(West Palm Beach, FL – January 21, 2025) The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival© (SASIFF), presented by MorseLife, will launch its third season with screenings of 27 memorable, world class movies, including an audience-wowing assortment of comedies, dramas and documentaries—seven of which were made in the USA and two others that were co-produced by American and international studios.

 

Over 11 days SASIFF will offer 18 films at the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse (January 23-30) at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach 33401; with nine screenings at EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace (January 31-February 2) at 14775 Lyons Road in Delray Beach 33446.

 

In chronological order of screening, the seven “made in America” films are:

 

LIZA: A TRULY TERRIFIC AND ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY

(Documentary / 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Bruce David Klein. USA, 104-minutes)

The Opening Night Screening of The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival©, presented by MorseLife. One film is barely enough to encompass all the facets of the glittery life and career of Liza Minnelli, but director Klein pulls it off with many a humorously bossy aside from the Oscar-winning Cabaret star herself. This portrait puts the emphasis on a lifetime of meaningful relationships with mentors including Kay Thompson, Bob Fosse, and Halston as young Liza emerges from the shadow of her famous father, film director Vincente Minnelli, and her legendary mother Judy Garland to become one of the most extraordinary artists of our time.  Appearances by friends and collaborators include Mia Farrow, the late Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, George Hamilton, and with running commentary by musician Michael Feinstein pulling it all together with his usual flair. “A gorgeous portrait of a legendary showbiz survivor, warmly celebratory but also unquestionably authentic”—The Hollywood Reporter

Note: Director Bruce David Klein will appear and answer questions at the Festival’s Opening Night screening.

Thursday, January 23 – 7:30 pm  /  Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse

 

YANIV

(Comedy/Jewish, 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Ammon Carmi. USA, 80-minutes)

Consider a Bronx high school drama teacher getting around budget cuts by funding the school’s spring musical with illegal gambling loot. That’s the wacky plot premise cooked up by writer/director Carmi and co-writer/actor Benjamin Ducoff, a real-life NYC high school teacher. Desperate for funding, the teacher gets tipped off to a high-stakes underground gambling ring where Yaniv, “the Blackjack of the Jewish people,” is the game of choice. The catch?  The secret basement nightclub is run by and for a tight-knit group of Hasidic men, and the teacher and his pal don’t have a ghost of a chance at passing, until…they don Orthodox disguises complete with fake beards, and it is game on. Co-starring Annabelle Steven. “A fun and funny thriller with a lot of heart”—FilmThreat.

Sunday, January 26 – 1 pm / Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse

 

EX-HUSBANDS

(Drama/Comedy, 2024, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Noah Pritzker. USA, 98-minutes)

Griffin Dunne (After Hours, An American Werewolf in London) leads a predominantly male ensemble cast in a wryly humorous tale revolving around questions of women and the lack thereof. There’s a straight line drawn between soon-to-be-married and soon-to-be-ex for three generations of men in the Pearce family. Elderly patriarch Simon (Richard Benjamin) has recently exited a 65-year union; grandson Nick is heading for the altar with a load of doubts, and the marriage of father-of-the-groom Peter (Dunne) is in the rearview mirror.  Nick and pals head for a stag weekend in a Mexican resort, where Peter shows up as the uninvited guest.  Soul-searching starts at the bottom of a glass for this gang and romance may be on the menu for Peter. Rosanna Arquette co-stars. “Dunne is the main event with his charming portrayal”—Eye for Film.

Sunday, January 26 – 7 pm  / Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse

 

TROLL STORM

(Documentary / Jewish, 2023, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Eunice Law. USA, 83-minutes)

A Montana realtor’s win in a groundbreaking First Amendment court case that struck a blow to white supremacy and neo-Nazism is charted in this searing documentary. Tanya Gersh, a wife, mom, and successful businesswoman, becomes the target of a smear campaign initially launched by a neighbor. Outsider far-right extremists jump into the act, sensing an opportunity for grandstanding their antisemitic agenda. Gersh’s contact information and location is released nationally in a hate publication, resulting in a cyber storm of death threats and harassment that cause the family to fear for their safety.  Steeled by a knowledge of history and a sense of solidarity with Holocaust survivors, Gersh digs in and chooses to fight back.

Note: Tanya Gersh will be present for audience discussion.

Wednesday, January 29 – 7 pm / Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse

 

BAD SHABBOS

(Comedy / Jewish, 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Daniel Robbins. USA, 84-minutes)

The Centerpiece Night of SASIFF presents the Audience Award winner at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. This funny film showcases family dysfunction, religious disparity and sibling rivalry when a family on the Upper West Side invite the Midwestern Catholic family of their eldest son’s fiancée to a Shabbos dinner for a first social blending of the clans.  With tensions simmering, kosher klutziness and a prank gone wrong set the scene for chaos.  By the time that there’s a dead body on the bathroom floor it starts to look like Agatha Christie-meets-Woody Allen. Kyra Sedgwick is a quirky standout as an obsessive matriarch, and Cliff “Method Mad” Smith of Wu Tang Clan excels as a helpful doorman. “One of the funniest movies films ever to take place during a Shabbos dinner”—Solzy at the Movies.

Note: Director Daniel Robbins and producer Adam Mitchell will appear and answer questions at the Festival’s screening.

