Welcome to the 2025 Tucson J International Film Festival!!

The Film Festival Committee of the Tucson J is thrilled to announce the 34th annual Tucson J International Film Festival.

Schedule of Events:

January 5, 2025

10:30 am: 2025 Film Festival Shorts

Black Balloons

A grieving woman and a mysterious clown meet in a cemetery. They find comfort in each other through unusual comnication.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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3:00 pm: Yaniv

Budget cuts force a high school teacher in the Bronx to hatch a scheme to raise the money for the school play in the most unlikely way - gambling at an underground card game run by Hasidic Jews.

Location: DesertView Performing Arts Center, 39900 S Clubhouse Dr Tucson, AZ

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January 8, 2025

7:00 pm: Running on Sand

After the show, learn more about refugees and asylum seekers in Tucson with Diego Peña Lopez, former program director of Casa Alitas.

Aumari, a young Eritrean refugee living in Israel, is about to be deported. After a case of mistaken identity, he finds himself thrust into the limelight as a star soccer player. He plays an unexpected role in the team's fortunes while highlighting the plight of refugees everywhere.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 9, 2025

7:00 pm: Bad Shabbos

Family, food and finality are thrown deliciously off-kilter in this New York shabbat dinner tale. Friday night in this household will never be the same. Staring Kyra Sedgewick, David Paymer and Cliff "Method Man" Smith.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 10, 2025

1:00 pm: The Catskills

With a trove of lost-and-found archival footage and a cast of characters endowed with the gift of gab, "The Catskills" journeys into the storied mountain getaway north of New York City that served as refuge for Jewish immigrants fleeing poverty as well as a lavish playground for affluent Jewish families.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 11, 2025

7:00 pm: Guns and Moses

Lead actor Mark Feuerstein (The West Wing, Nurse Jackie, Royal Pains, The Baby-Sitters Club) will give a talkback right after the show!

A small-town synagogue becomes the scene of a fundraising gala gone awry. A wrongfully accused defendant, corruption in city hall, and a shady land deal combine in this action-packed tale. Starring Mark Fierstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney, and Christopher Lloyd.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 12, 2025

1:00 pm: Pink Lady

In an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem, Bati has a seemingly perfect life. But her world starts to crumble when she discovers her husband's secret affair with his male study partner.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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4:00 pm: We Will Dance Again

After the film screening, explore a special exhibit in the Tucson J's Jill Rosenzweig Memorial Sculpture Garden commemorating the victims and survivors of the Nova massacre. Following the exhibit, you are welcome to participate in a facilitated discussion reflecting on the events of October 7 and life afterward.

The dream of a music festival celebrating friendship, love, peace and freedom was shattered on a day that must never be forgotten. Participant video and interviews from victims and heroes at the Nova EDM music festival, as well as Hamas videos showing the murderous attack, combine in this important documentary to record forever the terror of October 7th, 2023.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 13, 2025

3:00 pm: 2025 Film Festival Shorts

A grieving woman and a mysterious clown meet in a cemetery. They find comfort in each other through unusual comnication.

Location: DesertView Performing Arts Center, 39900 S Clubhouse Dr Tucson, AZ

Click here to Buy Tickets

6:30 pm: 2025 BBYO (Teen Screen)

BBYO/Teen Screen events are meant for teenaged audiences only.

Running on Sand

Aumari, a young Eritrean refugee living in Israel, is about to be deported. After a case of mistaken identity, he finds himself thrust into the limelight as a star soccer player. He plays an unexpected role in the team's fortunes while highlighting the plight of refugees everywhere.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

Click here to Buy Tickets

7:00 pm: Unspoken

Join director Jeremy Borison in a special educational activity about LGBTQ+ persecution during the Holocaust.

Closeted Orthodox teenager Noam discovers that he might not be alone when he finds a secret love letter written to his grandfather by a man. He sets out to find this mysterious person and uncover his grandfather's identity as well as his own.

Location: Unscrewed Theater, 4500 Speedway Boulevard, #39, Tucson, AZ

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January 14, 2025

7:00 pm: Listen

You're invited to join a talkback with director Omri Bezalel.

Dara Nevo, a young and dedicated soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)'s elite intelligence unit, races against the clock to find an Israeli soldier captured in Gaza before her father's killer is released in a prisoner exchange.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 15, 2025

3:00 pm: Resistance: They Fought Back

Come at 2pm to for a free tour the sanctuary of the Tucson's historic Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center. After the film screening, you're invited to join a talkback with director Paula S. Apsell and museum docent Evelyn Varaday.

Did the Jews go as "lambs to the slaughter"? Rare archives, survivor testimony and scholarly research tells the story of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.

Location: Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center, 564 S. Stone Avenue, Tucson, AZ

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7:00 pm: Arugam Bay

After the film screening, Weintraub Israel Center's Yuval Malka will host an informal discussion between local young adults and their peers who have served in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Three Israelis travel to Sri Lanka after completing their military service; they have lost a friend during a military conflict and need to decompress. The beauty of the area where they surf and party is at odds with their shared sadness and search for meaning in their lives. Long-suppressed emotions and buried trauma put their friendship to the test.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 16, 2025

7:00 pm: Auction

Andre Masson, an auctioneer at Scottie's, receives a letter from a lawyer claiming that a common worker in the suburbs of Mulhouse owns a painting by Egon Schiele. What will he discover on his trip to Mulhouse and how will his career be impacted?

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 17, 2025

1:00 pm: Bella!

Come see Tucson's own Mayor Regina Romero give an introduction to BELLA! Stick around after the show for a talkback with filmmaker Jeff Lieberman.

Wear A Hat! Wear the most stylish hat to the show and win a prize! While you're here, check out the display of hats and embellishments by Marion Art Handmade that were inspired by Bella Abzug's unique personal style.

This documentary highlights the life and work of Bella Abzug - outspoken New York lawyer, activist, and congresswoman famous for her stylish hats. In-depth interviews with politicians, actors, writers and TV personalities celebrate her inspirational work on behalf of working people, the LGBTQ+ community and women.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 18, 2025

7:00 pm: Home

Two worlds collide when Yair, a Torah student, decides to open a computer store in Geula, the ultra-orthodox shopping area in Jerusalem. Based on true events, the story details what happens when rules are made and broken, secular and Orthodox values clash and violence fails to solve anything.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

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January 19, 2025

1:00 pm: Yaniv

Stick around after the show to learn how to play Yaniv, the card game from the movie!

Budget cuts force a high school teacher in the Bronx to hatch a scheme to raise the money for the school play in the most unlikely way - gambling at an underground card game run by Hasidic Jews.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

Click here to Buy Tickets

4:00 pm: Call Me Dancer

Come early for a special dance performance by ZUZI! DANCE starting at 3:30pm.

Grab A Bite! Join us at 3pm for complimentary appetizers provided by a local Indian restaurant.

Spectacular photography details the journey of a young street dancer from Mumbai as he pursues his passion for classical dance. Befriended by an American/Israeli ballet master, Manish is accepted for training in northern Israel at the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, one of the leading dance companies in the world.

Location: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E River Road, Tucson, AZ

Click here to Buy Tickets

Date: January 5 - January 19, 2025

Location: Various Venues In Tucson, AZ

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