Tracing their legacies back to the golden age of circus, this talk charts the successes of the Jewish circus families, their tours and their specialty acts, painting a vivid picture of their legacies. Together we will discover their fates, as people and as businesses, throughout the years of the Nazi regime. Telling these stories … Continue reading Circus Jews under National Socialism

Directed by Ken Hughes, who was ‘fascinated by Jews and Jewish culture,’ The Small World of Sammy Lee ‘is one of the few overt attempts to put British Jewish life on screen’ (Andrew Pulver, The Guardian, 2016).  Adapted from an original BBC television play, this gritty black and white crime film follows hustler and strip club compere, … Continue reading The Small World of Sammy Lee

Marc Chagall frequently painted his wife, Bella; her cultural contribution, though, is not so well known. In her two posthumously published works, the world of her youth, her Hasidic upbringing in pre-war Vitebsk come to life, noisily and brightly, through the eyes of a girl jostling for a better view in the women’s gallery of … Continue reading Bella Chagall – a String of Pearls and the Golden Chain

USA 2009, 12A, 106 mins, English, Yiddish Director Joel & Ethan Coen, featuring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind Academy Award-winning directors Joel and Ethan Coen return to their comedy roots with this original and darkly humorous story set in Minnesota about one ordinary man’s quest to become a serious man. Physics professor Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) … Continue reading A Serious Man

  Lives were bent in the furnaces of the twentieth century, but Granny was unbroken. With a stethoscope, a jar of herring and a hearing aid occasionally switched on, she forged an extraordinary life. Dr Elena Zadik ran through the twentieth century without looking back.  A refugee twice before she was 17, a GP in … Continue reading Elena: A Hand Made Life

Edward Norton, Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach USA 2000, 129 mins, English Director Edward Norton, featuring Ben Stiller, Anne Bancroft, Edward Norton In this romantic comedy, best friends since childhood, Rabbi Jacob Schram and Father Brian Finn are dynamic and popular young men living and working on New York’s Upper West side.  … Continue reading Keeping the Faith

Why does Easter 'move about'? And why doesn't Christmas? Why might Muslims return from the mosque disappointed at the end of Ramadan? Why can you not find out the date of Chinese New Year 2028? Why does February only have 28 days in a normal year? Is the Jewish calendar really unreasonable? In this session, … Continue reading It’s About Time

This is the story of an ordinary human being who showed remarkable moral and physical courage in demonstrating solidarity and support for Jewish refugees who, mistakenly, thought they would be safe from Nazi persecution by fleeing to the “Free Zone” in Southern France. As Captain of the Gendarmerie in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Lucien Guillon risked his personal … Continue reading Captain Guillon – The Cruel Price of Resistance in South West France

NOTE - Tickets to be booked from UKJFF box office: www.ukjewishfilm.org Once Upon My Mother Drama | Dir. Ken Scott | 102 mins | France, 2025 | French with English subtitles Celebrating a mother’s love in its most profound form, and as Jewish tradition dictates, also its most passionate, Once Upon My Mother, based on … Continue reading UK Jewish Film Festival – Once Upon My Mother

NOTE - Tickets to be booked from UKJFF box office: www.ukjewishfilm.org   Pink Lady Drama | Dir. Nir Bergman | 104 mins |  Israel, Italy, 2024 | Hebrew with English subtitles Set in Jerusalem’s strictly Orthodox community, this story centres on the marriage of a Haredi couple, Bati (Nur Fibak — Israeli Film Academy Best … Continue reading UK Jewish Film Festival – Pink Lady