Thursday, January 30 – 7 pm / The Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse

 

BROKEN DOLLS

(Documentary / Jewish, 2023, South Florida Premiere. Directed by Tracy Whipple and Gilles Bovon. USA, 82-minutes)

A mother’s obscured past become a daughter’s call to action in reconstructing a history altered  by the Holocaust. In 1939, a mysterious benefactor enables a seven-year-old Jewish girl and her mother to escape Nazi Germany on a ship for Shanghai, where they face deprivation and an uncertain future. In the Jewish Ghetto of the international Chinese city, the child spends a decade reinventing herself. Decades later, now herself a mother with an established life in Florida, she comes full circle, seeking to lay claim to her past.  In the complex quest to reclaim her German citizenship, the discovery of a shocking secret adds a new perspective to her life story.

Note: Director Tracy Whipple will be present for audience discussion.

Sunday, February 2 – 1 pm  /  EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace

 

THE FRENCH ITALIAN

(Comedy, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Rachel Wolther. USA, 92-minutes)

The Closing Night Film of SASIFF 2025. A white lie about a plate of cookies is the first tipoff to the flexible ethics of 30-something Manhattan hipsters Valerie (Catherine Cohen) and Doug (Aristotle Athari). Trouble brews in the haven of their Upper West Side rent-controlled apartment when horrendous noise from below begins to punctuate their days. Rather than confronting the couple downstairs, the pair plan to trap their neighbor’s actress girlfriend with a complex revenge scheme involving auditions and rehearsals for a non-existent play.  Spinning a comic clash of New York types and lifestyles, director/co-writer Wolther escalates the action to the tipping point of a fake opening night, where Emmy-nominated comedian Ikechukwu Ufomadu manages to steal the show in a tour de force performance. Co-starring Chloe Cherry. “The funniest New York movie in years”—The Daily Beast.

Note: Producer Miranda Kahn and actor Ikechukwu "Ike" Ufomadu will be present for audience discussion.

Sunday, February 2 – 7 pm  /  EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace

 

The two SASIFF films co-produced by American and international partners are in order of their scheduled screening:

 

YASMEEN'S ELEMENT

(Drama, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Amman Abbasi. USA, Pakistan, Portugal, 76-minutes – In Urdu with English subtitles)

The beauty of northern Pakistan’s mountainous Hunza Valley region is the breathtaking backdrop to this colorful tale of an earnest child’s pursuit of her lost homework assignment, unaware that the Taliban is enacting a restrictive new plan for her future in her very own village. Loosely adapted from journalist Jeffrey E. Stern’s nonfiction book The Last Thousand, this drama follows Yasmeen, a lively 12-year-old eager student in search of her teacher’s home and encountering baffled neighbors, preoccupied medical workers, and men dismissive of her mission.  The film’s allegorical aspect is subtle yet ultimately clear when the next school day dawns for Yasmeen and her friends. Starring Eshal Fatima. “An enthralling escapade… transfixing”—IndieWire.

Wednesday, January 29 – 4 pm / Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse

 

ETERNAL YOU

(Documentary, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck. Germany/USA, 87-minutes – In English and Korean with English subtitles)

This is an incisive look at the ways artificial intelligence technology is transforming the ways humans deal with death. A new industry offers the tempting opportunity to allegedly communicate with deceased loved ones by way of an avatar that appears to channel their voices, current thoughts, emotions and memories. In uncanny and increasingly unsettling encounters, including with the mom who would go to any lengths to again hug her dead child, the filmmakers survey the startling and sometimes shocking experiences of users. Interviews with multiple developers of the technology skirt around the ethical implications while eagerly plunging into the future. “This thought-provoking and bang-up-to-the-minute documentary explores a morally questionable use of AI… on the knife-edge between thrilling innovation and cynical recklessness” – The Guardian.

Friday, January 31 – 4 pm  / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace

 

For more information about the SASIFF or to purchase tickets, please visit www.sasiff.org.

 

About The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival:

The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival©, presented by MorseLife, aims to bring highly anticipated, critically acclaimed, and thought-provoking films to Palm Beach County. As a world-class film festival, The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International represents a major contribution to the cultural life of Palm Beach County. SASIFF returns for a new season with screenings at the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (Jan. 23-Jan. 30, 2025) and EVO Entertainment Delray (Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2025). For more information, please visit www.sasiff.org, www.facebook.com/DME.SASIFF and www.twitter.com/dmesasiff or www.instagram.com/dme_sasiff or contact [email protected] or 561.220.6735.

 

About MorseLife:

MorseLife serves more than 3,600 seniors every day on its campus in West Palm Beach and through its community outreach programs. Founded in 1983, MorseLife is a provider of health care and residential services for seniors in Palm Beach County. A charitable, not-for-profit organization, its programs also include short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, independent and assisted living, memory care assisted living, hospice, home health care, care management, meals-on-wheels, and PACE. Since its beginnings, MorseLife has built a reputation and tradition of caring for seniors with excellence, dignity, and compassion. For more information, visit morselife.org, www.facebook.com/MorseLife, www.twitter.com/MorseLifeHealth, www.instagram.com/morselifehealth or www.linkedin.com/company/morselife-inc-/ or contact [email protected].

 

Attached Images:

(Photos Courtesy of Sun & Stars International Film Festival)

1.   BAD SHABBOS – January 30 

2.   THE FRENCH ITALIAN – February 2