ORANGE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2015 - 2016 SUNDAY MORNING FILMS Westpark 8 Cinemas 3735 Alton Parkway, Irvine

Bagel Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Introduction by screenwriter and psychologist Dr. Michael Berlin at 9:30 a.m., film to follow immediately.

Auf das Leben! (To Life!) (2014) — October 18, 2015 In this unabashedly Harold-and-Maude-like story featuring the grande dame of German cinema, Hannelore Elsner, fate takes its toll on the aging cabaret singer Ruth and the young but terminally ill Jonas. Despite their age difference and their opposite life experiences, they form an intense bond and give each other a reason and a purpose to live. Also starring Max Riemelt, a rising star of German and international films.

Dough (2015) — November 22, 2015 Set in London’s East End, this U.K.-Hungarian dramedy introduces us to an old Jewish baker (Jonathan Pryce,”Game of Thrones”) whose failing business gets an unexpected boost when his young Muslim apprentice accidentally drops cannabis into the dough and the challah starts flying off the shelf. Produced by John Goldschmidt, the film opened the 35th San Francisco Jewish film festival this past July.

Once in a Lifetime (2014) — December 13, 2015 In a last-ditch effort to get through to her underprivileged and apathetic high school students, a seasoned teacher enters them in a French national writing contest focusing on child victims of the Nazi concentration camps. The project is met with resistance until a face-to-face encounter with a survivor changes everything. Based on a true story, and a hit at the Cannes Film Festival, Marie Castille Mention Schaar’s drama offers renewed inspiration for the impact of Holocaust education on future generations.

The Last Mensch (2014) — January 17, 2016 Marcus Schwarz has denied his Jewish heritage all his life. After surviving the horrors of Auschwitz, he tried to forget by creating a new identity for himself in Germany. But when he decides he wants to be buried in a Jewish cemetery, and the rabbis don’t believe he’s Jewish, he is forced to return to his childhood Hungarian village—with a young Muslim woman at the wheel—to prove his identity.

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14 FEATURE FILMS | 6 DOCUMENTARIES

ORANGE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2015 - 2016 Serial (Bad) Weddings (2014) — February 21, 2016 A well-off, well-educated, oh-so-French couple, dismayed by the decisions of their first three daughters to marry outside their race and religion, puts its faith in their youngest, who indeed becomes engaged to a Catholic. All is well until they discover that he is a black African. Skillfully directed by Philippe de Chauveron, the film capitalizes on good acting and award-winning screenwriting to poke unending fun at one of France’s most sensitive political issues: immigration. No one is spared in this laugh-out-loud spoof that could be subtitled: We are all racists.

Manpower (2014) — March 20, 2016 Meir Cohen, a decorated Israeli police officer just scraping by, has an epiphany when his new assignment—deporting African migrant workers “of their own free will”—opens his eyes to the fact that foreigners aren’t the only ones who have no future in this country. Director Noam Kaplan sketches a delicate portrait of four men in crisis. Moving between scathing realism and subtle irony, the film raises questions of belonging and uprooting, exile and emigration, home and family.

WEDNESDAY EVENING FILMS Westpark 8 Cinemas 3735 Alton Parkway, Irvine

Introduction by screenwriter and psychologist Dr. Michael Berlin at 7:00 p.m., film to follow immediately.

Labyrinth of Lies (2014) — September 2, 2015 An Exclusive Southern California premiere from Sony Pictures Classics Special Reception at 6:30 p.m. Frankfurt, 1958. A young prosecutor seeking to climb the ladder in his law firm is tipped off about a conspiracy within certain institutions and government branches to cover up Nazi war crimes. The more he digs, the more he uncovers, ultimately leading him to question the integrity of his own family history. Giulio Ricciarelli’s feature film directorial début is a powerful reminder of the oft-overlooked period during which Germany tried desperately to conceal and deny its complicity in the atrocities of the Holocaust. Winner of the audience appreciation award at Les Arcs European Film Festival, Labyrinth of Lies will be released in late September, 2015.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 TO APRIL 20, 2016

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ORANGE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2015 - 2016 WEDNESDAY EVENING FILMS (cont.) Bass Clef Bliss (2015) — October 28, 2015 Co-written and produced by our own Michael Berlin, this true story draws us into the heart and mind of a young man and his mother at the intersection of autism, music, and hope. When Terrence’s speech disappears and his sensitivity to sound triggers frequent tantrums, he is introduced to the trombone. Terrence’s slow but steady progress toward everyday functioning, coupled with talent and determination, open doors that he could never have imagined. Starring Terrence and his mother, Therese, audiences are treated to “...an alternately heartrending and uplifting biopic chronicling the tight bond between a mother and son as together they confront an assortment of daunting challenges associated with autism.” (Kam Williams, Baret News)

Son of Saul (2015) — December 2, 2015 Gripping camerawork combines with a powerful soundtrack to deliver in “Son of Saul” an intense and unyielding portrayal of Auschwitz’s Sonderkommandos, the Jewish workers forced to assist in the mass murder and disposal of their own. This feature début for 38-year-old Hungarian writer-director Laszlo Nemes focuses, quite literally, on young Saul, a unit member so crushed by the chaos around him that his desperate quest to locate a rabbi to help give a young victim a proper burial feels more like an act of madness than of salvation. “Numbing, provocative and impossible to unsee.” – David Calhoun, Time Out

Transit (2013) — December 9, 2015 Transit explores the intersecting stories of Filipinos in Tel Aviv—a domestic worker and her half-Israeli daughter, four-year-old Joshua, and new arrival Tina—when the consequences of a law deporting the children of migrant workers threaten to upend their precarious lives. Transit was the Philippine entry to the 86th Academy Awards.

