Mazel Tov, MJFF!

Anyone with more than a passing interest in world affairs in general and the Middle East in particular could use a little cheering up these days. From the screeners we’ve watched so far and the schedule of events planned, it seems the Miami Jewish Film Festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary, offers just the ticket for an uplifting week.

Gorgeous

Presented by the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education, the festival spans 10 days of events, screenings, notable appearances and more. Organizers are excited about planned visits from talent like Judd Hirsch, who stars in the movie Brother’s Shadow (screening 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bill Cosford Cinema in Coral Gables), and Theodore Bikel, part of the documentary A Bridge to Peace (screening 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Regal Cinema South Beach), not to mention Scrubs star Judy Reyes, who is slated to attend Sunday’s screening of Glow Ropes: The Rise and Fall of a Bar Mitzvah Emcee (8:30 p.m.) at the Cosford.\

Judy Reyes in
Glow Ropes

Aside from the famous-person buzz, the festival’s director, Ellen Wedner, has picked movies that bring a fresh perspective to the concept of “Jewish” film. Romantic comedies like Miracle in Krakow and Gorgeous, though set solidly in the contemporary urban worlds of Krakow and Paris, respectively, with Jews clearly assimilated into the culture are still sprinkled with hopeful helpings of fairy tale dust and tradition.

Roots is a dark comedy in which several families are lured to a Russian town by a con man dead-set on convincing them that he has found their long-lost relatives.

A Love to Hide, set in 1942 Paris, addresses the love triangle of a Jewish woman her non-Jewish childhood friend and his gay lover, with equal parts intrigue, horror, tenderness and honesty. 

“We are mixing the newest features and documentaries available with some of the classic Jewish themed films that are sure to resonate for all our attendees,” Wedner has stated of this year’s selections.

The opening night screening, The First Time I Was Twenty, takes place at 8 p.m. at Regal Cinema South Beach 18, 1100 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach; movies will also unspool through Jan. 28 at the Bill Cosford Cinema at University of Miami, Off Campo Sano Avenue in Coral Gables; the Sunrise Cinema at Intracoastal Mall, 3701 NE 163rd St., North Miami Beach; the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach; and the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami. General admission tickets are $10. A fast pass, which includes entry to all films, is $85. For a schedule of events and screenings, visit www.caje-miami.org/mjff  or call 305-573-7304.

— Robin Shear