The Jewish Film Festival For Everyone

The number 18 in Judaism, also known as "chai" or "life," holds quite a bit of significance. When celebrating a bat or bar mitzvah, a wedding or birth of a child, Jewish community members often symbolically give $18 as a gift. So as the Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival at the celebrates its 18th year by showing 18 films, it's hard to believe it turned out that way by coincidence.

"That was really weird when we realized it," festival director Miryam Kabakov said. "We did not plan that. To add to it, we also watched a total of 180 films before narrowing it down."

The two-week long Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival is an annual event put on by the Sabes Foundation in St. Louis Park. Through the use of feature films, documentaries and shorts from a variety of genres, the festival aims to build a stronger sense of identity in the Jewish community and beyond. 

"We've definitely spread out the festival," foundation co-chair Walter Elias said. "In previous years it's been exclusively at the JCC but for 2011 we added the Showplace Icon at West End as a venue, as well as The Mall of America."

By expanding the audience, the festival committee—comprised of more than 20 members—has been able to get important films about Jewish culture to more viewers. For example, Wednesday night's sold-out screening of "Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story" brought out not only members of the Jewish community, but also baseball fans and others who were simply intrigued.

"That was an incredible night," Kabakov said. "Many people didn't realize that it was in the Twin Cities where pitcher Sandy Koufax famously refused to play on Yom Kippur. We're hoping to bring the film back in May."

It's films like "Jews and Baseball..." that give the Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival the diversity it strives for.

"As a selection committee, we feel variety is important," Elias said. "We try to have films that are of interest to women, the older demographic, and also some that cater to younger generations. We don't want the festival to be particularly heavy in any one area."

Though the festival is already underway, there are still plenty of films and events worth checking out. This weekend alone features six showings and a couple discussions with filmmakers, all taking place at the JCC. Saturday night's main screening will be "Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish"—a quirky film that intertwines Shakespeare's original story into the scenario of a woman who is given the task of translating the play into Yiddish.

Sunday will showcase a movie that everyone appears to be talking about called "The Precious Life." Notoriously harsh New York Times critic—and St. Louis Park High School alum—Thomas Friedman called this movie "remarkable" and encouraged "everybody to take a deep breath and pop a copy into their DVD players."

"This is such a powerful film," Kabakov said. "It's about crossing borders and reaching beyond stereotypes. I can't talk about this movie without getting teary-eyed."

The films will culminate on April 9 at the JCC with four showings. A dessert party will take place at 8 p.m., followed by one last screening of a film called "The Matchmaker," a light-hearted Israeli story that is set in the 1960s.

For more information about showtimes, discussions with filmmakers and other events, please visit the Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival's website.