The New York Jewish Film Festival kicks off today and continues through Jan. 28th. A few films caught my eye, including Mary and Max, a claymation animated feature about a pen-pal friendship between an eight-year-old Aussie girl and a lonely, obese middle-aged Jewish man living in New York with Asberger’s syndrome. A sweet, enduring relationship between two loners exists yet the film deals does not shy away from the dark with very heavy issues including suicide, alcoholism, death, sex and mental health. The film was a festival favorite at Sundance last year, and features the performances from the very talented Toni Collett (Mary) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Max), so definitely worth checking out. Watch the trailer HERE. And of course I must mention a few interesting featured documentaries, which include The Jazz Baroness, the story of a Rothschild heiress and her relationship with jazz great Thelonius Monk. And, Ahead of Time, which tells the story of photojournalist and foreign correspondent Ruth Gruber who traveled to the Soviet arctic in 1935, escorted survivors out of Germany after the war, covered the Nuremburg trial and much more. For a full schedule of the festival click here.
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The New York Jewish Film Festival kicks off today and continues through Jan. 28th.

A few films caught my eye, including Mary and Max, a claymation animated feature about a pen-pal friendship between an eight-year-old Aussie girl and a lonely, obese middle-aged Jewish man living in New York with Asberger’s syndrome. A sweet, enduring relationship between two loners exists yet the film deals does not shy away from the dark with very heavy issues including suicide, alcoholism, death, sex and mental health. The film was a festival favorite at Sundance last year, and features the performances from the very talented Toni Collett (Mary) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Max), so definitely worth checking out. Watch the trailer HERE.

And of course I must mention a few interesting featured documentaries, which include The Jazz Baroness, the story of a Rothschild heiress and her relationship with jazz great Thelonius Monk. And, Ahead of Time, which tells the story of photojournalist and foreign correspondent Ruth Gruber who traveled to the Soviet arctic in 1935, escorted survivors out of Germany after the war, covered the Nuremburg trial and much more.

For a full schedule of the festival click here.