Dates: January 3-13, 2013
Washington Jewish Film Festival Events
- Opening Night - January 3 at 6:15pm and again at 8:45pm at the United States Navy Memorial featuring Paris Manhattan, a French film directed by Sophie Lellouche. The parents of Alice, an idealistic pharmacist obsessed with Woody Allen, hope to cure her fixation by setting her up with a handsome French gentleman who quickly realizes that he’s no match for the man of her dreams. The romantic romp through the city of lights, with a special cameo by the original Alvy Singer will be preceded by the short film Woody Before Allen.
- Centerpiece Evening - January 8 at 8:30pm at the Avalon Theatre. This year’s Centerpiece Film features Dorfman, which follows Deb Dorfman, a quirky 28-year-old accountant, as she moves to L.A. in her quest for love. The evening includes an on-stage conversation with actor Elliot Gould, who plays Deb’s father in the movie.
- WJFF Visionary Award -January 7 at 8pm at the Washington, DCJCC. This year’s honorees are Noemi Schory, one of Israel’s leading TV and film producers and directors, and Katriel Schory, the head of the Israeli Film Fund, which is the largest national supporter of Israeli narrative and documentary films and one of the primary movers in the emergence of Israeli film on the international scene. The Visionary Award recognizes and pays tribute to courage, creativity and insight in presenting the diversity of the Jewish experience through the moving image. As part of the award presentation on January 7, Noemi Schory and Katriel Schory will take part in an on-stage discussion.
- Closing Night - January 13 at 7:30 pm at the DCJCC with Hava Nagila (The Movie), a documentary by Academy-Award nominated director Roberta Grossman. This film takes viewers from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the nightclubs of New York, as Grossman weaves together the history of Hava Nagila, the Jewish standard that transcended its humble origins to become a worldwide phenomenon. The documentary features interviews with Harry Belafonte, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Leonard Nimoy and Regina Spektor.
Festival Venues
- The Avalon - 5612 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
- Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater -1529 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC
- AFI Silver Theater - 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD
- Goethe-Institut Washington - 812 Seventh Street, Washington, DC
- Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD
- Atlas Performing Arts Center – 1333 H Street NE Washington, DC
- Busboys & Poets - 2021 14th St, NW Washington, DC
- Carnegie Institution of Science - 1530 P Street NW Washington, DC
- Embassy of Austria - 3524 International Court NW Washington, DC
- La Maison Française at the Embassy of France - 4101 Reservoir Rd NW Washington, DC
- US Navy Memorial - 701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC
