Meet us at The Colonial Thursday, July 6, 20, August 3, 17, and 31 at 7:00 p.m.
The 2023 White Mountain Jewish Film Festival returns to the Colonial Theatre this summer for five more 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.
Bethlehem has been known to have the purest pollen free air in the nation and the Colonial Theatre, one of the oldest continuously operating movie theatres in the country has just installed a “state of the art” Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning and Air Purifying System which will be running through all of our film events.
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
General Admission: $10.00 | BHC and JFNH Members: $9.00 | Season Pass (5 Films): $40.00
July 6, Armageddon Time
An exquisitely detailed and deeply emotional etching of a time and place: Queens, 1980. Set against the backdrop of a country on the cusp of ominous sociopolitical change, Armageddon Time follows Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), a sixth grader who dreams of becoming an artist. At the same time that Paul builds a friendship with classmate Johnny (Jaylin Webb), who’s mercilessly targeted by their racist teacher, he finds himself increasingly at odds with his parents (Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway), for whom financial success and assimilation are key to the family’s Jewish-American identity. (1:55)
Listen to the Fresh Air interview with Director James Grey
Guest Speaker: Rick Winston
Patio Hosts: Nancy and Geoff Fages
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.
July 20, Plan A
1945, a group of Jewish holocaust survivors planned to poison the water system in Germany. The film tells the dangerous and bold secret-operation which was called Plan A. (1:49)
Guest Speaker: Dr. Kate DeConinck Director of Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Patio Hosts: Mark Mendelsohn and Jesse Knapp
Kate Deconinck
Director of the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Keene State College, is a trained anthropologist of religion with expertise in religion in the wake of mass tragedies.
DeConinck comes to Keene State from the University of San Diego, where she has worked for the past six years, offering courses on the Holocaust and related topics through the Department of Theology & Religious Studies. She has served as co-chair of the Teaching Religion Unit of the American Academy of Religion and as a co-director of the university’s Urgent Challenges Collective, an initiative that supports research, teaching, and advocacy on the issue of homelessness.
August 3, June Zero
In 1962, the world witnesses the execution of Adolf Eichmann in an emotional public trial. And in Israel, 3 characters are intimately involved in this historical, nation-defining event. (1:45)
Guest Speaker: Martin Kessel
Patio Hosts: Sharon Heyman and Barry Zitser
Martin Kessel
August 17, March ’68
Students Hania and Janek begin a whirlwind romance after meeting at a theatre performance one evening. They are ignorant of the political uprising around them: anti-Semitism is on the rise, and the persecution of Jewish citizens is gaining momentum. Hania is Jewish, and her parents lose their jobs in the growing climate of hostility. With no money and no prospects for the future, her family decides to emigrate. But the girl does not want to leave. After Hania and Janek’s colleagues are expelled from university and the government censors an upcoming theatrical production, the two decide to act. Compelled by their love, they participate in a protest to defend freedom of the theatre and freedom of speech, but police brutality and violence ensue, separating the young couple and threatening their future together. This dramatic love story offers a heady convergence of romance, history and politics in a rarely told story of anti-Semitism in 1960s communist Poland. (2:00)
Patio party hosts: Lucy Goodhart and Gordon Bennet
Guest Speaker: Evan Czyzowski
Evan Czyzowski
Humanities and Holocaust Studies teacher, and Director of theatre, at Bedford High School, New Hampshire.
Evan Czyzowski is a NH native and a first-generation American of Polish and French-Canadian decent. He graduated from UNH with a BA in English, minors in philosophy and history, and an MA in literature.
Evan lived and taught in Kraków, Poland from 2006-2007, and from 2009-2011 he was Co-Director of the Polish-English Summer Program in Krotoszyn, Poland. He has taught in China with the Sino-American Bridge for English and Health (SABEH) each summer since 2012 and is currently their Director of Education.
August 31, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff
Set on Wall Street in 2008, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff offers a singular perspective on devastating financial fraud. Musician/poet Alicia Jo Rabins plays herself in New York’s financial district, obsessing over Madoff and the capitalist system that enabled him, in this head-spinning hybrid of fantasy, music, and personal memoir. (1:15)
Patio Pyramid Party Hosts: Jacki Katzman, Elaine French
Guest Speaker: Alicia Rose
Alicia Rose
Director "A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff"
Award-winning photographer/director Alicia J. Rose has directed over 3 dozen music videos for artists like First Aid Kit, Cake and Bob Mould as well as visually branding popular bands like The Decemberists and many others with her imaginative portraiture. Her approach to directing utilizes her unique sense of visual style, grounded humor and snappy storytelling to deliver authentic narratives that resonate deeply with viewers.
Scripted comedic web series “The Benefits of Gusbandry” was her first foray into digital episodic storytelling and over its two seasons received wide acclaim from press outlets like The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, A/V Club, PASTE, OUT and others. Her feature directorial debut - hybrid narrative/musical A KADDISH FOR BERNIE MADOFF had an award winning festival run and was released in Fall 2022 via Freestyle Distribution. She is currently working on the episodic version of Alicia Jo Rabins’ “Girls in Trouble” and other creative projects.
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