“A still from “24 days”

By Cassandra Hardman, Staff Writer

Published in print Feb. 4, 2015

The 14th season of the Triad Jewish Film Festival is set to kick off next Saturday at the Friendly Center, Regal Greensboro Grande Stadium 16. The Festival Chair, Sarah Milano, was kind enough to invite me to her home and spill all the juicy details on the upcoming screenings and the new additions to this year’s festival.

“We watch everything we can get our hands on, starting in July,” she said. “Sometimes we watch the films together, sometimes they’ll send us links and we watch the films alone.”

Milano has been on the committee about four years, but this was her first time serving as Chair. The committee, which she says features people from all different backgrounds, experience and beliefs about what being a Jew means, and what presenting the Jewish experience should be to the public, all decide which films they believe will best educate.

The committee tries not to pick the films that are your standard Holocaust movies. We see those all the time. Milano said this year the decisions weren’t that hard. 

“The rule is, if you’re bored after 15 minutes, don’t watch anymore of the film. Because then you know its not going to draw anyone in right away, so just forget it,” she chuckled. Milano said there are always a few, but not many that she turns off. “We choose the films that we think are the most educational, the most provocative, the most interesting and gripping.”

When asked about her number-one pick in this year’s festival, Milano gave me three.

“Brothers” is a story of two brothers who were separated for many years that addresses the conflict of division in the Israeli society between the secular and religious.

“The Green Prince” is a documentary of a Palestinian man, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas religious leaders, and Gonen ben Yitzhak, his handler in the Shin Bet. The story shows how for nearly a decade, Yousef was an informant for Israel, operating at the highest levels of Hamas itself. “It’s a fascinating story of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. The true story gives us a look of the differences and the similarities of the family relationships, and the close relationship that develops between the two men,” Milano said.

Another must-see, “24 Days”, is the real life story of the brutal abduction of Jewish Parisian Ilan Halimi. He was simply abducted because he was Jewish, and because of that the kidnappers believed he was wealthy and that they would receive a big ransom. The committee thought because it was contempary that it would be a good one to play on opening night. It just happens to be very relevant with the terrorism going on in France today.

Recently, with the numerous terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris starting January 7th, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, in an impassioned address to the French Parliament, actually made a reference to the case that the movie “24 Days” is based on.

Milano said for the first time this year’s festival will feature a Kids’ Classic screening of the animated film “An American Tail”, and a sneak preview of “Brothers”, which was held at Beth David Synagogue this past Thursday.

The Triad Jewish Film Festival opens February 7 with the must-see film, “24 Days”. All films, except for “Brothers” and “An American Tail” will be screened at the Regal Greensboro Grande Stadium 16 in Friendly Center. The festival’s first kids screening, “An American Tail”, will be shown at Geeksboro Coffeehouse Cinema.

For more information, trailers, complete schedule of films and tickets visit http://www.myTJFF.com or give the Greensboro Jewish Federation a call at (336) 852-5433. Advance purchase is highly recommended considering seats are limited.