From May 2 to 13, 2018, the 28th annual Washington Jewish Film Festival (WJFF) is taking place in DC! It is one of the largest and most respected Jewish film festivals in North America, showcasing international cinema that celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture and experience through the moving image.
The ACF Washington is delighted to partner with the Washington Jewish Film Festival and co-sponsors the screening of the film “Back to the Fatherland”. Its Austrian director Katharina Rohrer will come to Washington DC to present the film at the festival. Both screenings on May 7 and May 9 will be followed by a Q&A session with the filmmaker.
There are two more films with an Austrian participation part of the overall festival program, “The Testament” (Austrian-Israeli co-production) as well as “Tracking Edith” (Austrian-German-Russian co-production), which will be co-presented by the ACF Washington.
Back to the Fatherland
Photo | © Back to the Fatherland
Dirs. Kat Rohrer and Gil Levanon | 77 min
Documentary | Austria / Germany / Israel 2017
English, Hebrew, German with English subtitles
US Premiere
SCREENINGS
Monday, May 7, 6:15 PM | Bethesda Row Cinema
Wednesday, May 9, 6:15 PM | Edlavitch DCJCC
Gil and Kat have been friends since college. Gil is from Israel, Kat from Austria; Gil is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Kat the granddaughter of a Nazi officer. They have been friends for over a decade.
Through them we meet Dan and Guy, who have decided to move to Austria and Germany respectively, decisions that gravely affect their relationships with their families.
This deeply human and ultimately revealing film tackles the challenges and opportunities for reconciliation and understanding between the third generation on both sides of the Shoah.
Screenings followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Katharina Rohrer.
The Austrian filmmaker Kat Rohrer was first introduced to the world of acting and directing at a very early age through her aunt, a renowned actress in Austria. Soon she realized that she would rather direct than act and started to explore the world of movies. At the School of Visual Arts in New York she studied directing and in 2002 she founded her own film production company, GreenKat Productions, with Tom Greenman.
The Testament
Photo | © The Testament
Dir. Amichai Greenberg | 96 min
Narrative | Austria / Israel 2017
English, Hebrew, German and Yiddish with English subtitles
DC Premiere
SCREENINGS
Tuesday, May 8, 6:20 PM | Bethesda Row Cinema
Saturday, May 12, 6:30 PM | Edlavitch DCJCC
Holocaust researcher Yoel is in a legal battle with powerful forces in Austria, concerning a WWII massacre of Jews in the village of Lensdorf.
A construction project is planned at the site of the murders, and Yoel suspects that the real aim is to bury the atrocity for good. While examining classified testimonies of Holocaust survivors, he discovers one given by his mother, which reveals a long-kept secret. Now, the increasingly personal investigation is up against dual walls of silence: the Austrian denial of the massacre and his mother’s silence about her past.
Tracking Edith
Photo | © Tracking Edith
Dir. Peter Stephan Jungk | 91 min
Documentary | Austria / Germany / Russia 2016
English, French, German and Russian with English subtitles
DC Premiere
SCREENINGS
Thursday, May 3, 6:30 PM | E Street Cinema
Saturday, May 5, 2:00 PM | Bethesda Row Cinema
In his spellbinding documentary, Peter Stephan Jungk reflects on the remarkable life of his great aunt, Edith Tudor-Hart. She was one of the most innovative and iconic photographers working in Britain during the 1930s and 40s. Her naturalistic style starkly depicted the social issues of the day: poverty, slum housing, and child welfare.
She was also a KGB spy who recruited Kim Philby and helped create the Cambridge Five, the Soviet Union’s most successful spy ring in the United Kingdom (which was the inspiration for John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).
