eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
Five Days, Six Pomegranate Award Honorees, & Six Première Films!
The New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival (NYSJFF) returns this year, celebrating its 24th anniversary, with movie premières, award ceremonies, filmmaker Q&As, a fashion show with Elie Tahari, and live music!
This special edition, dedicated to Ike, Molly, & Steven Elias is being presented in partnership with and at the beautiful Moise Safra Center (130 E 82nd St) from 3-7 April 2022
ASF Pomegranate Award Honorees in attendance:
André Aciman (Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Caroline Aaron (Lifetime Achievement for Acting)
Lainie Kazan (Lifetime Achievement Award for Acting)
The Blacklist’s Amir Arison (Achievement Award for Acting)
Neta Elkayam (Achievement Award for Music)
Violeta Salama (Ronit Elkabetz, A”H Rising Star)
The Pomegranate Award, sculpted by Oded Halahmy, the world-renowned, Baghdad-born artist, recognizes extraordinary achievements in the arts. Past recipients include Tunisian-born French sociologist & giant of Sephardi literature Albert Memmi, Senior Counselor to the King of Morocco André Azoulay, French-Algerian recording legend Enrico Macias, filmmakers Lisa Azuelos, Zeva Oelbaum, and Elie Chouraqui, courageous Tunisian film producer Said Ben Said and Kuwaiti singer Ema Shah, fashion designer Elie Tahari, and legendary actors Ronit Elkabetz and Sasson Gabay.
Reserve Passes & Tickets on Eventbrite
(Includes Opening Night, Closing Night, All Screenings, Q&As, and After Parties):
$140/$200 (VIP Seating)
20% off for ASF Pomegranate Card Members
Members should email at info@americansephardi.com to get a discount code
Opening Night and Award Ceremony
$75/$100 (VIP Seating)
Opening Night – From Baghdad to Bollywood
SHALOM BOLLYWOOD
(Opening Night and Award Ceremony): $75/$100 (VIP Seating)
Persian-Israeli-American Fashion Night with Elie Tahari
THE UNITED STATES OF FASHION DESIGNER ELIE TAHARI
$50/$75 (VIP Seating)
Antisemitism in Focus
WET DOG
$25/$35 (VIP Seating)
Brooklyn Tango Night
TANGO SHALOM
$40/$50 (VIP Seating)
From Jerusalem to Tangier & Tinghir: Moroccan Closing Night
IN YOUR EYES, I SEE MY COUNTRY
$50/$75 (VIP Seating)
SINGLE SCREENING: $13/$15 (VIP Seating)
Schedule at a Glance
Sunday, April 3rd:
- Opening Day – Sepharad Series: Salonika, Sephardic Shoah Survivors
3pm: OTTOMAN SALONICA and POVERATA SALONIKA
60 min, USA, 2001, Short Documentaries
Directed by Dr. Joe Halio
Two 30-minute documentaries on the Jewish history of Salonika (Thessaloniki), Greece. Features rare footage of Sephardic Shoah survivors.
Q&A with Director Joe Halio
- Opening Night – From Baghdad to Bollywood
6pm: SHALOM BOLLYWOOD
85 min, Australia, 2018, Feature Documentary
Directed by Danny Ben-Moshe
New York Premiere
A celebration of the all-singing, all-dancing history of the world’s largest film industry, Shalom Bollywood reveals the unlikely story of the Baghdadi and Bene Manashe Jews, especially Jewish women, who became stars and movie moguls in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.
Pomegranate Awards Ceremony followed by a party.
Monday, April 4th:
- Sepharad Series: Melilla Memories
3pm: ALEGRIA
119 min, Spain, 2021, Feature Narrative
Directed by Violeta Salama
In Spanish & Chelja with English subtitles
Premiere Status: New York
An eye-catching directorial debut starring Cecilia Suárez, Laia Manzanares, Sarah Perles, Mara Guil, and Leonardo Sbaraglia, filmed on location in Melilla, this festival favorite explores the ever-blending identities and cultures in this Spanish enclave in Northern Morocco. ,
Q&A with Director
- Persian-Israeli-American Fashion Night with Elie Tahari
7pm: THE UNITED STATES OF FASHION DESIGNER ELIE TAHARI
(70 min), USA, 2022, Documentary
Directed by David Serero
Premiere Status: New York
Elie Tahari is the definition of courage, determination, and…chutzpah! After fleeing Iran, his parents moved to Israel where he lived in a refugee camp before moving to New York without speaking a word of English. This long-awaited documentary has been screened at film festivals across the globe garnering multiple awards.
