LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
We are thrilled to present an exceptional lineup for the 22nd Houston Jewish Film Festival! Our dedicated committee has carefully curated a wide range of documentaries, dramas and comedies to bring compelling and meaningful films to our community.
This year’s selections are richly diverse. Highlights include Midas Man, the untold story of Brian Epstein and The Beatles’ rise to global fame, and Tatami, a powerful drama about an Iranian judo athlete facing the moral and political stakes of competing against an Israeli opponent. Our documentary offerings include UNraveling UNRWA, a comprehensive examination of the agency’s history and questions surrounding its future, and Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire, which explores his remarkable life through a unique narrative lens. We are honored to welcome the film’s director, Oren Rudavsky, to the Festival.
The Festival also features an evening of outstanding short films, a classic film, and a family film. In addition, we are delighted to present Friday Night Lights—a special evening bringing our community together for a Shabbat dinner and two short films.
We look forward to seeing you at the movies!
Debbie Boniuk Chair, Houston Jewish Film Festival
OPENING NIGHT
Tatami
Directed by Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir Ebrahimi
Drama | 105 minutes | English, Farsi with English subtitles
Saturday, March 14 | 8:30 PM Kaplan Theatre
Leila, an Iranian judo athlete, is ordered by her government to fake an injury rather than face an Israeli rival. Combining the thrill of a sports drama and political thriller, this is the first feature film co-directed by Iranian and Israeli filmmakers.
Underwritten by The Margolis Family
Sponsored by the Lillian Kaiser Lewis Foundation in honor of Dolores Wilkenfeld
Supported by the Rosita and Albert Gaon Sephardic Heritage Program Endowment Fund
The Most Precious of Cargoes
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Animation | 81 minutes | French, Russian, German with English subtitles
Sunday, March 15 | 2:00 PM Kaplan Theatre
This beautifully animated film combines fairytale elements with the reality of the Holocaust in a story about a baby who is thrown from a train bound for Auschwitz and found in the snow by a childless woodcutter’s wife.
Patron Sponsors:
Shelley and Matt Stein
Anat Ronen
RE:COLLECTION
Meet the Artist and Live Painting
Sunday, March 15 | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Join us before the Elie Wiesel film in the Edith and Robert Zinn and Family Art Gallery with artist, Anat Ronen and her exhibit, which transforms vintage family photos into paintings. Ronen will be painting a new piece live.
Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire
Directed by Oren Rudavsky
Documentary | 88 minutes | English, French, German with English subtitles
Sunday, March 15 | 7:00 PM | Kaplan Theatre
Friday, March 20 | 1:00 PM | Kaplan Theatre
Director Oren Rudavsky in attendance on March 15 screening.
Elie Wiesel’s life journey, from his family’s deportation to his legacy as a writer and human rights advocate, is narrated in his own eloquent voice, with unique access to personal archives, original interviews and employing hand-painted animation.
Patron Sponsors: Doreen and Basil Joffe Sharon and Arnie Kagan
Oren Rudavsky’s visit sponsored by the Doreen Joffe and Sharon Kagan Founders Fund
The Great Dictator
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
Satire | 125 minutes | English
Monday, March 16 | 7:30 PM
Kaplan Theatre
The Great Dictator was Charlie Chaplin’s first talkie—a bold satirical attack on Hitler and fascism, years before the United States entered World War II. Chaplin used humor and his uncanny resemblance to Hitler to expose the tyranny and repression.
An Evening of Shorts
Tuesday, March 17 | 7:30 PM | Kaplan Theatre
Sponsored by Friends of Lisa Sheinbaum
We Have Sinned Before You
Directed by Ifat Nener Orgad
Drama | 20 minutes | Hebrew with English subtitles
On Yom Kippur, a family’s annual unplugged tradition takes an unexpected turn when a forgiveness game exposes buried secrets and long-simmering tensions, transforming a day of atonement into a revealing and emotionally charged reckoning.
Guygu
Directed by Jordan Barr and Chen Heifetz
Animation | 7 minutes | Hebrew with English subtitles
Guygu is a haunting, imaginative portrait of Guy, an anime-loving young man kidnapped on October 7. Blending verified footage with dreamlike fantasy, the film navigates between brutal reality and the inner world that endures in captivity.
Days Between Rest
Directed by Peter Decherney
Documentary | 11 minutes | English, Hebrew with English subtitles
The film follows Rachel Namudosi, a third-generation Ugandan Jew and Grammynominated Abayudaya singer, as she balances family, faith and music—sharing a resilient story of identity, inclusion and hope within her community.
Shoah, Bernard Orès
Directed by Baptiste Drapeau
Animation | 14 minutes | Polish, French, German, Ukrainian with English subtitles
During WWII, in the ghetto of Przemysl, Poland, Bernard and two comrades hide in a bunker dug under the roadway to escape deportation.
