We are proud to announce the 2025 JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival!

Our mission is to showcase culturally diverse, Jewishly inspired films that will entertain, educate, and inspire audiences of all generations. Our carefully curated films honor Jewish filmmakers, writers, and actors—and those committed to repairing the world through brave, artistic expression. Many films are Chicago Premieres and will include special select post-film Q&As with filmmakers, actors, and subject matter experts.

This March, for our 12th season, we will be showing 19 films in-person over three weeks!

Schedule

March 1, 2025

1:00pm

Technion 10²

In 1924, the first Technion class opened in Haifa. Today, it is hard to believe that this modest class, taking place in the far reaches of the British Empire was the start of the Technion – one of the leading technological research institutions in the world. The story of this institution’s hundred years on Mount Carmel provides a fascinating prism through which to describe the history of the State of Israel. It is hard to imagine a modern-day Israel, with its strong economy and scientific and technological achievements, without the Technion playing its part. From the pre-state period, through dramatic moments in times of war, to the birth of the startup nation and breakthroughs in global-scale research – the Technion was always there.

Director: Uri Rosenwaks

77 minutes

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4:00pm

The Glory of Life

Because of the power of love, the last year of Franz Kafka’s life becomes his happiest. He has never before been able to allow himself to experience intimacy, he suffers from tuberculosis and is dependent on his overbearing family. But the worldly wise Dora Diamant accepts him as he is. And he accepts her. The two meet in 1923 on the Baltic Sea coast, where he is convalescing and she is working in a Jewish Volksheim. Together they go to Berlin and, when Franz’s health deteriorates rapidly, to a sanatorium in Austria. Barely a year after they meet, he dies. The memory of their time together will shape Dora for the rest of her life.?

Director: Georg Maas, Judith Kaufmann

98 minutes

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7:00pm

Midas Man

On Thursday 9 November 1961, a man named Brian descended the stairs to a cellar in Liverpool and changed the world forever. The film showcases the legendary career of Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

Director: Joseph Stevenson

112 minutes

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Date: Mar 1 - 23, 2025