The UK International Jewish Film Festival returns to Manchester.
The UK International Jewish Film Festival (UKIJFF) celebrates its 21st birthday by returning to Manchester.
There will be a special selection of premieres screened at
Cineworld Didsbury and HOME Manchester, from 11th to 26th November. As one of the nation’s most eagerly anticipated festivals in the film calendar, UKIJFF will present its most diverse programme yet, including world, European and UK premieres of the best new Israeli and Jewish cinema on offer to audiences.
Michael Etherton, chief executive of the UKIJFF, said: “At the heart of this 21st anniversary festival is a spirit of openness to fresh ideas, new creative talent, and to telling stories from unexpected places that challenge stereotypes and preconceptions. It’s this dynamism and openness that has helped UK Jewish Film reach more and more people year on year.
“For this year’s festival we are proud to bring to our diverse audiences 75 films from more than 20 countries at 115 screenings across London, Belfast, Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham.”
The opening night gala will be the premiere of An Act of Defiance, a drama directed by Jean van de Velde, on 11th November at Cineworld Didsbury. Set in South Africa, 1963, it is based on the true story of ten black and Jewish men who are arrested for conspiring against the Apartheid system. Led by fellow defendant Nelson Mandela, the group plead not guilty, which highlights the corrupt political system in power.
Further premieres include Ferenc Török’s 1945, a study of a post-war village community, and Eitan Anner’s A Quiet Heart, a psychological thriller about a young secular woman who moves to an ultra-Orthodox community.
Avi Nesher’s new work, Past Life, is a tale of two sisters who delve into the mystery of their father’s former life in Poland during the Second World War.
Meanwhile, Home Port by Erez Tadmor is an award-winning social drama which examines the effects of corporate privatisation on family relationships.
Other notable showings include crowd-pleasers such as Shady Srour’s Holy Air, which is fresh from Tribeca Film Festival, as well as Shlomit Nehama and Emil Ben-Shimon’s The Women’s Balcony – the most commercially successful film to date in Israel. The closing night gala will feature the UK premiere of Francesco Amato’s Let Yourself Go! The comedy stars Toni Sevillo and follows the mishaps of a psychiatrist who is advised to get a personal trainer, for a mood-lifting finale.
To find out more, visit Ukjewishfilm.org.