Masterclass with Producer Lawrence Bender
A masterclass with producer Lawrence Bender - 2025 JFF Achievement Award Recipient. The event is open to the public with advance registration, and will be held in English.
JFF Guests
Screening in the presence of producer Teddy Leifer
Middletown
Dir.: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
| 110 minutes
A teacher inspires a group of teenagers in the early 1990s to make a student film, and they uncover a conspiracy that is poisoning their community. Thirty years later, they revisit this transformative experience.
Screening in the presence of director Michel Franco
Dreams
Dir.: Michel Franco
| 95 minutes
Romance blossoms between a wealthy socialite and a Mexican ballet dancer, entwining their contrasting lives and cultures.
Screening in the presence of director Hou Dasheng
Hani
Dir.: Hou Dasheng
| 73 minutes
Fourteen-year-old Hani dreams of marrying twelve-year-old Pu—but he lacks the financial means to cover the costs of marriage. As a last resort, he turns to a world of crime and deceit, aided by friends who are battling their own struggles, while Hani himself embarks on a path from which there is no return.
Meeting with the Creators of "October 8"
Meeting with Director Wendy Sachs and Writer, Producer, Editor Nimrod Erez, about the film October 8. The event will be held in English. Event open to the public, free admission.
Screening in the presence of lead actor Andranic Manet
Ari
Dir.: Léonor Serraille
| 88 minutes
Forced from home after quitting his teaching position, Ari navigates life's uncertainties. His reunion with childhood friends becomes a catalyst for personal transformation.
Screening in the presence of producer Lorenzo Gandolfo
Impatience of the Heart
Dir.: Lauro Cress
| 104 minutes
Driven by a sense of shame, pity, and a longing for purpose, a young soldier feigns his feelings for a disabled woman, even fueling her hope of walking again. But as her distrust grows and his obsession with her cure deepens, they are driven into a destructive spiral that drags everyone to misfortune.
Screening in the presence of the producer
Two Prosecutors
Dir.: Sergei Loznitsa
| 117 minutes
1937: When a prisoner's letter escapes destruction, idealistic prosecutor Kornev uncovers corruption within the NKVD. His pursuit of justice in Stalin's USSR becomes a dangerous journey into the heart of a system devouring its own.