May 7 - 18, 2023
In person and online
​Free tickets

2023 film festival lineup

View a selection of films from this year's festival, below. See the full schedule and get tickets on the festival site.

View our festival program.

About the film festival

Welcome to the 27th annual Edmonton Jewish Film Festival (EJFF), a signature program of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. From May 7 to May 18, we invite you to discover, connect, and engage with us, in person and virtually. Join the conversation, as we explore and reflect on stories, traditions and history, from a wide and varied Jewish world.

We look forward to seeing you downtown at the Edmonton Public Library, Stanley A. Milner branch for four films and related events. In addition, four films and several shorts are available online. Our Reel Q and As with filmmakers will give you the opportunity to meet the creative minds behind our films. EJFF films and events are offered free of charge. Donations are greatly appreciated and can be made when you register.

We also invite you to join us at the Metro Cinema, Garneau Theatre, for two films presented by our partner, NorthwestFest. Tickets can be purchased on the NorthwestFest website. Please note that online films are available only in Alberta, unless otherwise indicated.

The Jewish Federation of Edmonton extends deepest gratitude to our sponsors, volunteers, partners, and audience for making possible this wonderful community-wide event. Proceeds from the EJFF are the primary source of funding for Partnership 2Gether (P2G), The Jewish Federation of Edmonton’s bridge-building partnership with the communities of the Galilee panhandle in Northern Israel. Learn more about P2G.

For information, to volunteer or to sponsor, please contact Susan Schiffman. Thank you for being part of our festival!

Karaoke

The bittersweet story of an ordinary middle-class couple in the suburbs of Tel Aviv who live a relatively bored existence—he's quiet, she's a thwarted free spirit—until their lives are upended by a charismatic playboy named Itzik (played by Israeli star Lior Ashkenazi) who moves into the building's penthouse.

Rose

Rose, 78-year-old, has just lost her beloved husband. When her grief gives way to a powerful impulse to live her life, making her realize that she can still redefine herself as a woman, the whole balance of the family is upset.

Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin

Imprisoned by the Soviets. Orphaned by the Holocaust. Elected Prime Minister. Crowned peacemaker by the Nobel Prize Committee. Haunted by the Lebanon War. Menachem Begin was a pillar of the State of Israel and a tireless fighter for the Jewish people. He was, at the same time, a controversial leader. His life is a nuanced and complicated canvas that tells the story of key events in the history of modern Israel and its relationship to its Middle East neighbours. With evocative imagery, rarely seen archival materials, and revealing interviews with those who knew him, Upheaval portrays the life and essence of this brilliant, tough, complex, loving, and proud man who never compromised when the survival of Israel and the Jewish people were at stake.

Exodus 91

Israeli diplomat Asher Naim travels to Ethiopia to act as negotiator for the release of 15,000 Ethiopian Jews, hoping to save them from a country plagued by famine and civil war. This seemingly altruistic mission, however, is thrown into doubt and skepticism when Naim begins to suspect the rescue mission might be a publicity stunt for his home country, and the Ethiopians wonder whether they have been little more than pawns. At the same time that the escalating situation on the ground becomes combustible, Naim’s crisis of faith grows.

Farewell Mister Haffmann

Paris 1942. François Mercier is an ordinary man who only aspires to start a family with the woman he loves, Blanche. He is also the employee of a talented jeweler, Mr. Haffmann. But faced with the German occupation, the two men will have no other choice but to conclude an agreement whose consequences, over the months, will upset the fate of our three characters.

On This Happy Note

Anat Gov, one of the most influential playwrights in Israeli theatre, is preparing for her death. She asks Arik Kneller, an artists' agent, to be the executor of her will. Arik struggles to accept the humor and serenity with which she faces her upcoming end. Anat, consciously accepting her nearing end, wishes to leave a spiritual legacy: there can be a happy ending. Almost a decade after her death, her loved ones try to fill the void left by her words with their own. Through excerpts from her plays and footage of her family and political world, a new script is written: one in which the line between the play and reality is blurred.

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