From interracial romance to #MeToo to Sigmund Freud, the Jewish Film Festival swings for the fences 

Over the years, the Jewish Film Festival of Dallas has been a keeper on the calendar. Its films have been funny and sad, memorable and haunting, and alluring to cinephiles — in particular those weary of the dreck being served at Ye Tired Old Multiplex.

But this year's edition — it is, amazingly, its 23rd season — carries a deeper, broader cachet. The festival runs from Aug. 28 through Sept. 26, days after the Holocaust and Human Rights Museum opens in downtown Dallas.

No area festival delivers a deeper dive of Jewish identity than this one.

"Survival is maybe a synonym for Jewish," former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir says in Golda's Balcony, The Film, the movie version of the Broadway play.

"That's my story. What is the price for survival?"

How is this year different from all other years? Well, it's not, really, since survival is once again a theme in the 2019 festival, which offers two unexpectedly different Holocaust films. Not everything is heavy or dark, and several this year serve as testimonials of the joy of Jewish culture. One looms as a tribute to the power of Jewish moms and another to the spell of Jewish food, which is, of course, often made by Jewish moms.

What may, in fact, set this year's festival apart from those in the past is how culturally aware it is. It confronts Israel's political divide in the person of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It examines the hot topic of interracial romance between Jews and non-Jews. It confronts the #MeToo movement. It offers a history lesson in how Jews, one in particular, shaped Hollywood. It unveils a surprisingly refreshing story about the Holocaust in the person of Sigmund Freud and a history lesson on Sephardic Jews.

Heck, it even offers a full night of binge-worthy streaming, by giving us five hours' worth of Israel's answer to the hottest shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Best of all, it offers a sense of surprise, such as a night of cross-cultural celebration between Dallas' Jewish and Asian communities.

Persona Non Grata

Preceding the festival is a free special event at 7 p.m., Aug. 28, with the screening of the Japanese film, Persona Non Grata. It tells the story of diplomat Chiune Sugihara, otherwise known as the Schindler of Japan. While stationed in Europe, representing a country allied with Adolf Hitler's Nazi empire, he chanced his own demise by arranging exit visas that saved the lives of 6,000 Jews.

Persona Non Grata will be shown, not at the Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley, the venue for most screenings, but at the Edith O'Donnell Arts & Technology Building on the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas. The night is a joint collaboration between the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at UTD, the American Jewish Committee of Dallas, the Consulate-General of Japan and the Japan America Society.

Golda's Balcony, The Film

The festival's official opening is 7 p.m. Sept. 4, when Golda's Balcony, The Film, screens at Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley, 13933 N. Central Expressway in Dallas.

Like the Broadway show, the film version stars Tova Feldshuh in the title role. Feldshuh has been nominated for four Tony awards, including one for her performance in Golda's Balcony. The film focuses on Meir's rise from Russian schoolgirl to American schoolteacher to prime minister, who led the country during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Israel was attacked by Egypt and Syria.

David Fishelson, the producer of Golda's Balcony, will be the guest during the post-screening talkback. 

King Bibi

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, has long been a controversial figure. But that's not a deterrent to the festival, which over the years has not been averse to controversy. One of several documentaries this year, it embraces the ethos, delving into Netanyahu's public confession of adultery while taking a critical look at his use of social media. It does nothing less than examine the depth and breadth of King Bibi's legacy, asking whether he's Israel's greatest political hope or a cynical manipulator who will stop at nothing to cling to power. The film shows how, at the moment, Israel is no less divided than the U.S. when it comes to political conflict.

— Sept. 7, 9:15 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

Promise at Dawn

How can you have a Jewish film festival and not offer a testament to Jewish moms? Here it's the adaptation of Romain Gary's memoir, dedicated to a woman who made sacrifices as a single mom. And of course, she happened to be his mom.

Promise at Dawn is a journey, from poverty in Poland, to a psychological rendering of a woman's mission to convince her son that yes he can be somebody, whether he thinks so or not.

— Sept. 10, 7 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley.

