Daniel Auteuil in “Farewell, Mr. Haffman.” (Courtesy of Pathé)

In a perfect world, great art would inspire us to be better. 

Sadly, this world is far from perfect. And yet, filmmakers still do their best, often in the face of unthinkable pain, cruelty and division. 

Nobody knows that struggle better than the people behind the Maine Jewish Film Festival, which kicks off its 27th year on April 23. 

Presenting 13 films centered on various aspects of the worldwide Jewish experience, the festival is, as ever, informed by that imperfect real world we were talking about, in all its past, present and possible future pain… and joy. 

An image from the Israeli romantic comedy “Love, Statistically Speaking.” (Courtesy of Go2Films)

Says MJFF Executive Director David Adrusia of this year’s festival, “Without any hyperbole, this is our broadest and biggest year. The films we chose offer a kaleidoscopic international landscape, just like Jewish life and culture in general.” 

As to the challenges of programming a Jewish film festival at a time when the actions of the Netanyahu government in Israel are drawing ever more contentious scrutiny, Adrusia states, “Current events are always foremost in our minds, even as they strengthen our deeply held belief in the raison d’être of the festival. We try to be as universal as possible without focusing on one single issue, to be both historical and contemporaneous. Most importantly, the festival is about bringing people together in an atmosphere of mutual respect — bringing people together rather than apart is certainly the key.”

FILMS FOR A TIME OF GREAT PAIN

Summing up that ethos in a single movie is the wrenching documentary “Holding Liat,” screening on May 2 at the Portland Museum of Art. Centered on the infamous Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israeli citizens by terrorist group Hamas, the film shows how the kidnapping of their adult daughter splits a family across lines of faith, politics, age and loyalty as they wait in anguish for any news about whether Liat Atzili is alive or dead. With Liat’s militantly anti-war father (who views both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership as “crazy”) pressing for forgiveness and understanding in the face of unthinkable fear and loss, the film examines the clash of humanity and politics in a visceral, unforgettable way. Says Andrusia, “It’s a very powerful film, emblematic of what I mentioned — we want to present things and have people draw their own conclusions.”

Switching gears, Andrusia is excited for audiences to see “Looking Up,” director Elena Neuman’s gripping portrait of a young Jewish man who is faced with degenerative eye disease, yet decides to become a risk-taking rock climber.

Setting his diminishing sights on the Yosemite’s treacherous El Capitan rock face, the man’s unlikely journey becomes an edge-of-your-seat tale of inspiration, adversity and very, very high places. “It’s about human resilience beating the odds and is, in itself, a thrilling experience, and a very humanistic one,” says Andrusia. 

International poster for “The Sea.” (Courtesy of Majdal Films)

Naturally, the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza isn’t far from anyone’s mind this year, with director Shai Carmeli-Pollak’s “The Sea,” viewing the dangerous position of Palestinians through the eyes of one stubborn little boy. Compared by Andrusia to “The Bicycle Thieves,” the film follows 12-year-old Khaled who, robbed of his chance to see the ocean on a school trip after his travel permit is declared invalid at an Israeli checkpoint, sets out on a picaresque — and perilous — quest.

With his anxious father on a parallel journey to find his son in a world of prejudice, suspicion and dangers both expected and not, the film was Israel’s selection for Best International Feature Film at last year’s Oscars, and, as Andrusia states, “stands on its own merits, but presents a view of modern relations in a very specific and moving way. Above all else, the film is about how every human being is important, and makes us think about that.”

AN AMBITIOUS LINEUP

As Andrusia notes with pride, this is MJFF’s most ambitious year as far as statewide screenings, with movies playing in Portland (at the Museum of Art and The Hill Arts), Brunswick’s Eveningstar Cinema, Waldoboro’s Waldo Theater, and the Maine Film Center in Waterville.

The Eveningstar is hosting such diverse offerings as the gripping Holocaust drama, “Farewell, Mr Haffman,” about a jeweler (French legend Daniel Auteuil) forced to hide with his ambitious assistant once the Nazis begin to round up the Jews of occupied Paris, and the stranger-than-fiction true crime documentary “The Stamp Thief,” in which former “Seinfeld” writer Gary Gilbert stages an “Argo”-style fake movie shoot to root out the location of a fortune in rare stamps stolen from concentration camp victims. 

The Hill Arts boasts screenings of “Los Dos Mariette” (“The Two Mariettas”), about an elderly Argentinian woman’s decision to tell her grown children about the secret of their heritage she’s kept from the world for 70 years, and the colorful crime comedy, “Love, Statistically Speaking,” in which a father-daughter duo overcome their differences to solve the mystery of who at the old man’s local swimming club stole his life savings. 

OLD-SCHOOL THRILLS

Meanwhile, among the films showing at the PMA, audiences can thrill to the old-time entertainment history of the Catskills era in the documentary “We Met at Grossinger’s,” heroic trans ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio’s ongoing battle against rising anti-trans legislation in “Heightened Scrutiny,” and the fascinating investigation into the actions of Herschel Grynszpan, the 17-year-old assassin whose killing of a Nazi diplomat served as the flashpoint for Kristallnacht (“Proud Jewish Boy”).

A poster for “Mazel Tov.” (Courtesy of Tolmur)

There’s a documentary about the woman who became the first artist in residence for the New York Sanitation Department (“Maintenance Artist”), an eccentric tale of family grief and grudges (“Mazel Tov”), and a searing period romance about a woman accused of Nazi complicity and the Jewish man who loves her (“Soda”). With introductions from the filmmakers, several world premieres and post-movie discussions with leading members of Maine’s Jewish community, this year’s Maine Jewish Film Festival is, as always, a thought-provoking celebration of Jewishness and the inspirational possibilities of film to bring us all closer together. 

Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and his cat.

IF YOU GO

The Maine Jewish Film Festival runs April 23-May 3 with film screenings at the Portland Museum of Art and The Hill Arts in Portland, Eveningstar Cinema in Brunswick, the Waldo Theater in Waldoboro and the Maine Film Center in Waterville.

For a full schedule of films and to purchase tickets or festival passes (always a wise choice), go to the Maine Jewish Film Festival website at mjff.org.