From 5 to 7 (2014) — January 27, 2016 A chance encounter on the streets of Manhattan draws an aspiring Jewish novelist into a passionate relationship with a beautiful French woman. There’s just one catch: she’s married, and the couple can only meet between the hours of 5 and 7 each evening. Co-starring Frank Langella, Glenn Close and Olivia Thirlby, this romantic comedy captures the giddy thrill, the pain and the comedy of being young and falling in love.

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14 FEATURE FILMS | 6 DOCUMENTARIES

ORANGE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2015 - 2016 The Grüninger File (2014) — March 9, 2016 When, in 1939, Switzerland closed its borders to Jewish refugees, St. Gallen police commander Paul Grüninger defied his government’s decision and chose a humanitarian path, helping some 3,600 Jews enter Switzerland, mostly under cover of night, by backdating their visas and falsifying other documents. Dismissed from the police force, fined and convicted of official misconduct, the judgment was nonetheless revoked in 1995. Grüninger has been hailed as the Swiss Oskar Schindler and honored as One of the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Hanna’s Journey (2013) — April 6, 2016 A brief trip from contemporary Germany to Israel designed to establish her credentials for a prospective employer becomes a journey across cultures and into the very core of young Hanna’s heart and mind. In this warm and at times humorous film, Hanna comes face to face with the mixed feelings of her fellow German volunteers towards Israel; when she meets a brusque but handsome social worker, the plot thickens.

In Silence (2014) — April 20, 2016 This exquisitely filmed docu-drama draws on the lives of real Jewish musicians in Czechoslovakia and Germany who were persecuted during the Holocaust. Recreating their performances, the Czech-Slovak co-production focuses on acclaimed pianist Edith Kraus and the aspiring teenaged ballerina, Alice Flachova, both of whom were deported in 1942 to the Terezin concentration camp, becoming a part of the Nazi propaganda machine that misrepresented the camp as a model internment facility to the Red Cross.

Good Friends and Great Food! 23615 El Toro Road, Suite T Lake Forest, CA 92630 949/951-8675 www.jolandascatering.com

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 TO APRIL 20, 2016

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ORANGE COUNTY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2015 - 2016 DOCUMENTARIES AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS University Synagogue 3400 Michelson Dr., Irvine Introduction at 7:00p.m., film to follow immediately.

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Timeless Melodies — October 7, 2015

From Temple to Tin Pan Alley: Jewish Contributions to American Popular Music To many, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Fanny Brice, Dorothy Fields and Al Jolson represent a vital element of America’s national treasure. Pursuing their passion and giving us song after unforgettable song, these men and women have touched generations of Americans. They share something else as well: they are all of Jewish ancestry.

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Timeless Melodies Foundation for Education, Inc. 26152 Escala Drive, Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Larry Maurer, Instructor

www.timelessmelodies.org • [email protected]

What was it in their ethnic and religious culture that gave rise to such wonderful musical contributions? That’s the subject of music historian Larry Maurer’s Timeless Melodies Foundation course, which honors American history through its song. Join us for this informative, original walk through time. Timeless Melodies is being presented free of charge to OCJFF audience members thanks to an anonymous underwriter, to whom we are most grateful.

My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes (2014) —

November 4, 2015 Charismatic Gino Bartali was a sports icon inside his native Italy. But, like so many others in Europe, this cycling legend put his career on hold and risked his life by joining an underground network to rescue Jews, partisans and refugees from certain death inside Nazioccupied Italy. As millions perished across the continent, more than 80 percent of Italy’s Jews were saved. My Italian Secret, narrated by Isabella Rosellini, recounts the ingenious schemes that Bartali and thousands of unnamed heroes undertook during World War II.

Precious Life (2011) — January 6, 2016

Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar’s documentary chronicles the efforts of an Israeli pediatrician and a Palestinian mother seeking treatment for her four-year-old son, who will die if he doesn’t obtain a bone marrow transplant. Each adult must set aside racial and religious biases, and incur the wrath of their community, as they face deep-seated ethical quandaries.

Ida (feature) (2014) — February 17, 2016

Acclaimed director Pawel Pawlikowski returns to his native Poland to create a moving and intimate drama that brings past and present to a crossroads of faith. As eighteen-year-old Anna, who has lived a sheltered life as an orphan in a convent, prepares to take her vows as a nun, the Mother Superior insists that she visit her sole living relative: her aunt Wanda. Thus begins an astounding journey that forces Anna to confront the secrets of a family ravaged by Nazi occupation. Winner of the 2015 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year.

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14 FEATURE FILMS | 6 DOCUMENTARIES