AJFF Reveals 1st 7 Films

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is waiting until Jan. 6 to unveil the full lineup of 75 feature-length and short movies for the 17th annual festival, but it has revealed the first seven titles:

“Across the Waters” — One of several AJFF films focused on musicians, this based-on-real-events feature depicts the escape of Danish Jews to Sweden during the Nazi occupation.
“Bang! The Bert Berns Story” — Filmmaker Brett Berns tells the story of his father, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee for writing and producing such songs as “Twist and Shout,” “Brown-Eyed Girl” and “Under the Boardwalk.”
“The Freedom to Marry” — This documentary follows the key people in the court fight to legalize same-sex marriage.
“Harmonia” — A contemporary retelling of the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar sets the story in the world of the Jerusalem Philharmonic Orchestra.
“The Last Laugh” — Jewish and non-Jewish comics, Holocaust survivors, and Jewish leaders debate whether it’s OK to mine humor from the Holocaust in this documentary from Ferne Pearlstein.
“On the Map” — This documentary recounts Maccabi Tel Aviv’s “Miracle on Hardwood” basketball game against a Soviet juggernaut in the semifinals of the 1977 European Championships.
“Paradise” — Russia’s Oscar submission for best foreign language film won best director for Andrei Konchalovsky at the Venice Film Festival. It’s a Holocaust story, told in black-and-white flashbacks, about a Russian woman who was an aristocrat, a French Nazi collaborator and a German SS officer.

The festival runs from Jan. 24 to Feb. 15. Tickets go on sale Jan. 18.

“We’ve always believed in the power of film to bring people together across cultures and spark meaningful dialogue amongst audiences,” festival Executive Director Kenny Blank said. “This selection of diverse films represents not only a wonderful celebration of cinema, but a coming together of community that inspires, informs and entertains.”

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