The JCC of Greater Albuquerque Presents:
The ABQ Jewish Film Fest 2023
August 6 – 27, 2023
By request, a 24-hour virtual screening period, following the in-person screening at the J, is available with individual event and series tickets. For more information and to receive a screening link/password, contact Phyllis Wolf, phyllisw@jccabq.orgor 505-418-4469
MATCHMAKING
Sunday, August 6 at 2pm
(2022) Israel | 96 min | Hebrew with English Subtitles
Endlessly witty, visually rapturous, and sweetly romantic, Matchmaking is a story of two young, eligible ultra-Orthodox singles looking for a match. Moti spots Nechama, his sister’s friend, and is instantly smitten, but isn’t allowed to date the charming, beautiful young woman because she doesn’t come from an Ashkenazi (European origin) family like his own, but rather comes from a Mizrahi/Sephardic (Middle Eastern origin) family. A joyous tale about tolerance and love, Matchmaking is Israel’s biggest box office hit of the year and is full of hijinks, jokes, and slapstick humor.
MARCH 1968
Wednesday, August 9 at 4pm
(2022) Poland | 115 min | Polish with English Subtitles
Two young students – Hania and Janek – meet and fall in love in the midst of social turmoil and Jewish discrimination in 1960’s Warsaw. While the young lovers are uninterested in politics, they find themselves unable to avoid it when Hania’s father and mother lose their jobs due to the anti-Semitic purge and are forced to emigrate. Hania does not want to leave Janek, and the couple soon participate in a protest rally at the university where they discover freedom comes at a high price.
KARAOKE
Wednesday, August 16 at 4pm
(2022) Israel | 140 min | Hebrew with English Subtitles
An offbeat, comedic journey that delights and surprises, Karaoke follows Tova and Meir, a standard aging couple with 46 years of marriage and two grown daughters. They live a comfortable life, with Meir currently on sabbatical from his academic professorship, and Tova running a boutique shop. Their lives get a jolt of excitement from their neighbor from above, Itzik, who invites them to his penthouse for karaoke nights. Tova and Meir fall hard for Itzik’s energetic lifestyle and see life anew.
FAREWELL MISTER HAFFMANN
Sunday, August 20 at 2pm
(2022) France/Belgium | 115 min | French with English Subtitles
Occupied Paris, 1941: When all Jews are instructed to come forward and identify themselves to authorities, Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil in a stunning performance), a talented jeweler arranges to flee the city with his family. François Mercier, Joseph’s employee, is an ordinary man whose only goal is to start a family with Blanche, the woman he loves. Before leaving Paris, Joseph strikes a deal with François to take over his jewelry store and home until the conflict subsides, but when his attempt to escape is thwarted, the business agreement turns into a Faustian bargain that forever changes their fate.
ROSE
Sunday, August 27 at 2pm
(2021) France | 102 min | French with English Subtitles
At 78, Rose has just lost her most beloved husband. As the family matriarch when her grief gives way to a powerful impulse of life that makes her realize that she can still redefine herself as a woman, the whole balance of the family is upset. She learns to pursue her desires, rejecting the societal pressure to “act her age” and fade into benign oblivion. A career-crowning turn from screen legend Françoise Fabian (onetime star of My Night at Maud’s) highlights this life-affirming reminder that it’s never too late to seek happiness.