Hollywood comes to JIFF

An A-List of big names adds an extra layer of glamour to this year's Jewish International Film Festival.

Hollywood sprinkled stardust throughout this year’s program for the Jewish International Film Festival, with enough movie stars among the credits to fill an Oscars after-party. Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway, Dustin Hoffman, Candice Bergen, Judd Hirsch, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jeff Goldblum, Topol, Helena Bonham Carter, Willem Dafoe, Forrest Whitaker, Sarah Silverman and Marcel Marceau are among celebrity names appearing in feature films or narrating the many documentaries that make up the long-awaited return of JIFF to its traditional spring schedule.

BIG NAMES

The festival’s opening and closing night films are both critically acclaimed, star-studded affairs. Set in 1980 Queens, Armageddon Time is a coming-of-age story about sixth grader Paul, who dreams of becoming an artist while his Black classmate Johnny is mercilessly targeted by their racist teacher.

Paul finds himself increasingly at odds with his parents (Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway), for whom financial success and assimilation are key to the family’s Jewish-American identity, while his compassionate grandfather (Anthony Hopkins) presents another view.

Closing night offers the Australian première of As They Made Us, actor Mayim Bialik’s directorial debut, a quirky and non-judgmental portrait of a dysfunctional Jewish family. A divorced mother of two (Glee’s Dianna Agron) struggles to balance family dynamics, between an estranged brother and kooky parents (Dustin Hoffman and Candice Bergen) who refuse to accept her father’s diagnosis, before it's too late.

Charlotte Gainsbourg delivers an outstanding performance in French drama The Accusation, directed by her Israeli partner Yvan Attal. The Farels are a power couple: he is a famous television presenter; she is a renowned feminist writer. When their son, a student at Stanford University, is accused of raping a young Jewish woman, the family's life unravels.