Vancouver Jewish Film Festival announces 27 world and Canadian premieres for 34th annual event
The longest running Jewish film festival in Canada takes place in March, in person and online
Burning Off the Page.
THE 34TH ANNUAL Vancouver Jewish Film Festival takes place from March 9 to 26, with screenings at Fifth Avenue Cinemas (March 9 to 16), the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre (March 17 to 19), and online (March 19 to 26).
Presented by the Vancouver Jewish Film Centre Society, the fest has announced 27 world and Canadian premieres for 2023. The 18-day event will also feature featured guest speakers, panel discussions, and a hosted reception for the opening celebration.
This year’s selections include a mix of critically acclaimed dramas, comedies, and documentaries that highlight the diversity of Jewish culture and appeal to the need for global unity, human connection, and environmental sustainability.
It all kicks off with Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Song, A Journey on March 9. The definitive exploration of the famed late singer-songwriter accesses a wealth of never-before-seen archival materials from the Cohen Trust, including the artist’s personal notebooks, journals, and photographs as well as performance footage and extremely rare audio recordings and interviews. The opening-night reception follows at The BMW Store.
Among the fest’s other highlights are three Canadian films that are having their world premiere.
Mary Magdalene in conversation with Lilian Broca, directed by Adelina Suvagau, is a documentary that tells the story of how, in popular culture, Mary Magdalene has often been portrayed as a former prostitute—a fallen woman who only found redemption when she became a close disciple of Jesus. This piqued the interest of Vancouver artist Lilian Broca, who has been researching the lives of courageous female biblical figures for the past three decades. Now in her third elaborate major mosaic project on a biblical figure, Lilian Broca takes us on her own journey creating Mary Magdalene.
Director Eli Gorn’s Burning off the Page travels to New York City in the roaring ’20s for a look at the legacy of erotic Yiddish poet Celia Dropkin, who shocked and delighted the literary world with her poems of lust and longing. As the film illustrates, Dropkin’s work expands not only what it means to be a sexual being and Jewish but to be human.
The Cure for Hate, a documentary directed by Peter Hutchison, follows Tony McAleer, a former skinhead and Holocaust denier who, upon becoming deeply aware and ashamed of the lineage of hate he once promoted, helped found the anti-hate activist group Life After Hate. The film sheds light upon how men get into (and out of) violent extremist groups, acting as a cautionary tale for the present day that underscores the dangers of allowing hate to go unchecked.
Also screening are the Canadian premieres of Lost Transport, a historical drama set in the spring of 1945; Matchmaking, a rom-com that puts a light Orthodox spin on Romeo and Juliet; and Haute Couture, a drama about an unlikely connection between the head seamstress at the Dior Avenue Montaigne workshop and the 20-year-old woman who stole her handbag.
Robert Albanese, executive and artistic director of the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, says the fest is a community-building initiative intended to connect audiences through film and storytelling.
“We are grateful for the support that has enabled the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival to evolve into a cultural event of such longevity,” Albanese says in a release. “While we remain true to our mission of showcasing the diversity of Jewish culture, heritage, and identity through film, our festival is fundamentally about building connections among the various communities in Vancouver and celebrating exceptional filmmaking.”
Full festival details and tickets are at the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival website.
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