Film Series - Temple Concord Syracuse Cinemagogue Series Schedule & Synopsis
2017 - 2018 Program
Our popular Cinemagogue, Temple Concord’s film series, offers a variety of films with Jewish themes, filmmakers and Jewish-American stars. Admission is free, but donations are always welcomed.
You can become a sponsor of the Cinemagogue with a $100 gift to the Temples Congregational Learning Fund and see your name listed in the program for each film!
Aug 19 – The Jazz Singer
Pop singer Neil Diamond stars in this remake of Al Jolson's seminal 1927 musical, The Jazz Singer. This time, the cantor's son desires success as a pop -- not jazz -- singer, despite the wishes of his imperious father. The soundtrack was Diamond's most successful album yet, featuring the hits "Love on the Rocks," "Hello Again," and "America," and selling over five million copies
Sep 9 – A Woman Called Golda
A Woman Called Golda is a made-for-television account of the life and times of Golda Meir, Israel's powerful prime minister during the '60s and '70s. Judy Davis portrays Golda as a young woman, while Ingrid Bergman plays Meir as an older woman; Bergman won an Emmy for her performance
Oct 7 – Denial
After accusing fellow historian David Irving (Timothy Spall) of being a Holocaust denier, Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz) is sued for libel and forced to provide proof of her claims in court. Tom Wilkinson co-stars as her lawyer, Richard Rampton. Mick Jackson directed this docudrama, with David Hare penning the screenplay based on Lipstadt's 2005 account of the trial.
Nov 4 - The People vs. Fritz Bauer
Lars Kraume directed this historical thriller based on true events, which documents the efforts of German district attorney Fritz Bauer (Burghart Klaußner) to prosecute Nazi war criminals during the 1950s and '60s. When Bauer uncovers evidence that former SS officer Adolf Eichmann may be hiding out in Argentina, he decides to share his intelligence with the Mossad in order to bring him to justice.
Dec 16 – The Zookeeper’s Wife
A husband (Johan Heldenbergh) and wife (Jessica Chastain) in Nazi-occupied Poland use their positions as caretakers at the Warsaw Zoo to shepherd Jews out of the country. Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Diane Ackerman.
Jan 27 – Norman
Persistent wheeler-dealer Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) befriends an Israeli politician (Lior Ashkenazi) during the latter's trip to New York City. When the politico is elected prime minister of his country, Norman rises in esteem within the local Jewish community, even though his new social connections might be a sham. Joseph Cedar wrote and directed this drama, which co-stars Michael Sheen, Steve Buscemi, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Feb 17 – Dough
A Jewish widower (Jonathan Pryce) hires a Muslim teenager (Jerome Holder) to help out at his kosher bakery in London, and sales skyrocket when the latter's marijuana is accidentally mixed into the dough.
Mar 17 - When Do We Eat?
Members of the Stuckman family gather for Seder with patriarch Ira (Michael Lerner), an old-fashioned man who pushes his sons as hard as his own father (Jack Klugman) pushed him. Chaos erupts when one of Ira's sons slips him a hit of Ecstasy, turning him into a modern Moses.
Apr 21 – Hava Nagila
"Hava Nagila: The Movie," a slight, but very satisfying, and at times, surprisingly moving, documentary about the inescapable Jewish anthem and wedding and bar mitzvah music staple. But you don't, as the old saying goes, have to be Jewish to enjoy it. Because everyone knows "Hava Nagila." The movie includes interviews with two of the song's most prominent ambassadors, who were instrumental in introducing the song to a mass American audience, Connie Francis, an Italian Catholic, who included it on her bestselling album, "Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites" ("I'm 10 percent Jewish on my manager's side," she jokes), and Harry Belafonte, who movingly recalls singing the song in Germany.
May 26 – The Kind Words
A quirky, wry comedy-drama about three siblings who seek to uncover the greatest secret their late mother never told them: that the man who raised them is not their biological father. This emotionally rich film follows three Jewish Israeli siblings on a road trip from Israel across France to discover the truth about their father. A beautifully textured family drama that touches on a wealth of interpersonal issues with charm and grace. Writer-director Shemi Zarhin.
Jun 16 – The Wedding Doll
Hagit, a young woman with mild mental deficiency, works in a toilet-paper factory. She lives with her mother Sarah, a divorcée who gave up her life for her daughter. Hagit strives for independence and Sarah is torn between her desire to protect her, and her own will to live. When a relationship develops between her and the son of the factory owner, Hagit hides it from her mother. The announcement of the closing of the factory shakes Hagit and Sarah's life and jeopardizes Hagit's love story. - Written by Jerusalem Film Festival
Jul 7 – The Hope: The Rebirth of Israel
This film examines the creation of the State of Israel, covering a time period from early Jewish settlers and philanthropists in the 19th century to the Israeli declaration of Statehood in 1948. The series tells the story through the perspective of Zionist leaders and visionaries such as Theodor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, David Ben-Gurion, and Golda Meir.
