchot have created a powerful, intimate and emotional journey into this young hero’s mind through his own letters and writing, as well as a compelling portrait of Israel as a young country and an event indelibly etched into history.
If you missed the WJFF screening with the filmmakers on May 6, you can see this award-winning film at:
West End Cinemas - daily at 3:20, 5:20, 7:20
The Avalon - daily at 1:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:15 Held over until MAY 24
Film website and trailer
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Save the date for the annual
WJFF FRIEND-RAISER
Monday, July 23
at the Embassy of France
Plan to join us for a delightful evening with a new French film TBA and dessert reception at the lovely Embassy. As a special thank you, all contributors of $36 or more to the 22nd WJFF (2011) receive 2 complimentary tickets to the evening film and reception. Reservations will open in July.
It's not too late to donate and receive your free tickets! Contribute to WJFF by June 30 for your gift to be counted towards this past year's festival. All gifts received July 1 or later will receive benefits and acknowledgement in conjunction with the upcoming 23rd WJFF.
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All films are shown at the Washington DCJCC unless otherwise noted
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