Let's go out to the movies

The 23rd Central Florida Jewish Film Festival is back to "in person" showings. Keeping tradition, the opening night and final night films will be shown at the Orlando Science Center's Digital Adventure Theatre, 777 E. Princeton St., Orlando. All other showings will be at the Enzian, 1300 S. Orlando Ave., Maitland. Only general admission tickets ($12) and Mensch tickets will be available. Unfortunately, there will not be Series passes this year. To purchase tickets, please visit enzian.org.

The festival is co-presented by the Enzian Theater and the Roth Family JCC of Orlando.

Now on with the show reviews!

First showing, Saturday, Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. at Orlando Science Center Digital Adventure Theatre.

"A Jew Walks into a Bar" directed by Jonathan Miller. Documentary short. In English

What a way to begin the film festival! David Finkelstein is a standup comedian. This film short follows his progress in his chosen career telling absolutely clean jokes. Now there are a multitude of Jewish comics – take Henny Youngman for example (or his wife...) - and his delivery is deadpan, much like Stephen Wright or Jackie Mason. What makes this comedian different? Finkelstein is an Ultra-Orthodox Jew.

The documentary captures his struggle between his love for standup and his religious identity, which he maintains throughout his shtick. He is straightforward - telling people he can't touch women, can't perform on Shabbat, etc. Many people in his audiences probably never spoke with an Ultra-Orthodox Jew, so in some ways he broke barriers. He even joked about his Black friends. They would correct him by telling him that it isn't right to refer to them as his 'Black' friends - they are just Black (one of his jokes).

Finkelstein shared with the camera that he had been anxious all his life and that he has had no panic attacks since doing comedy. "Getting onstage and bearing my soul to people I don't know is the best therapy to get over anxiety," he said.

Finkelstein is definitely a man torn between two lives. Which one did he finally choose?

Saturday, Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m.

"American Birthright" directed by Becky Tahel Bordo. In English

Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando.

Becky Tahel was raised as a cultural Jew. Her birth name is Tahel Bordo, but she asked if she could have an "American" name - thus Becky. Her sister, Gal, is planning to marry a non-Jew. Although not religious, Becky questioned her sister's marriage to a non-Jew. She began asking questions about assimilation. This documentary film, which is her directorial debut, follows her for six years as she searches for the answer to this question, and many other questions: Is Torah relevant? "We are not relevant if it is not," said one rabbi. "Is Torah true? If it is and I'm not subscribed to truth, then I'm not relevant."

It began to get deep. "Wow," she said, "I wasn't expecting that curve ball ..."

Becky interviewed Rabbi Steven Burg, founder of A'ish Ha Torah. "Why aren't more Jews living Torah?" she asked. "If we were as passionate about religion as we are about sports or money, we'd all be living Torah!" he said.

Becky's struggle to find where she fits in takes her and the audience on a journey into the heart of Judaism and how it can affect one's life.

Sunday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m. at the Enzian Theater

"A Starry Sky Above the Roman Ghetto" directed by Giulio Base. In Italian with English subtitles

This film has a wonderful story line: Sofia, a young teenage girl, discovers an old photograph in a suitcase in the attic and sets out to discover who the young girl is in the photo. With her friends, they trace the child's past to a convent where she was rescued from deportation by a young nun. She was then raised by Christians. She and her friends want to honor the memory of this child with a play about her but encounter several obstacles. Sometimes the search for answers hits pretty close to home.

Sunday, Nov. 14, 2 p.m. at the Enzian Theater

"Honeymood" directed by Talya Lavie. In Hebrew with English subtitles.

A romantic comedy about a just-married couple that takes place all in one night - the Honeymoon night - in Jerusalem. It is a whopping 'oy vey' of a movie! What starts out as a silly ritual gone bad to a questionable note sent to the groom (a ring must be returned!) mushrooms into an entire night of close encounters, breakups, doubts and even a dance scene with handsome Israeli security guards.

"Are you treating me like a child?," the bride yells at her new husband.

"No, like a grown woman throwing a tantrum when she doesn't get her way," he responds. That kind of sums up most of the movie.

Monday, Nov. 15, 4 p.m. at the Enzian Theater. A short documentary and a full-length documentary.

"Space Torah" directed by Rob Cooper. In English.

Can you imagine it? A Torah traveled into space! Jewish-American astronaut Dr. Jeff Hoffman describes his adventure in outer space and how he was able to bring a small Torah scroll on board the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1996. On Shabbat, he read a portion from the small Torah - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." How appropriate.

"Picture of His Life" directed by Yonatan Nir and Dani Menkin. In English, Hebrew and Inuktitut with English subtitles.

This is my favorite film in this year's fine collection. If you like Jacques Cousteau's documentaries, you will be fascinated by this documentary about world-renowned wildlife photographer Amos Nachoum, whose final dream before he retires is to capture photographs of a polar bear swimming in the water as he swims alongside. It's a very dangerous goal.

Nachoum travels to the Canadian Arctic in pursuit of the elusive polar bear. He has a window of five days to find a swimming bear in the icy waters. Will he get his dream picture? Interwoven among all the beautiful photography of various wildlife is the story of Nachoum's childhood, and his relationship with his father. We learn his dream serves a larger purpose.

Monday, Nov. 15, 6:45 p.m. at the Enzian Theater.

"Wet Dog" directed by Damir Lukacevic. In German with English subtitles.

"A wet dog is better than a dry Jew" is an antisemitic expression among Soheil's so-called friends in Germany. In addition to adjusting to a new culture after moving with his Jewish-Iranian family to a multicultural, mostly Muslim neighborhood near Berlin, 16-year-old Soheil hides his true Jewish identity. He becomes popular as "King Star" - the mysterious painter of colorful murals on city walls. He is accepted into a street gang (but this is not "West Side Story") until his true identity is discovered.

The film, written 20 years ago, is based on a true story. It is thought provoking and reveals how baseless Jew-hatred really is.

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m. at the Orlando Science Center Digital Adventure Theater.

"Here We Are" directed by Nir Bergman. In Hebrew with English subtitles.

Sponsored by Adam Ross Littman.

How do you let go of a child who is no longer a child but an adult with autism? This is the dilemma for Aharon (Shai Avivi) who must come to terms with what is needed for his son, Uri (Noam Imber) and let him go into a facility that works with autistic adults to help them attain independence. These two actors blew away all the actors in the seven other films with their superb performances.

An added plus is the many scenes throughout Israel. We get a peek at the beautiful Land as these two men travel around the country, trying to escape the inevitable. But, as in all life, things seem to work themselves out - and often in surprising ways.