Dear Festival Friends,

Clear the week, call your movie mates and prepare to be amazed and astonished at the quality, scope and talent in the international Jewish filmmaking world. When the 16th Annual Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Festival tap dances into five theaters, you'll be treated to a globe-spanning love story, war heroes and saviors, taboo-breaking documentaries, tango, klezmer and dance superstars, and a child's eye view of the world on film.

Our not-to-be-missed Opening and Closing Night parties, a new author and film event, Jewish-Muslim Teen Screen program, Senior Luncheon Matinee, and Connecticut's first ReelAbilities celebrating the art and expression of all people with disabilities highlight our 16h edition. Family Flicks with Shalom Sesame brings mitzvot and Matisyahu, the reggae rocker, to the screen.

We're proud to offer 4 New England premieres, 13 Connecticut premieres and 4 Hartford movie premieres, The ten day lineup includes 22 award-winning features, documentaries, shorts and romances from Argentina, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Rwanda, United Kingdom and the United States.

The Mandell Jewish Community Center is honored to once again partner with the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies and The Hartt School, University of Hartford, whose musicians and dancers will present a live Tango music and dance finale. We welcome the Saul Schottenstein Foundation B and the New York Disabilities Film Festival, our ReelAbilities partners, to expand our perspective on worlds of beauty and inspiration more of us should experience.

War heroes and saviors will be on screen with an encore of The Rescuers, Joyce Mandell and Michael King's diplomatic documentary which has garnered rave reviews and awards on the international circuit. The next night, Tribute: Observations on Survival and Spirit sponsored by the Kirstein Family Holocaust Education Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation, will present a new ‘book meets film' program. Canadian Jewish Book Award winner Alison Pick (Far To Go) and Ivan Backer, a Hartford resident rescued from Czechoslovakia reveal their connections to Sir Nicholas Winton and his Kindertransport mission following Nicky's Family. Trailblazing journalist Phil Jacobs and Connecticut film director Scott Rosenfelt will speak following Standing Silent, their taboo-shattering documentary on child sexual abuse in the Jewish community.

And there is so much more, all brought to you by a supporting cast of donors, Mandell JCC Partners, Pillars Society members and Grand Arts Patrons whose vision and generosity allow us to present insightful films, guest directors, film subjects and experts to expand our world. Our sincere thanks to YOU, our fans for standing in lines, buying tickets and popcorn and coming out each year to support the festival.

We are most grateful for our cultural ambassadors, the members of the Mandell JCC's Hartford Jewish Film Festival committee who screened hundreds of hours of films, discussed and deliberated, planned events and raised funds so that you can enjoy Connecticut's best-loved Jewish cultural event.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll eat...let's go to the movies!

Ronny Siegel          Harriet J. Dobin
Chair                        Director

16th Annual Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Festival