WITH 55 premier films from 20 different countries, the much-loved Jewish International Film Festival has just released their 2022 program, with the central theme of “an ode to the heroes of change”.
“I suppose [the theme] stood out for me because, in these last couple of years, everything’s changing, and whatever the world was before, everybody needs to adapt to new circumstances.” Artistic director Eddie Tamir is buoyant discussing the shift in films that have graced our screens in recent years – not that this was a conscious effort when curating the program.
“When I was thinking about all of that, I was thinking about the films in our line-up and I realised that the hero’s journey is generally about adapting to change and challenges. And we have many features and documentaries that do just that, and many documentaries in particular that have people that have challenged the status quo in all parts of the world. So that stood out for me.”
“[It was not] an intention at the outset, more of a reflection on the collection that we stumbled on by either good practice or good fortune. And I suppose being minorities in so many countries over so many centuries, Jews have generally had to adapt to change and movement.”
Presenting 31 feature films, 25 documentaries, episodes from one television series and six short films alongside a suite of live arts events, the JIFF program really does have something for everyone.
Read the article by Joel Kalkopf on Switch.