Liorah
Directed by Michelle and Marcos Wolodarsky
Documentary | 5 minutes | English
The film is a visually poetic documentary that draws us into the world of artist Liorah Tchiprout. Her art, quietly radical, explores themes of identity and belonging—her shelter amid a cultural landscape increasingly hostile to Jews.
Yiddish Mean Girls
Directed by Dylan Seders Hoffman
Comedy | 3 minutes | Yiddish with English subtitles
“That’s so fetch!” This sharp, playful short features off-Broadway performers from the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene putting a Jewish, Yiddishinflected spin on Mean Girls, blending humor and performance to celebrate contemporary Jewish creativity and women-led storytelling.
The Sacred Society
Directed by Benny Zelkowicz
Animation | 12 minutes | English
Employing a visually stunning sand animation technique, the film recreates a tahara, the ritual cleansing of a body before burial, while exploring the universal questions surrounding death. Chevra Kadisha members reveal the deep spiritual meaning and comfort in this ancient practice.
The Client
Directed by Noa Gusakov
Drama | 17 minutes | Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles
Karin, a human rights lawyer, unexpectedly finds herself spending her day babysitting Nasrin, the 12-year-old daughter of her Palestinian client. This film explores themes of human connection and conflict in a brief, poignant narrative.
The Sea
Directed by Shai Carmeli-Pollak
Drama | 93 minutes | Arabic, Hebrew with English subtitles
Wednesday, March 18 | 7:30 PM
Kaplan Theatre
This quiet, lyrical film tells the story of a Palestinian boy who sneaks into Israel alone, determined to see the sea. The Sea was nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards and is Israel’s 2026 official Academy Awards submission.
Patron Sponsors: Suzan and Jeremy Samuels
The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue
Directed by Barry Avrich
Documentary | 95 minutes | English
Thursday, March 19 | 7:30 PM
Kaplan Theatre
This documentary chronicles retired Israeli general Noam Tibon’s incredible efforts to rescue his family from a besieged kibbutz during the October 7 attacks. Using archival footage and survivors’ interviews, the film unravels the failures and heroism shown on that day.
This film contains disturbing content.
Patron Sponsors:
Ellen and Daniel Trachtenberg
Sponsored by June and Leonard Goldberg
Guygu
Directed by Jordan Barr and Chen Heifetz
Animation | 7 minutes | Hebrew with English subtitles
This short film precedes The Road Between Us. Guygu is a haunting, imaginative portrait of Guy, an anime-loving young man kidnapped on October 7. Blending verified footage with dreamlike fantasy, the film navigates between brutal reality and the inner world that endures in captivity.
Matchmaking 2
Directed by Erez Tadmor
Comedy | 110 minutes | Hebrew with English subtitles
Saturday, March 21 | 8:30 PM
Kaplan Theatre
Pre-film reception at 7:45 PM
The characters from the Israeli box office smash-hit Matchmaking (HJFF 2024) return in this feel-good rom-com sequel, which takes us back to the pressure cooker of high-stakes Haredi dating and clashing Ashkenazi-Sephardic traditions.
Patron Sponsor: Bunny Radoff
Reception sponsored by the Doreen and Basil Joffe Endowment Fund
Once Upon My Mother
Directed by Ken Scott
Drama-comedy | 102 minutes | French with English subtitles
Sunday, March 22 | 2:00 PM
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: Brown Auditorium Theater
Set in 1960s France, Once Upon My Mother tells the true story of a Moroccan-Jewish immigrant mother whose boundless love and defiant faith drive her lifelong determination to help her son overcome a devastating diagnosis.
Join us in the Cramer-Jacobs Family Culinary Studio at the J for a class connected to the film.
French Pastries
Sunday, March 22 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Advance registration required.
A Rugrats Passover
Directed by Jim Duffy, Steve Socki and Jeff McGrath
Animation | 24 minutes | English
Sunday, March 22 | 4:00 PM
At the J
Join us for this screening of A Rugrats Passover, followed by activities for the family. In this episode, one of the first to focus on a Jewish holiday, Grandpa Boris retells the story of the Exodus during a family Passover Seder.
Patron Sponsor: Debra Mouton
Midas Man
Directed by Joe Stephenson
Drama | 112 minutes | English
Sunday, March 22 | 7:00 PM Kaplan Theatre
Midas Man tells the untold story of Brian Epstein, the gay Jewish visionary who discovered The Beatles and propelled them to global fame in the 1960s—at great personal cost—in this stylish, moving biopic starring Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (The Queen’s Gambit).
