Thu 10/8-Sun 10/18
For the 20th year, the Mandel Jewish Community Center is hosting the Cleveland Jewish FilmFest, which opens on Thursday October 8 runs through Sunday October 18. During those 11 days, it will screen 39 films from 13 countries, including shorts, feature films, documentaries and comedies, with a focus on Jewish history and culture.
The festival opens with an event at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History will a screening of the new film Dust Bowls and Jewish Souls: Another Side of Woody Guthrie, focusing on his relationship with his Yiddish poet mother-in-law. Rock Hall staff will be on hand to introduce the film.
Other films will be screened at the Cedar Lee Theatre, the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque and the Mandel JCC. They include the 2025 film Labors of Love: The Life and Legacy of Henrietta Szold about the founder of Hadassah who created a modern healthcare system that treated Jews and Arabs equally. Filmmaker Abby Ginzburg will do a Q&A after the film. I Don’t Know What I’m Doing Here by Beachwood filmmaker Jacob Pincus follows a college student travelling through Romania, looking for her family’s ancestral village. The film Sheitel: Beauty in the Hidden, exploring the story behind the tradition of Orthodox women covering their hair, will also feature a post-film discussion.
For tickets and a full schedule, go to mandeljcc.org/filmfest.