SJFF In-Person Encore: Shorts Program – SAYING KADDISH

SJFF In-Person Shorts Program Encore at Gesa Power House Theatre

March 29 | Gesa Power House Theatre | 7 pm (Not part of SJFF ticket/passes)

Curated by Warren Etheredge, SJFF Shorts Program Curator and Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of Walla Walla Movie Crush

About the Short Program

Spiritually and culturally, we have many ways to mourn and bless the dead. Some follow prescribed customs, others form new traditions with the passing of loved ones. The Mourner’s Kaddish, the Jewish prayer recited in honor of the deceased never mentions death or dying, but instead proclaims the greatness of G-d. It encourages reciters to not wallow in grief or ignore the impact of loss altogether. In fact, the word kaddish actually means sanctification in Aramaic, similar to the Hebrew word kadosh, or holy. This program of short films examines the metaphorical progression and three stages of Jewish mourning rituals—from Aninut to Shiva to Sheloshim—noting the passing of parents, grandparents, neighbors, strangers, and even a beached whale. Curated together, these beautiful lamentations also attest to how international artists sanctify a period of global grief with cinematic blessings.

SJFF In-Person Encore: The Shorts Program: SAYING KADDISH will have two in-person encores.

• March 29 | Gesa Power House Theatre | 7 pm (Not part of SJFF ticket/passes. Purchase here >>)
• March 30 | Hillel at University of Washington | 6:30 pm (Free for UW students. Get tickets here >>)
• Streaming Window: March 13-26. For tickets, click here >>

THE FILMS 

THAT IS THE QUESTION
Eyal Tzadik, Yotam Kislev | Short Narrative | Israel | 2022 | Hebrew w/English subtitles | 17:32m

Shay works tirelessly with his father in as shady debt collection business. When they catch an undercover cop who owes them money, Shay is given the option to betray his father and get a second chance for a better life. Will he do it?

REQUIEM FOR A WHALE
Ido Weisman | Short Documentary | Israel | 2022 | Hebrew w/English subtitles | 15:20m

On a stormy night in early 2021, a whale’s body washed ashore on Israel’s Nitzanim beach. The film documents the strange and curious encounters between people and the carcass, from families and selfie-taking teens to journalists and autopsy officials. The rare interaction evokes a dialogue between life and death.

THE WALTZ
Yulia Ruditskaya | Animated Short | USA | 2022 | Yiddish w/English subtitles | 5m

A beautiful animated short film that brings to life a Yiddish poem by A. Lutzky

THE ROCK COLLECTION
Mayer Adelberg | Short Drama | USA | 2022 | English | 3m

A girl searches for the best stone as a gift for her father.

YOUR STREET (Deine strasse)
Güzin Kar | Documentary Short | Switzerland | 2020 |German w/English subtitles | 7:28m

A featureless, desolate, and inconspicuous street on an industrial estate in Bonn, Germany, bears the name of a child. The public memorial is meant to commemorate a racially motivated terrorist attack but is consigned to no man’s land. This film explores the risk of collective amnesia.

THE RECORD
Jonathan Laskar | Animated Short | Switzerland | French w/English subtitles | 2022 | 8:37m

An antique instrument dealer receives a magical vinyl record from a traveler. With each obsessive listen, memories reemerge until one last and painful memory is revealed: how he got separated from his mother on the Swiss border during WWII.

DEMON BOX
Sean Wainsteim | Animated/Animated/Experimental Short | Canada | English | 2023 | 14m

After festival rejections, a director revises his intensely personal short film about trauma, suicide, and the Holocaust, and transforms it into a painfully blunt and funny dissection of the film and of his life, ten years in the making.

Special Guests

In-Person screenings, virtual package introduction, and recorded conversation with DEMON BOX short filmmaker Sean Wainsteim all moderated by Warren Etheredge.

Seattle Jewish Film Festival Information

The Films Get a quick look at the films in this year's Seattle Jewish Film Festival, plus links to calendars, special events and guests. The Films >>

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