Film Title: Hava Nagila (The Movie)

Date, time: July 23 at 7:00 PM            

Venue: JCOGS, 1189 Cape Cod Road, Stowe, VT

Notes: Documentary, English language

Hava Nagila (The Movie) is a documentary romp through the history, mystery and meaning of the great Jewish standard. Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Regina Spektor and more, the film follows the ubiquitous party song on its fascinating journey from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the kibbutzim of Palestine to the cul-de-sacs of America. High on fun and entertainment, Hava Nagila (The Movie) is also surprisingly profound, tapping into universal themes about the importance of joy, the power of music and the resilient spirit of a people. Stay for an after-party of dessert, dancing “the hora” and schmoozing.

Click here for the Trailer: [TRAILER]

Film Title: Cinema Sabaya

Date, time : August 9, 7:00 PM            

Venue: Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, 122 Hourglass Dr, Stowe, VT

Notes: Documentary, Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles

The intimate prize-winning Cinema Sabaya, filmed in Israel, focuses on eight women, four Muslim and four Jewish, who come together for a video workshop. Based on writer and director Orit Fouks Rotem’s experience as a teacher and her encounter with the women, the result is a film full of love, humor, laughter, unexpected sorrows, and empowerment. The Arabic word “sabaya” translates to “morning light.” The film presents a deft and heartfelt portrait of art’s capacity to bridge cultural divides.

Click here to view the Trailer: [TRAILER]

Film Title: That Orchestra with the Broken Instruments

Date, time: August 16,  7:00PM

Venue: Phantom Theater, Edgecomb Barn, 970 Dump Road, Warren, VT

Notes: Documentary, Hebrew, Arabic and English with English subtitles

Tickets: CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

In a city of discord, an orchestra is assembled to make music and social harmony with broken instruments. One hundred musicians of different ethnicities, languages, and cultures, one brilliant conductor, and three gifted composers, meet for four days of rehearsals. An orchestra of professional and amateur musicians, young and old, prepare, against all odds, for a one-time-only concert in Jerusalem, creating something whole and beautiful from something broken.

Click here to view the TRAILER

Film Title: The Story of Annette Zelman (for adults and teens)

Date, time: August 27, 6:00PM

Venue: Savoy Theatre, 25 Main Street, Montpelier

Tickets: CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Notes: Feature film, French with English subtitles 

The nostalgic aura of old-fashioned wartime romances envelops this engaging and handsomely produced drama. Set in Nazi-occupied Paris, the film brings to light the tragic love story of Annette Zelman and Jean Jausion, whose affair was denounced to the Gestapo. It all started like any youthful, carefree courtship. While students at a French art school, the two met and quickly fell in love. Fate seemed to be smiling on them, but the young man’s father could not tolerate the idea of their romance and unbeknownst to Jean, reported Annette’s Jewish identity to the Gestapo. Soon after, she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz. Jean was driven to despair by her disappearance and his father’s responsibility. A quintessential statement on love and romance during wartime, this riveting drama presents a story of extraordinary quality based on actual events recounted in the book Dénouncer les Juifs sous l’Occupation (Informing on Jews during the Occupation) by Laurent Joly.