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FEBRUARY 2020 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Art & Entertainment | 25
Jewish Film Festival marks 20 years with big slate of screenings
BY JUDITH SCHONBAK
Celebrating its 20th anniversary year, the Atlanta Jewish Film
Festival brings an extraordinary lineup of diverse films to venues
across Atlanta and to its anchor venue, the Sandy Springs Perform
ing Arts Center.
What began two decades ago with a handful of films and a mod
est number of a little more than 1,900 filmgoers is expected to wel
come more than 40,000 attendees for this year’s run, Feb. 10 through
27.
The anniversary program counts a total of 64 films: 48 features
and 16 shorts. Among them are award-winning films and award-
nominees, three world premieres, five North American premieres,
two US premieres and a number of Atlanta premieres, from 17 coun
tries around the globe. For many, it’s a film lovers’ wonderland. It is
the largest Jewish Film Festival in Atlanta and one of the largest in
the world.
The screenings are held at seven metro Atlanta venues. There are
two venues in Sandy Springs: Regal Perimeter Pointe, which is host
ing 38 screenings, and Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center’s Byers
Theatre, which is hosting 19 screenings, including two screenings of
the closing night film on Feb. 27, “Saul & Ruby, To Life” and an eve
ning reception celebration.
The word is out that Saul Drier and Ruby Sosnovicz, two Holocaust survivors and
musicians, in their nineties, who are the subjects of that closing night film, will be
there. It’s an uplifting story of the duo seeking to bring peace and hope through mu
sic in the U.S. and their home country of Poland, even as anti-Semitism is on the rise.
Mounting the film festival is a major undertaking that involves hundreds of people
and a complex set of considerations, from the films themselves, venues, guest speak
ers, finances and more.
Film festival president Max Leventhal has been involved with the event since its
early days as one of the original members of the board of the Atlan
ta Jewish Film Society. He painted a vivid picture of what it takes to
make the event happen every year.
“Committed, passionate people” is his first stroke on the canvas.
“The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival has a small but mighty staff of 11
people year-round. Most of the others are volunteers - more than
400.
What makes a Jewish film? It’s a frequently asked question by au
diences and the public in general. On Feb. 23, for the first time on
the festival roster, there is an evening conversation between audi
ence members and a five-person panel on just that topic at the San
dy Springs Performing Arts Center. The panel includes local and na
tional film experts, Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul and Rabbi Brad
Levenberg of Temple Sinai.
The AJFF description is “a cinematic exploration of Jewish experi
ence — Jewish culture and history, life in Israel, and the work of Jew
ish artists — entertaining and engaging diverse audiences with film
through a Jewish lens.”
“Essentially it encompasses obvious Jewish topics, such as life in
Israel, the Holocaust, Jewish creative people, foreign films with Jew
ish characters and more. We try to be relatively broad,” said Leven
thal. The question is an important part in the orientation of the Film
Evaluation Committee of more than 200 members.
“Importantly, the committee is a widely diverse group that looks like metro Atlanta,”
said Leventhal. “There are many loyalists and newcomers, too,” he added.
“For the 2020 festival, we started with 700 films to consider. Think of it as a big fun
nel,” said Leventhal. “The committee’s job is to get it down to a workable number.
This year, there were 21,561 evaluations, to be exact, according to the AJFF. The eval
uations go on through October, then the screening and streaming process begins.
Streamings are private for committee members via their computers, TVs and phones.
For detailed information on show schedules and tickets, go to ajff.org.
ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL/VAUGHN GIT-
TENS
Max Leventhal, president of the
Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.
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FINE JEWELRY
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