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Keep the Change poster

Keep the Change

When aspiring filmmaker David (Brandon Polansky) is mandated by a judge to attend a social program at the Jewish Community Center, he is sure of one thing: he doesn’t belong there. But when he’s assigned to visit the Brooklyn Bridge with the vivacious Sarah (Samantha Elisofon), sparks fly and his convictions are tested. Their budding relationship must weather Sarah’s romantic past, David’s judgmental mother (Jessica Walter), and their own pre-conceptions of what love is supposed to look like. Under the guise of an off-kilter New York romantic comedy, Keep the Change does something quite radical in casting actors with autism to play characters with autism, offering a refreshingly honest portrait of a community seldom depicted on the big screen. Rarely has a romcom felt so deep and poignant. Thoroughly charming and quite funny, the film’s warmth and candor brings growth and transformation to the characters, and ultimately, to us.

Happy Times poster

Happy Times

A boorish Israeli-American couple plan a Sabbath dinner party for a group of fellow ex-pat friends and family in their Hollywood Hills mansion. What could possibly go wrong? Well, start with a deadly mix of alcohol, add inflated egos, some inappropriate lust and top with raging jealousy and the result is of cauldron of murderous mayhem. A shot gun, garden sheers, kitchen knives and even a garbage disposal are used as weapons of choice as these deranged guests turn on each other in director Michael (“Out in the Dark”) Mayer’s outrageous and bloody comedy. Think “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” meets “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

Synonyms poster

Synonyms

Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlinale, the latest from Nadav Lapid (The Kindergarten Teacher) features a dynamic lead performance from newcomer Tom Mercier, whose feral intensity practically bursts out of the frame. Mercier plays Yoav, a disaffected young Israeli who flees Tel Aviv for Paris to start a new life. Desperate to erase his origins, Yoav sees becoming French as his only hope for salvation. Step one is to replace his language. From now on, he will not utter a single word of Hebrew and his dictionary becomes his constant companion. His work at the Israeli embassy is a burden, but studying for his naturalization test also has its pitfalls. And the young French couple he befriends has some rather strange ideas about how to help him. Based on writer-director Nadav Lapid’s own experiences, Synonyms explores the challenges of putting down roots in a new place. Yoav’s attempts to find himself awaken past demons and open up an existential abyss in this tragicomic puzzle that wisely knows how to keep its secrets.

Hannah Arendt poster

Hannah Arendt

In the award-winning HANNAH ARENDT, the sublime Barbara Sukowa reteams with director Margarethe von Trotta (Vision,Rosa Luxemburg) for a brilliant new biopic of the influential German-Jewish philosopher and political theorist. Arendt’s reporting on the 1961 trial of ex-Nazi Adolf Eichmann in The New Yorker—controversial both for her portrayal of Eichmannand the Jewish councils—introduced her now-famous concept of the “Banality of Evil.” Using footage from the actual Eichmann trial and weaving a narrative that spans three countries, von Trotta beautifully turns the often invisible passion for thought into immersive, dramatic cinema.

Working Woman poster

Working Woman

Orna, (Liron Ben Shlush) is the mother of three young children with a husband struggling to start his own restaurant. To help support her family Orna returns to the workplace, landing a job with a former army superior, Benny (Menashe Noy) who is now a successful real estate developer. While Orna embraces her new position and tries to balance its demands with her home life, she begins to experience escalating sexual harassment from her boss. Her rapid rise through the ranks and her increasing financial success seem to parallel a pattern of predatory behavior which ultimately brings her career and marital relationship to the brink. This timely and devastating story is expertly told by long time feminist filmmaker Michal Aviad.

Kiss Me Kosher Still

Kiss Me Kosher

A subversive love story about clashing cultures and families, Kiss Me Kosher is a romantic misadventure crossing all borders. When two generations of Israeli women fall for a German woman and a Palestinian man, chaos follows. What happens when lovers don’t fit together but do belong together?

Here We Are Still

Here We Are

Aharon is a devoted father, who in order to avoid putting his son Uri into a supervised home, escapes with him on an adventure throughout Israel. Director Nir Bergman (Broken Wings) takes us on a touching father and son road-trip, examining family relations and separation.

Asia

Asia tells the story of a single mom, Asia, whose relationship with her daughter, Vika, is more of a sister relationship rather than mother-daughter. Asia’s expectations of honesty and openness begin to negatively impact her relationship with Vika, who strives for privacy and independence. When Vika’s health begins to decline, this only increases her desire for exploration, and Asia finds herself at a crossroads between her own parenting style and respecting her daughter’s point of view. It is a story of navigating relationships and motherhood.

Sublet Still

Sublet

Following a personal tragedy, Michael, a travel columnist for The New York Times, goes to Tel Aviv to write. His grief has caused problems between him and his husband, leading him to want to do his research and go home. But when he sublets an apartment from Tomer, a young film student, he finds himself drawn into the life of the city. The unlikely and intense bond they form transforms their lives in unexpected ways.

Honeymood Still

Honeymood

From the breakthrough director of Zero Motivation comes Honeymood, a romantic comedy set over the course of one night in Jerusalem. A bride and groom arrive at a lavish hotel suite after their wedding. What should have been a romantic night together turns into a fight that develops into a dazed urban journey, making them confront past loves, repressed doubts, and the lives they have left behind.