Everything to see at JIFF 2024

There’s perhaps never been a more important time to capture Judaism's richness, complexity and diversity – and this year’s Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF) promises to do just that.

Artistic director Eddie Tamir says JIFF 2024 offers "films that span thousands of years of history and culture, reflecting on both the ancient traditions that have shaped our world and the contemporary challenges we face today".

The program includes several Australian premieres and entries from 17 countries across Israel and the diaspora, including France, New Zealand, Germany, Portugal and Hungary, as well as a series of Q&A sessions with filmmakers.

With a program comprising over 40 feature-length films, two TV series and a short film showcase, the choice can feel overwhelming. Here’s our breakdown.

Commanding headliners

The festival kicks off with Sundance award-winner, A Real Pain, which sees Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) and Kieran Culkin (Succession) play mismatched cousins honouring their grandmother by touring Poland – confronting family tension and intergenerational trauma along the way.

Festival closer The Performance, follows Jeremy Piven (Entourage) as a Jewish-American tap dancer lured into performing for Adolf Hitler in Berlin, in this period drama adapted from an Arthur Miller short story.

The big names continue in Between the Temples, starring Jason Schwartzman (Asteroid City) as a cantor navigating loss with the surprising help of his former music teacher, played by Carol Kane (Hester Street); the coming-of-age sequel to the acclaimed hit Wonder, White Bird, with Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Gillian Anderson (The Crown); and The Brutalist – the powerful story of Hungarian-Jewish architect László Toth – featuring Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Felicity Jones (On the Basis of Sex) and Australian Guy Pearce (Memento).

Stories of survival

Documentary 06:30 captures the harrowing events of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel through first-hand survivor accounts; and Irena's Vow tells the courageous story of a young Polish nurse who risked her life to save a dozen Jewish workers during the Holocaust.

The Commandant's Shadow draws parallels to the Academy Award-winning film, The Zone of Interest, and follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the son of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, as he confronts his father’s horrific legacy.

Tatami is the first-ever collaboration between Israeli and Iranian filmmakers, following an Iranian judo athlete forced to make an impossible choice between competing for gold and protecting her family’s freedom; while chess is the focus in Shattered Games, a period drama about the pre-war Polish national chess “Golden Team” who competes against a backdrop of rising antisemitism.

Successful filmmaker Antoine Lisner, returns to his birthplace for The Blond Boy from the Casbah, an account of his childhood in mid-20th century Algeria during the country's civil war. Meanwhile historical thriller, Shoshana, from director Michael Winterbottom (The Trip), explores the volatile relationship between a young Jewish woman and a British policeman in British Mandatory Palestine.

Based on survivor testimony, The Man Who Stood in the Way provides a new perspective on the Prague Spring of 1968 and the little-known-story of Jewish physician and politician František Kriegel; while Christophe Smith retraces the migration journey of his late father, Jewish refugee and noted journalist Sam White, in The Road to Hope.

Local voices

Australian filmmakers are centre stage in this year’s programming, with the premieres of TJI’s Pita with Vegemite: An Israeli Australia Story, following Israeli-Australians as they navigate their identities post October 7; and Everything There is to Know About Me and Soft Gaze – JIFF Short Film Fund’s winners – which screen alongside Singing up the Past, about Polish-Australian Holocaust survivor Guta Goldstein and her journey to preserve songs from the Łódź ghetto and camps.

Documentary Welcome to Yiddishland explores the revival of Yiddish and the contributions of Australian artists to its global resurgence; and across the ditch, TV series Kid Sister presents a comedic look at the chaos of modern Jewish life in Auckland, a city where more people claim to be Jedi than Jewish.

Iconic figures

JIFF’s second TV series, Kafka, is a six-part journey into the mind and relationships of one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic Jewish writers; while Physician, Heal Thyself presents a personal portrait of celebrated trauma and addiction expert, Gabor Maté, and his role in destigmatising mental health.

Pioneers in music and literature are honoured with Janis Ian: Breaking Silence, about the life of the trailblazing Jewish singer-songwriter and her bold stand against societal norms; Diane Warren: Relentless, documenting her journey from outsider to industry legend, with interviews from Cher and Quincy Jones; and How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer, which chronicles the tumultuous life of the famed American author.

In the gripping drama Führer and Seducer, audiences are drawn into the dark world of Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s Minister of Propaganda; documentary King of the Sephardim unveils the story of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and his battle to become Israel's most influential figure; and acclaimed opera Theodor focuses on Theodor Herzl before he wrote The Jewish State.

Filmed over 21 years, Sabbath Queen follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, including the Chief Rabbis of Israel; and Mr Shoshani uncovers the genius of one of the great teachers of sacred Jewish texts in The Shoshani Riddle.

International acclaim

Seven Blessings, the big winner at the Israeli Oscars, tells the story of a multicultural marriage disrupted by long-buried secrets in early-90s Jerusalem.

Also widely recognised at the Israeli Oscars is the highly creative The City, a hybrid hip-hop, film noir detective story based on the smash-hit long-running play of the same name; Home, an explosive true-crime drama following a young man’s ambition to open a computer store in his ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighbourhood; and The Milky Way, which explores the ups, downs and in-betweens of motherhood.

Running on Sand, winner of Best Debut Film at the Haifa Film Festival, is a poetic and evocative tale of love and survival against the backdrop of an Israeli coastal town; while The Vanishing Soldier, the recipient of Best Israeli Feature, tells the gripping story of a young soldier grappling with the demands of duty and haunting memories of conflict.

Winning Best Documentary at the 2024 Jerusalem Film Festival, The Governor is a deeply personal account from director Danel Elpeleg about her grandfather, Zvi, who was the first military governor of the Arab citizens of Israel after the establishment of the state. Runaway hit, All About the Levkoviches, a bittersweet Hungarian dramedy following a Jewish family on a winding path to reconciliation, was recognised at the prestigious 2024 Sofia International Film Festival.

Pushing boundaries

Legend of Destruction vividly brings to life the fall of the Second Temple – reimagining ancient history with modern animation comprising 1,500 original paintings – in a tale of betrayal, power, and the cataclysmic events that reshaped the Jewish world.

Made with cutting-edge animation techniques, the trippy and anarchic King Khat tells the true story of Gabi, the Israeli chemist who became the 21st century’s most notorious drug baron after inventing a legal psychoactive drug.

The Most Precious of Cargoes, from the Oscar-winning director of The Artist, is a strikingly animated fable of a poor Polish woodcutter and his wife who raise a baby thrown from a passing train heading for Auschwitz.

Want more?

Family bonds are on display with A Photographic Memory, a documentary testing how well we know someone through the things they leave behind; A Good Jewish Boy, a bittersweet look at entering adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it; and This is My Mother, about the unshakeable bond between a Jewish mother and her son.

Finally, Yaniv follows two teachers who enter the thriving underground gambling scene in the Hasidic Jewish community to fix their high school drama department’s money problems; crime-thriller Neither Day nor Night follows a French Sephardic family living in the heart of an Ashkenazi community; and The Plot Against Harry is re-released for the next generation in a new 4K restoration.

The Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF) runs from 27 October to 22 December 2024 across Australia. Learn more and book tickets online.