
Images courtesy of JIFF
Having attended last years
Jewish International Film Festival's (
JIFF) special event; the welcome speech by Eddie Tamir - Artistic Director, leaves no doubt in one's mind that he's passionate about what he brings to the table in regard to films.
This year is no different. He's searched high and low to bring you 68 new award winning films that'll be screening in
Sydney (26 Oct to 23 Nov),
Perth (26 Oct to 6 Nov),
Melbourne (27 Oct to 23 Nov)
Canberra, Brisbane and Auckland (10, 12, 13, 19 & 20 Nov).
That's a lot of homework for you to digest which
films;
special events, and
session times you are going to include in your itinerary.
Choose your
film, and
click on its image. Select your session time from the page that follows, to purchase tickets. Check the
tickets and venue information page as well, as depending where you are, tickets are available via the cinema website, over the phone or during cinema box office hours. If you're a huge movie buff, multiple ticket film passes may well be the 'go' for you. Group bookings are also available. Check out the
FAQs.
The Opening Night film
Denial is set in the 1990s and stars Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz. A remarkable and thrilling procedural drama based on true events, Weisz plays an American Professor who publishes a book about the Holocaust, and is sued for defamation by a prominent 'denier' referenced in her work. In order to clear her name, she has to prove the Holocaust occurred. The combination of a brilliant but eccentric barrister and an exceptionally smart lawyer in the mix makes this a highly anticipated drama not to be missed.
The Closing Night film
The Last Laugh begs the question 'too soon?' as it both entertains and educates with a little provocation thrown in. Put together the world's foremost comedians and an intriguing conversation emerges about where to draw the line between good and bad taste jokes about the Holocaust. Uncomfortable questions will be asked about just how free speech can really be, and the results are unexpectedly funny.
The Opening and Closing Night events are only the tip of the iceberg of
many other events (differs from State to State), ranging from Q&A sessions, discussions on the intersections of contemporary human rights and sexuality and many other discussions, kosher dinner boxes being provided during the film about Israeli food, a 'live' performance of a scene from and before a film, a monster sized kid's party and much more!
The best part about JIFF; if you have missed any films from festivals past, enjoy their
Video on Demand (VOD) service to catch up on the films and
sign up to their JIFF e-news to stay updated when new titles are added to the shop. Currently there are 24 films for your viewing pleasure. Simply select a film by clicking on the image and login to
Vimeo or create a free
Vimeo account. There you'll have the option of buying the film (approx $15) or renting (72 hour streaming period) it (approx $5-$6). Hooray!