21st Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival
New promising, entertaining and exceptional award-winning films are featured this year,  bringing Jewish lives and stories to the big screen. With venues across town, the Festival, now in its 21st year, shines the spotlight on Jewish and Israeli culture, art and history and features filmmakers and guest speakers/programming.

Schedule:

Saturday, March 22, 2025

8:30 p.m: Houston Jewish Film Festival: Opening Night: Seven Blessings
Drama - Directed by Ayelet Menahemi - 2023 - Israel - Hebrew, French, Moroccan with English subtitles - 111 minutes - Kaplan Theatre  
Winner of 10 Ophir Awards (Israeli Oscars), including Best Picture, Ayelet Menahemi’s captivating drama about culture and forgiveness brings us inside an extended family celebrating the union of a Moroccan-Jewish bride and French-Ashkenazi groom with the traditional Sheva Brachot (Seven Blessings). As the week of festivities unfolds—behind the boisterous, multi-lingual conversations and elaborate, home-cooked meals—lies a painful family secret inspired by true events.

Shabbos Goy
Short - Directed by Adam Goott and Alex Szlezinger - 2022 - United Kingdom - English - 5 minutes - Kaplan Theatre (preceding Seven Blessings)
Self-proclaimed “complete atheist” Terry Neville is caretaker at the Radlett United Synagogue north of London in this poignant, charmingly wry short.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

1:00 p.m and 7:00 p.m: Houston Jewish Film Festival: The Catskils
Documentary - Directed by Lex Gillespie - 2024 - USA - English - 86 minutes - Kaplan Theatre
Director Lex Gillespie in attendance for both screenings
Overflowing with nostalgic archival footage, this delightful documentary chronicles the rise, heyday and eventual decline of the so-called Borscht Belt—the storied mountain region north of New York City that served for decades as a getaway for Jewish families and inspired films such as Dirty Dancing. From troves of mid-century home movies to interviews with famous comedians sharing their memories, Lex Gillespie’s documentary pays homage to these many resorts and bungalow colonies and their contributions to the cultural fabric of Jewish-American life.

Saturday, March 29, 2025

8:30 p.m: Houston Jewish Film Festival: Bliss (Hemda)
Drama - Directed by Shemi Zarhin - 2024 - Israel - Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles - 125 minutes - Kaplan Theatre  
Patron Sponsors: Doreen and Basil Joffe
Reception following film supported by the Doreen and Basil Joffe Endowment Fund
Renowned Israeli actors Sasson Gabai and Asi Levi play Sassi and Efi, an aging married couple burdened with multiple jobs and complications from their past lives. Despite a notable age gap, Sassi and Efi demonstrate an emotional equilibrium in their relationship, using humor and empathy to support each other through life’s unpredictable physical, financial and personal stresses.

Sunday, March 30, 2025

7:00 p.m: Houston Jewish Film Festival: An Evening of Shorts
Director Julia Elihu in attendance
Girl No. 60427
Drama - Directed by Shulamit Lifshitz - 2022 - Israel - Hebrew with English subtitles - 22 minutes - Kaplan Theatre
Tel Aviv, 1998. Reut finds her grandmother’s hidden Holocaust diary, transforming her carefree summer into a profound connection with her past.

Winter of ’79
Drama - Directed by Julia Elihu - 2022 - USA - Persian with English subtitles - 20 minutes
A Persian-Jewish mother questions her faith in her country. Based on Julia Elihu’s family’s experiences escaping Iran during the 1979 Revolution.

Sevap/Mitzvah
Drama - Directed by Sabina Vajra?a - 2023 - Bosnia, Herzegovina - English, Bosnian with English subtitles - 20 minutes
In Nazi-occupied Bosnia, a Muslim woman risks everything to save her Jewish friends. Fifty years later, during the Balkan War, the tables have turned.

In The Garden of Tulips
Drama - Directed by Julia Elihu - 2023 - USA - Persian with English subtitles - 14 minutes
Persian-Jewish teenager Caroline takes a final car ride with her father through the Iranian countryside before she is smuggled out of the country.

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

7:30 p.m: Houston Jewish Film Festival: October H8te
Documentary - Directed by Wendy Sachs - 2024 - USA - English - 100 minutes - Kaplan Theatre  
Documentary subject, Tessa Veksler in attendance
Emmy Award winner Wendy Sachs deftly explores the eruption of antisemitism on American college campuses following October 7, taking us through a timeline of anti-Israel protests fueled by propaganda spread on social media. Featuring dozens of interviews with well-known politicians, academics, activists and impressive student leaders, Sachs’ documentary illustrates how Jewish students are dealing with the scourge of antisemitic campus movements.

Saturday, April 5, 2025

8:30 p.m: Houston Jewish Film Festival: Closing Night: All About the Levkoviches
Drama - Directed by Ádám Breier - 2024 - Hungary - Hungarian with English subtitles - 85 minutes - Kaplan Theatre
Set in contemporary Budapest, Ádám Breier’s charming, bittersweet dramedy focuses on the gruff but lovable Hungarian boxing trainer, Tamás, who has been recently reunited with his estranged son, Iván. Under the same roof sitting shiva, the men are drawn together with the help of Tamás’ adorable grandson, Ariel, whose own grief includes encounters with his grandmother’s spirit. With mordant humor, this heartwarming family story delivers laughs and an intimate look into belief and reconciliation.

Date: March 22 - April 5, 2025

Location:

Kaplan Theatre
5601 South Braeswood
Houston, TX 77096

Click Here For More Information