Coming up in Philly film: We're all connected onscreen

As we tackle the midterm elections in the wake of several domestic terrorist attacks, the escapism of cinema is tempting. However, as political vitriol and its associated violence increase, it’s important we also acknowledge how motion pictures can build empathy between communities. So we’re featuring a selection of solidarity-building opportunities within two of Philadelphia’s largest independent film festivals.

Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival

November 3 through 18, the Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (GPJFF) returns to Philadelphia for its 38th fall season. Presenting more than 30 films, the festival has renewed importance in the wake of October’s attack on the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue. The Gershman Y will be its primary venue, and programs will also come to Ritz East, the National Museum of American Jewish History, and several suburban venues. While all of the programs are worth seeing, three films of particular note explore the interconnectedness between Jewish communities and many others.

On Monday, November 12, at 2pm, learn about the important role that Indian Jews played in the early decades of Bollywood Cinema through the feature documentary Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema. The film covers a fascinating moment in history when a small Jewish minority was able to help break the taboo of women performers as screen actors, paving the way for women of all religions to participate in the fledgling Indian cinema. A live performance by Swati Chaturvedi of the Community Bollywood Dance Project will follow the screening.

On Wednesday, November 14, at 7pm at Philadelphia Clef Club, get in the groove with blues legends Adam Gussow and Sterling “Satan” Magee in their musical documentary Satan & Adam. Exploring the origins of an unlikely musical partnership between a harmonica-playing Jewish Ivy League graduate and a Harlem street guitarist, the film documents their rise to stardom as a national touring act in the 1980s. Their story reminds me of a famous quote from Chess Records cofounder Phil Chess (a Polish Jew), who once said, “Blacks plus Jews equals blues,” referring to the longstanding partnership between Jewish entrepreneurs in the record industry who were willing to invest in African-American musicians at a time when others would not.

GPJFF’s closing-night presentation on Sunday, November 18, at 5pm is the feature documentary Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas: the fascinating story of the Jewish composers who wrote many of the classic American Christmas carols, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Silver Bells, and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Featuring a live performance by the Village Carolers, a professional singing troupe, $25 tickets include a reception with a Christmas-themed Chinese buffet dinner (ugly Christmas sweaters encouraged).

Much more than a film fest

Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (which I program) also returns this month for its 11th annual festival. Featuring more than 50 events from November 8 through 18, the program includes more than 80 films, three live theater performances, two musical concerts, a Filipino-food takeover of Reading Terminal Market, a Music of Asian America conference, and a gallery exhibit on the history of anti-Asian racist propaganda titled American Peril: Imagining the Foreign Threat.

On Thursday, November 8, at 5:30pm, join Scribe Video Center for a filmmaker mixer at its Lancaster Avenue offices before the Opening Night of PAAFF 2018, which begins 7pm at Lightbox Film Center. Saturday, November 10, Philadelphia Latino Film Festival (PHLAFF) will join PAAFF in copresenting two free screenings at the Institute of Contemporary Art. At 12:15pm, Futbolistas 4 Life documents a group of Oakland high-school students of Latinx descent as they navigate family immigration issues and advocate for their school’s first professional-grade soccer pitch. Director Jun Stinson and associate producer Jess Ramirez are expected in attendance for a post-film Q&A. Then, at 3pm, Havana Divas tells the story of two Chino-Cubanas whose lifelong passion for Cantonese opera intersects with the history of Chinese immigration to Cuba from the 1920s to today.

Original Sin and In Search of a Nation

On Friday, November 16, at 7:55pm at Asian Arts Initiative, PHLAFF returns for its third cosponsored screening at PAAFF of Spanish-language sex comedy Pecado Original (Original Sin). Written and directed by Penn cinema studies alumna Jean Lee, this absurdist comedy about a sexually frustrated housewife, her uptight husband, and an attractive painter is the first US-Paraguay feature film coproduction. Lee is expected for a post-film Q&A.

Head to Asian Arts again on Sunday, November 18, at 12:50pm: Mustard Seed South Asian Film Festival will be cosponsoring the PAAFF screening of In Search of a Nation. The first and only film produced entirely inside of a Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal, the feature-length drama offers a window into the daily struggles of a community that has spent more than two decades awaiting repatriation to their homeland or asylum abroad.