2024 Series - Welcome Back
Meet us at The Colonial Thursdays, July 18, August 1, 15, 29 and September 5 at 7:00 p.m.
The 2024 White Mountain Jewish Film Festival returns to the Colonial Theatre this summer for four films focusing on the Jewish experience in America, Israel, and throughout the world. Filmgoers can again enjoy the magic of watching great theatrical presentations on the big screen of Bethlehem’s historic Colonial Theatre, one of the oldest continuously operating movie theatres in the country - and one of the safest with state of the art air conditioning and filtration systems!
As always, your ticket includes our festival’s famous patio parties beginning at 6:00 p.m. with complimentary refreshments and an assortment of beverages. At 6:30 p.m. the evening’s guest speaker will introduce the film and then stay for a Q & A as the house lights go on at the end of each film. We were grateful to receive rave reviews of our selection of last year’s WMJFF films and guest speakers.
Movie Times - All Films:
Box Office Opens: 5:30 PM | Patio Opens: 6:00 PM | Guest Speaker: 6:30 PM | Film: 7:00PM
Tickets are sold at the door or Purchase online (coming soon)
General Admission: $10.00 | BHC and JFNH Members: $9.00 | Season Pass (5 Films): $40.00
Yaniv
July 18
The show must go on, even if it means bending the law a little bit. When a Bronx high school slashes its arts funding, the affected teacher concocts a scheme to save the department and its production of Little Shop of Horrors by entering the dangerous world of…underground Orthodox Jewish card game gambling. Bernstein, a devoted high school teacher, is crushed to tell his students the head administrator has cut funding for the school musical he usually directs. When he discovers an underground Hasidic gambling community, he sees his golden ticket to saving the show. Recruiting his friend and fellow teacher (and gambling addict) Jonah, they disguise themselves and infiltrate the game. As the two get immediately in over their heads, their lives are upended in ways both irreverent and tender. YANIV is a madcap and absurd comedy that unpacks Jewish identity, male friendship, and public education, all in one lighthearted package
Speakers
Ben Ducoff (Actor)
Ben Ducoff is a dramatist, producer and performer. He also teaches history at H.E.R.O High School in the Bronx.
Amnon Cardi (Director)
Amnon Carmi is an award-winning director, producer, and editor with a decade of experience in animation and film production. Yaniv is Amnon's feature film debut.
Frisco Kid
August 1
Rabbi Avram Belinsky (Gene Wilder) lands in Philadelphia intending to travel to San Francisco, where he plans on starting a synagogue. Quickly relieved of his belongings by a group of con artists, Avram optimistically sets out alone on foot toward the Wild West. He gets into one scrape after another until he is rescued, in a way, by a compassionate horseman named Tommy Lillard (Harrison Ford). Unfortunately, Tommy may not be quite as heroic as he seems, and it is still a long way to California..
Speaker
Stephen Soreff
Stephen Soreff,
MD aka Doc Steve is a
nationally known author,
lecturer, and teacher in
mental health services.
He has authored ten
books on the
subject. He is president
of Education Initiatives,
LLC. He is President of Etz Hayim Synagogue in Derry, NH and on the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire board. He teaches in Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of New Hampshire (OLLI at UNH) a film series classes called Madness and the Movies and the Roots and Routes of Jewish Humor: What HeBrews. He has written and lectured about humor's healing power. He is an Information Volunteer for the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Broadway
Danny Rose
August 15
Danny Rose (Woody Allen), a hopeless New York talent agent, is a tireless workhorse for his eccentric, unimpressive acts. When Rose signs has-been lounge singer Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), he knows he has to go to great lengths to keep his new client, which means escorting Canova's mistress, Tina (Mia Farrow), to the singer's shows. The only problem is that her ex-boyfriend is a jealous gangster who thinks Rose is her new man and wants revenge.
Speaker
Rick Winston
Rick Winston was the co-owner of Montpelier’s Savoy Theater for 29 years, and was Programming Director for the Green Mountain Film Festival for 14 years. He has taught film history at Burlington College, Community College of Vermont, Goddard College, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and has made presentations throughout Vermont on film history.
No Name Restaurant
August 29
To save the synagogue of the once largest Jewish community in the world from being shut down, Ben, an ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn Jew visiting Jerusalem, is sent to Egypt to be the desperately needed tenth man for the ceremonies of Pesach. Having missed his plane and been kicked off the bus in the Sinai Desert, his last hope is Adel, a grumpy Bedouin looking for his camel.
Speaker
Guest Speaker Luzer Twersky is the Star of "No Name Restaurant"
Luzer Twersky is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role in the film Felix and Meira, for which he garnered a Jutra Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor and won the Best Actor award at the Amiens International Film Festival[3] and the Torino International Film Festival.[4]
Luzer Twersky, Guest Speaker
Born and raised in Brooklyn as a Hasidic Jew, Twersky left the community in 2008, after struggling with his faith.[
He began acting in 2010, later appearing in Where Is Joel Baum?, the television series Transparent, the HBO show High Maintenance, and the Netflix documentary One of Us, where directors follow him years after he leaves his Hasidic community in Brooklyn, New York. Twersky has played the Baal Shem Tov in the Ukrainian film «Dovbush»
The Producers
Soptember 5
A 1967 American satirical dark comedy cult classic movie written and directed by Mel Brooks. The movie tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a Broadway musical, but they want it to fail. They take more money from investors than they need and plan to abscond to Brazil as soon as the play closes, only to see the show turn out to be a hit.
Speaker
Rick Winston
Rick Winston was the co-owner of Montpelier’s Savoy Theater for 29 years, and was Programming Director for the Green Mountain Film Festival for 14 years. He has taught film history at Burlington College, Community College of Vermont, Goddard College, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and has made presentations throughout Vermont on film history.
Other Film Series
We have saved our past film series logs for your knowledge base. If you need assistance finding a past film or have suggestions for future seasons, please email Artistic Director Dorothy Goldstone: dorothygoldstone@gmail.com