Cycles

France, 2008, 92 min.
Preceded by With a Little Patience (14 min.)

Cyril Gelblat uses a light hand to sketch a “sandwich” generation crisis: Cycles shows the special nature of middle age for the children of French Holocaust survivors, as a sister (Miou-Miou) and brother (Charles Berling) watch their mother (Shulamit Adar) slip into an unfathomable world of memories at the same time as their children are slipping effortlessly into adulthood. In marvelous performances, the absurdity of their situation tempers any threat of pathos.

Broken Promise

Slovak Republic, 2008, 111 min.

A rare and superb entry from Slovakia into the genre of Holocaust drama, Broken Promise is based on the true story of teenager Martin Friedman’s unlikely escapes from deportation during the war. From work camp to Catholic infirmary to an underground stint with the partisans, Martin manages to win deliverance through both chance and the aid of sympathizers. The film explores collective and individual anti-Semitism among invaders and liberators alike.

Following the August 8 screening, ticket holders are invited to attend a dessert reception at the JCCSF. Meet the filmmakers, the young star, and Martin Petrasek.

Post-show reception made possible by the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation and The Eugene & Elinor Friend Center for the Arts at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.

Menachem and Fred

Germany, Israel, 2007, 90 min.

Meet Menachem and Fred, brothers who themselves have only just re-met as adults. Since separating as children during the Holocaust, they’ve become very different men, with different nationalities and religious orientations. Each has avoided his memories, and each is finally forced—by an old letter and a regretted commitment to the filmmakers—to confront history. We travel with them to Germany and France on an emotional tour of their past.

The Wedding Song – Closing Night at the Castro

France, Tunisia, 2008, 100 min., Arabic, French, German, with English subtitles
Director/Screenwriter Karin Albou

Karin Albou (La Petite Jerusalem, SFJFF 2006) explores Jewish and Arab culture and female sexuality in her bold and exquisite second feature. In Nazi-occupied Tunis, two teenage girlfriends, Muslim Nour and Jewish Myriam, cling to their lifelong bond. Outside the intimate female quarters of home and hammam, the world shared by Jews and Arabs is split apart by German promises of liberation. When the propaganda seeps through the gender wall, Myriam and her mother are no longer safe, and a hasty wedding must be arranged. But marriage, like friendship, becomes a test of ethics and courage.