Q&A with Director David Serero & Elie Tahari. Followed by Fashion Show & Party
Tuesday, April 5th:
- Sepharad Series: Crypto-Jews
5pm: XUETA ISLAND
63 min, Spain, 2021, Documentary Feature
Directed by Dani Rotstein, Felipe Wolokita, and Ofer Laszewicki
Xueta Island explores the fascinating legacy of the Xuetas: a unique group of families on the Balearic island of Majorca who is believed to be descendants of the island’s Inquisition-era Jewish population. A riveting quest to unearth and document Majorca’s rich and tragic Jewish history and an inspirational glimpse into attempts to revive Jewish life on the island.
- Antisemitism in Focus
7pm: WET DOG
103 min, Germany, 2021, Feature Narrative
Directed by Damir Lukacevic
In German, Farsi, & Arabic with English subtitles
Premiere Status: New York
A narrative based on the provocative true story of Aryeh Sharuz Shalicar, who was born in Germany to Persian Jewish parents stranded after the 1979 Revolution, joined an Islamist gang, and later rose to the rank of Major and ran the IDF’s European Desk. WET DOG explores rising antisemitism and raises questions of cultural diversity, religious identity, and how they intersect with friendship, especially during the phase of rawness and exploration that are one’s teenage years.
Followed by a panel discussion
Wednesday, April 6th:
- From Egypt to Israel
3pm: THREE MOTHERS
106 min, Israel, 2006, Feature Narrative
Directed by Dina Zvi-Riklis
In Hebrew & Arabic with English subtitles
Nominated for nine Israeli Academy Awards, Three Mothers is the multigenerational saga of beautiful triplets: Flora, Yasmin, and Rose Hakim who were born in 1942 in Alexandria, Egypt. Director Dina Zvi-Riklis’ (Ma’abarot, 2020 NYSJFF) tale follows the family to Israel and, over the course of 60 years, reveals the Hakim sisters coming to terms with long-buried secrets and passions.
- Brooklyn Tango Night
7pm: TANGO SHALOM
115 min, USA, 2021, Feature Narrative
Directed by Gabriel Bologna
In English
Premiere Status: New York
A Tango dancer and a Rabbi develop a plan to enter a dance competition without sacrificing his orthodox beliefs. Family, tolerance, and community are tested one dazzling dance step at a time. Filmed on location in Crown Heights, New York City, with a star-studded cast.
Presented in partnership with ASF Young Leaders
Post-Screening Q&A with the cast, including Pomegranate Award Honoree Lainie Kazan.
DJ with Tango Dancing and Party
Thursday, April 7th:
- Sepharad Series: The Ladino Legacy
3pm: IN SEARCH OF LADINO
49 min, UK, Israel, France, 1981, Feature Documentary
In Hebrew & Ladino with English Subtitles
Directed by David Perlov
This unique cinematic film about language, memory, and identity follows Ladino speakers—their culture, their memories, and their hopes for the future of their mother tongue. In Search of Ladino is one of the first films to show Ladino-speaking Holocaust survivors in Israel and to document their testimonies and songs.
- From Jerusalem to Tangier & Tinghir: Moroccan Closing Night
7pm: IN YOUR EYES, I SEE MY COUNTRY
75min, Morocco, 2019, Feature Documentary
In Arabic & Hebrew with English subtitles
Directed by Kamal Hachkar
Premiere Status: New York
Neta Elkayam and Amit Haï Cohen live in Jerusalem, creating music that revisits their common Jewish-Moroccan heritage. In Your Eyes, I See My Country follows them as they journey for the first time to Morocco. In life, as on stage, they grapple with this dual identity and attempt to heal the wounds of exile carried by their parents. This intimate and musically rich documentary by NYSFF Rising Star Pomegranate Award Recipient, Kamal Hachkar (2015), aspires to build bridges between cultures.
Q&A with Kamal Hachkar and Pomegranate Award Honoree Neta Elkayam, followed by Moroccan Closing Night Party
