The Indianapolis Jewish and Israeli Film Festival is a remarkable event that celebrates the diversity of Jewish filmmaking. Founded by Robert Epstein, this festival showcases award-winning films from around the world that explore the Jewish experience from contemporary and historical perspectives. From documentaries to feature films, this festival offers a unique opportunity to explore the stories of Jewish filmmakers and their impact on the world. One of the movies featured at this year's festival is Golda Mier, a 1982 television movie starring Ingrid Bergman in her last performance.
This film tells the story of the Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Mier, a woman born in Russia and raised in Wisconsin. The film also stars Ned Beatty, Robert Loggia, Judy Davis, and Leonard Nimoy. Another movie to be screened at this year's festival is Lemon Tree, a 1981 film about clashing cultures and parents and children within the Jewish faith. This film stars Robbie Benson as a young modern Orthodox Jew who finds religious rivalry but personal friendship with a Hasidic Jew.
Two directors will be in Bloomington to talk about their award-winning documentaries, which will be screened at the festival. The Joyce Forum: Award-Winning Short Films from The Joyce Forum of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival will also be featured at this year's festival. These films portray the Jewish experience from contemporary and historical perspectives. One of these films is A Good Uplift, which features Magda, a Jewish grandmother and owner of a lingerie store on New York's Lower East Side.
Faye Lederman, director, producer and writer of A Good Uplift, has screened films around the world and has been supported by the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. The Indianapolis Jewish Film Festival is also dedicated to growing the film community in Indianapolis and beyond. Last year, the festival attracted more than 1,000 spectators, and this year's founder Bob Epstein is hoping to easily exceed that number. The movies selected for this festival do more than just entertain; they inspire and uplift, educate and inform, and change people's perspective on the world. This year's Indianapolis Jewish and Israeli Film Festival is sure to be an exciting event for all who attend. With award-winning films from around the world exploring topics such as pregnancy and motherhood among ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel and Brooklyn, efforts to establish an alliance between homosexuals and heterosexuals at a Jewish institute in Boston, and careers of great comic artists from Fanny Brice to Gilda Radner, this festival offers something for everyone.
