Mandell JCC Hosts Hartford Jewish Film Festival March 17-27, 2012; 22 Films, 10 Countries, 10 Days

Feb. 23, 2012 - PRLog -- When the 16th Annual Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Festival tap dances into five theaters March 17 – 27, 2012, audiences will be treated to a globe-spanning love story, war heroes and saviors, taboo-breaking documentaries, tango, klezmer and dancing superstars, and a child’s eye view of the world on film, as well as visiting directors, actors and authors, parties, concerts and special events.  The state’s longest-running and largest celebration of Jewish culture and peoplehood returns to screen 22 award-winning features, documentaries, shorts and romances from ten countries over ten days.

Most films will have their New England, Connecticut or Hartford premieres at the Festival, which is presented by the Mandell Jewish Community Center with the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies and The Hartt School, University of Hartford. The films will be screened in five venues in Bloomfield (Digiplex Destinations), Hartford (Aetna Theater, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art) and West Hartford, CT (Criterion Cinemas Blue Back Square; Herbert Gilman Theater, Mandell JCC and The Emanuel Synagogue).

Hartford’s annual ten day culture-crossing cinematic feast is Jewish story-telling with an international accent, featuring titles from Argentina, China, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Poland, United Kingdom and the United States, where they have won multiple awards and honors. The festival expands this year to present Connecticut’s first ReelAbilities, The New York Disabilities Film Festival, in partnership with The Saul Schottenstein Foundation B, on Sunday, March 25, 2012. This one-day marathon of films - general and Jewish – celebrates the art and expression of all people with disabilities and features guest presenters and experts.  

A gala reception on Opening Night (March 17) heralds the premiere of the miraculous love story, Remembrance, and a closing night (March 27) tango concert and dance party with The Hartt School, University of Hartford, follows Tango - A Story with Jews.  Special events during the festival include an encore screening of Joyce Mandell’s and Michael King’s The Rescuers; a Muslim-Jewish Teen Screen event with young cast members and the director of David – The Movie; a Jewish soul music performance and kosher nosh with The Klezmatics – On Holy Ground; a Shalom Sesame Family Flicks program for tots and a Senior Screen matinee film, entertainment and lunch.  

Book (Far To Go) meets film (Nicky’s Family) when Canadian Jewish Book Award winner Alison Pick and Ivan Backer, a Hartford resident rescued from Czechoslovakia as a child reveal their connections to Sir Nicholas Winton and his life-saving World War II Kindertransport mission. Trailblazing journalist Phil Jacobs and director Scott Rosenfelt of Branford, CT visit to present Standing Silent, their taboo-shattering documentary on child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community with a special Reel Talk following the film.

Other films and shorts to be screened at the 2012 Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Festival include  Ahead of Time, All Day, Crime After Crime, Honeymoon Suite, In Heaven Underground, Kaddish for a Friend, Lea and Daria, Mitzvah on the Street (Shalom Sesame),  Restoration, Shooting Beauty, The Flood (Mabul), The Tailor, The Tenth Man, Warrior Champions – From Baghdad to Beijing and White Balance.

Ticket prices range from $10 advance ($13 at door) for most films to $75 for Opening Night film, gala and parking. Tickets for the Tuesday, March 27 Tango, A Story With Jews film and Closing Night concert and tango party featuring musicians and dancers from The Hartt School, University of Hartford are $20 per person. Tickets for all shows on sale in person, via phone and by mail at the Mandell JCC. Seating is limited, advance purchase is recommended to avoid sellouts.  For films other than Opening Night, tickets will be sold at the door subject to availability; all seating is general admission and program is subject to change. All events are under Hartford Kashrut Commission supervision.

The 2012 HJFF iPhone App, developed by iDoTouch.com, can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store. Users can view schedule, photos, sneak previews and trailers, maintain favorites, call or email the box office and share favorites via email and Facebook. For tickets, schedules, directions, and a Festival brochure contact the Hartford Jewish Film Festival Box Office, Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, CT. 06117, 860-231-6316, visit the official film festival website, www.hjff.org or contact the Mandell JCC, 860-236-4571.

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The Mandell JCC features state of the art fitness and aquatics center, preschools ,summer camps and outdoor swim club, family education, social, cultural arts, film, book and recreational classes and special events; art gallery and Cafe. Open to all.