The Saint John Jewish Film Festival started in 2014 and serves as the major fundraising event for the year. We rely on our sponsors and ticket-holders to make the festival a success. The six-day event brings in Jewish-themed films from around the world, including dramas, comedies, and documentaries. Our opening night film is by invitation only as a special thank you to our sponsors, with the remaining five nights open for viewing by sponsors and the general public.
GENERAL INFORMATION
If you wish to become a Film Festival sponsor, Please contact the Jewish Historical Museum at:
Phone: 506-633-1833
Tickets for individual films can be purchased for $10/film from the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum. Passes for the entire series of five films are available from the Museum for $40.00 each.
Payments can be accepted by cash, cheque or credit card.
Ticketholders may choose to attend the screenings in person at the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum – which will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. each evening – or online with a unique non-transferable link for each film.
The proceeds from the film festival will support the work of the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum to preserve the Jewish history of Saint John.
the lineup for the Festival:
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 (LLOYD GOLDSMITH NIGHT OPENING FILM AND RECEPTION - SPONSORS ONLY)
Mazel Tov
2024 Argentina, Spanish with sub-titles, 1 hour 37 minutes
Dario Roitman returns to Argentina for a family wedding and Bat Mitzvah, anticipating the usual
family drama. His plans for a family reunion are upended when he learns, just hours before his flight,
that his father has passed away. Old wounds resurface and longstanding tensions reach a boiling
point. Dario remains determined to celebrate both events, even if it means challenging tradition and
further discord. Navigating grief, sibling rivalry, and eccentric grudges, the Roitmans reveal the
messy yet enduring love of family.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 19
October H8ATE
2024 United States, 1 hour 40 minutes
OCTOBER H8TE begins in Israel on October 7th but is largely about the aftermath of a day that has become the modern Kristallnacht. The film examines the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, online, and in the streets of America. It tracks the dissemination of propaganda that has created a world in which Hamas is celebrated. It delves into how we got to this moment, examining why social justice activists have aligned themselves with an aggressively anti-Zionist/ anti-West movement. We see how funding, strategy and messaging linked to Hamas and terrorist groups have made their way to American campuses to support and organize student groups. Experts explain how “Hamas in America” is not a right-wing talking point, but a reality
MONDAY OCTOBER 20
Never Alone
2025 Finnish with subtitles, 1 hour 25 minutes
Never Alone tells the gripping story of Jewish refugees seeking safety in Finland during WWII. As Nazi influence grows, Finnish-Jewish businessman Abraham Stiller risks everything to protect the refugee community. This is a story of courage, resilience, and the fight for hope amidst overwhelming adversity. Based on actual events during World War II, the film shines a light on the plight of Jewish refugees seeking sanctuary in Finland and the man who risked everything to protect them.
Tuesday OCTOBER 21
The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes
2023, Israel, English, Hebrew and German with subtitles, 2 hours, 54 minutes
This documentary combines interviews from Holocaust survivors, key witnesses at the Eichmann trial, historians, and experts on the Holocaust with reenactments of historical events. Eichmann, whom Israel executed in 1962, maintained he was a mere bureaucrat following orders. But the 28 hours of taped confessions, recorded in 1957 interviews with Nazi journalist and propagandist Willem Sassen, indicate Eichmann coordinated the Final Solution, carrying out his duties with enthusiasm.
Wednesday OCTOBER 22
The Interpreter
2018 Slovak Republic / Czech Republic / Austrian, German and Slovakian with subtitles, 1 hour 54 minutes
80-year-old translator, Ali Ungár, finds a book by a former SS officer recounting his war experiences in Slovakia. One chapter may describe his own parents’ execution. Going to Vienna to find the SS man and take his revenge, he finds the man’s 70-year-old son Georg, who has spent his life avoiding his father. On a trip through Slovakia. the two men begin to warm to each other, discovering a country that would prefer to forget about its past. The film focuses on two old men weighed down by their unresolved conflicts who are now trying to free themselves from this oppressive burden.
Thursday OCTOBER 23
Bad Shabbos
2025 United States, English, 1 hour 25 minutes
Bad Shabbos follows a Jewish family for a night of surprises when the adult son and his Catholic girlfriend have their parents meet for the first time over a Friday Shabbat dinner. An accidental death occurs during an ill-timed prank by the family’s rebellious teenage son. This forces the Jewish family to work together to come up with a solution before the in-laws arrive.
Thank you
to our 12th Annual Saint John Jewish Film Festival Sponsors
Executive Producer
Ken Craft & Katherine Biggs-Craft–in memory of Jerry and Marcia Koven
Producer
- Dr. Joseph Arditti
- Dr. Richardo and Lois Bessoudo
- Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception
Associate Producer
- Anne Baker
- Phillip and Diane Bloom
- Lana and Gary Davis
- Signe Gurholt
- Dianne Ormandy
Director
- Lorie Cohen Hackett
- Mark and Teresa Goldsmith
- Grant Heckman and Dr. Sandra Bell
- Richard and Felicity Osepchook
- Michael and Janet Richard
- Janet and Michael Shore
- Brenan’s Funeral Home
- John Walker Insurance
- The Bra Room
Editor
- Dr. Gordon Chapman and Ellen Tucker
- Amos Friling and Ilanit Bokur-Friling
- Ian Hamilton
- Susan Isaacs-Lubin
- Andrew and Lynn Koven
- Barbara Lee-White
- Dr.Gerald and Colleen Maloney
- Regina Mantin
- Derek and Jacqueline Oland
- James Streeter
- Michael and Margaret Wennberg
- Anonymous