The second annual Naples Jewish Film Festival looks to explore provocative Jewish thought, as expressed through film. Presented by Beth Tikvah of Naples, screenings at the Norris Center in Cambier Park will take place on four Mondays through the month of March, and will represent a wide variety of subject matter, from the formation of the Israeli Air Force to the creation of solar arrays that may spark change across political maps. And while each film covers a different topic, all are tied together with the common thread from a Jewish perspective.
Below, we share the four films set to screen, complete with the official description and movie trailer.
- Interested in attending? Films will screen in the Norris Center at 7 p.m. on March 30.
- For ticket info, call 239-434-1818.
March 30 | Under the Same Sun
Directed by Sameh Zoabi
Written by Yossi Aviram
Produced by Amir Harel, John Marks and Ayelet Kait
Under the Same Sun is set in the near future, looking back at the story of two businessmen – one Palestinian and one Israeli – who struggle to set up a solar energy company. Both come from societies where there is strong opposition to cooperating with the other, and the film tells how they overcome hostility from within their own families and from the people around them. In the end, they mount a Facebook campaign that impacts both their joint venture and ultimately changes the political map.
Previously Screened:
March 2 | Above & Beyond
Directed by Roberta Grossman
Written by Sophie Sartain
Produced by Nancy Spielberg
In 1948, a group of World War II pilots volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of “Machai” – volunteers from abroad – this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth, they also laid the groundwork for the Israeli Air Force.
The first major feature-length documentary about these airmen, Above & Beyond brings together new interviews with pilots from the ’48 war, as well as President Shimon Peres, to present an extraordinary, little-known tale with reverberations up to the present day.
March 16 | God’s Slave
Directed by Joel Novoa
Written By Fernando Butazzoni
Produced By José Ramón Novoa and Elia Schneider
God’s Slave – Trailer from Continental on Vimeo.
God’s Slave, based on the actual events of a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires, follows Ahmed, trained since childhood as an Islamic terrorist now assigned to execute a suicide bomb at a synagogue, and David, the cold-blooded Israeli special agent who will stop at nothing to prevent the attack. Both devoted family men, neither is defined solely by their extremist views. With time running out before the attack, David zeros in on Ahmed as a suspect, his investigation culminating in violent, if unexpected, consequences.
March 23 | Belle & Sebastian
Directed by Nicolas Vanier
Written by Juliette Sales, Fabien Suarez, Nicolas Vanier and Cécile Aubry
Produced by Frédéric Brillion, Gilles Legrand, Clément Miserez and Matthieu Warter
A beloved story since the 1960s television series first introduced young Sebastian and the giant sheepdog he tames and calls Belle, the heartwarming Belle & Sebastian is set during WWII in the snowy Alps of occupied France. Lonely Sebastian befriends “the beast” the local farmers are convinced is killing their sheep – an enormous yet gentle sheepdog who becomes the boy’s best friend and protector. With Nazis in the village rooting out the resistance fighters helping Jewish refugees cross the border, Belle and Sebastian’s loyalty – to each other and the village that’s embraced them both – will be put to the test.
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