Carl Laemmle — The Film

One of my favorite books is Neal Gabler's An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood. And one of the heroes of that tome is German-born immigrant Carl Laemmle, who founded Universal Pictures. Laemmle made some of Hollywood's best when it came to movies, but he also didn't shy from sensitive issues. He extended opportunities to female directors and African-American actors and helped save more than 300 Jewish families from the clutches of Nazi Germany.

— Sept. 11, 1 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

The Tobacconist 

Austria was Adolf Hitler's homeland, where he was born in 1889. The Tobacconist starts in Austria, on the eve of Hitler's takeover, by telling the story of Franz, a 17-year-old who travels to Vienna to become an apprentice of Otto, who welcomes all customers, even Jews and Communists. There, Franz meets a regular named Sigmund Freud, with whom he develops a bond. Franz falls in love with a music hall dancer, so who better to turn to for advice than the father of psychoanalysis? There is, however, the onrush of World War II, which leaves Franz's personal issues engulfed by events, which shake the foundations of Europe and the world at large.

Adapted from the 2017 novel of Austrian writer Robert Seethaler, The Tobacconist serves as a cinematic cigar, whose smoke wafts from young love to the evils of Nazism to an uncertain future. Kudos to the filmmakers for casting the great Bruno Ganz as Freud.

— Sept. 12, 7 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley

The Unorthodox

So much happened in 1963, when the Cold War raged, and President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas. The Unorthodox personalizes the story of 1963 and underscores why Golda Meir's definition of survival is spot on. Yakov Cohen's daughter is expelled from high school due entirely to her ethnicity. Her father fights back by forming a movement to empower Sephardic Jews. Audacious though it is, it becomes a surprisingly effective campaign whose power continues to reverberate.

— Sept. 14, 9:15 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

Autonomies

Let's face it, when it comes to television, we're living in the age of streaming. So, the Jewish Film Festival of Dallas has decided to trot out, in one night, all five episodes of a mini-series that introduced binging to Israel. The evening promises to be so long, festival officials have decided to offer an intermission after the first hour and 40 minutes.

Autonomies is described by its creators as a dystopian mini-series that conjures up an alternate reality of Israel in 2019. This one swings from one cliffhanger to the next. By now, you've heard the term Celtic Noir and Scandi Noir when it comes to the streaming sensations shown on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Here we have Israeli Noir. And in the age of Trump, this one also deals with an all-too-familiar hot point: A wall.

— Sept. 15, 4 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

The Unorthodox

Repeat screening, Sept. 16, 7 p.m., the Jewish Community Center of Dallas, 7900 Northaven Road in Dallas.

Leona

The festival has long been drawn to romantic comedies, and this year's offering is Leona. Ariela is an artist who lives with her family in a cloistered Syrian-Jewish neighborhood in Mexico City. She begins a passionate relationship with Ivan, a non-Jewish writer who steers her well beyond her comfort space. In an age when interracial romance is as common as ever in the Jewish community, Ariela risks alienating her family while pursuing a passion she doesn't want to lose. 

— Sept. 17, 7 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

Working Woman

Yes, the #MeToo movement is also alive in Israel. Working Woman tells the story of Orna, a mother of three children and the wife of a struggling restaurateur. Orna lands a job in a luxury real estate firm, where sexual harassment soon becomes a problem. Another of this festival's attributes is how it embraces psychological thrillers, which Working Woman is. 

— Sept. 18, 7 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

King Bibi

Repeat screening, Sept. 23, 7 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

Golda's Balcony, The Film

Repeat screening, Sept. 25, 1 p.m., Jewish Community Center of Dallas. 

Carl Laemmle — The Film

Repeat screening, Sept. 25, 7 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

Chewdaism: A Taste of Montreal 

Ah, yes, Jewish food. Dallas has its own delis, of course, but all it would take is one trip for anyone to never forget Canter's Deli in Los Angeles (rugelach, maybe while sitting in Marilyn Monroe's booth); Katz's Delicatessen in New York (pastrami); or Manny's Deli in Chicago (corned beef). May they live forever. Here, we get an up-close-and-personal look at the Jewish food of Montreal, whose Jewish history is served up on a delectable platter.

— Sept. 26, 7 p.m., Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley. 

Details

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