Patron Sponsors: Diane Kaplan
Joanne and Bruce Levy
Lynn and Armand Shapiro
Neuilly-Poissy
Directed by Grégory Boutboul
Comedy | 97 minutes | French with English subtitles
Monday, March 23 | 7:30 PM
Kaplan Theatre
In this sharp French comedy, a smoothtalking entrepreneur sees his privileged life implode when financial misconduct lands him in prison—forcing a crash course in survival, humility and reinvention far from his usual comforts.
UNraveling UNRWA
Directed by Duki Dror
Documentary | 90 minutes | Hebrew, English, Arabic with English subtitles Tuesday, March 24 | 7:30 PM Kaplan Theatre
Winner of the Investigative Documentary Award at the Haifa International Film Festival, the documentary traces UNRWA’s 75-year evolution, from its post-1948 origins as a temporary relief organization for Palestine refugees to its controversial role amidst the decades-long IsraeliPalestinian conflict.
Available for virtual viewing with purchase
This film contains disturbing content.
Patron Sponsors: Ronna and Mandel Selber
Resistance: They Fought Back
Directed by Paula Apsell and Kirk Wolfinger
Documentary | 100 minutes | English, Polish, Hebrew, Latvian, Lithuanian with English subtitles
Wednesday, March 25 | 6:30 PM
Holocaust Museum Houston
Resistance: They Fought Back powerfully dismantles the myth of Jewish passivity during the Holocaust, revealing armed and everyday acts of defiance through rare archival footage and testimony from leading scholars and survivors in this crucial documentary.
Always Together
Directed by Paz Schwartz
Documentary | 77 minutes | Hebrew with English subtitles
Wednesday, March 25 | 7:00 PM Kaplan Theatre
Exclusive for teens grades 8-12
Come Closer
Directed by Tom Nesher
Drama | 107 minutes | Hebrew with English subtitles
Thursday, March 26 | 7:00 PM
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: Brown Auditorium Theater
Israel’s 2025 official Academy Awards submission, Come Closer is a haunting drama about a young woman whose grief over her brother’s death leads her into a dangerous, intimate bond with his secret girlfriend.
This film contains disturbing content.
TEEN NIGHT
Friday Night Lights
Friday, March 27 | 7:00 PM
51Fifteen | 5175 Westheimer Road
Experience Shabbat in a sophisticated setting featuring a three-course dinner, paired with two short films.
Advance registration required.
The Holiness
Directed by Daniel Moreshet
Drama | 17 minutes | Hebrew with English subtitles
In this dark comedy, a secret, uncovered by their teenage daughter, shatters a married couple’s quiet family life. This shocking discovery forces the family to confront their own fears, desires and the fragile balance they’ve struggled to maintain.
How To Make Challah
Directed by Sarah Rosen
Documentary | 12 minutes | English
A playful, time-hopping short film blending 1975 and 2022 footage, How to Make Challah follows three generations of women whose kitchen conversations reveal a rich story of family, memory, Jewish life in New York and what we pass on.
CLOSING NIGHT
The Ring
Directed by Adir Miller, Doron Paz and Yoav Paz
Drama | 122 minutes | Hebrew, English, Hungarian with English subtitles
Saturday, March 28 | 8:30 PM
Kaplan Theatre
Closing Night reception follows film.
An Israeli drama by comedian and actor Adir Miller, The Ring follows a devout man who journeys to Budapest with his estranged daughter to find the gold ring that once saved his Holocaust-survivor mother—and may yet heal their fractured family.
Reception supported by Elise Sheppard
Patron Sponsors: Kelly Davis and Elise Sheppard
HOUSTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
March 14-28, 2026
OPENING NIGHT
Tatami
Saturday, March 14 | 8:30 PM
The Most Precious of Cargoes Sunday, March 15 | 2:00 PM
Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire Sunday, March 15 | 7:00 PM Friday, March 20 | 1:00 PM
CLASSIC FILM
The Great Dictator Monday, March 16 | 7:30 PM
An Evening of Shorts Tuesday, March 17 | 7:30 PM
The Sea Wednesday, March 18 | 7:30 PM
The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue
Thursday, March 19 | 7:30 PM
Matchmaking 2
Saturday, March 21 | 8:30 PM
Once Upon My Mother Sunday, March 22 | 2:00 PM
FAMILY FILM
A Rugrats Passover Sunday, March 22 | 4:00 PM
Midas Man
Sunday, March 22 | 7:00 PM
Neuilly-Poissy
Monday, March 23 | 7:30 PM
UNraveling UNRWA Tuesday, March 24 | 7:30 PM
Resistance: They Fought Back Wednesday, March 25 | 6:30 PM
TEEN NIGHT
Always Together Wednesday, March 25 | 7:00 PM
Come Closer Thursday, March 26 | 7:00 PM
Friday Night Lights Friday, March 27 | 7:00 PM
CLOSING NIGHT
The Ring Saturday, March 28 | 8:30 PM
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