Inspiring conversations and building bridges at the Jewish Film Festival

Starting Feb. 13 and running through March 2, 2025, the 29th Annual Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival will again be screening films in three theaters across the Valley.

The films inspire conversations, create connections and seek to build bridges between communities at this time when there is so much conflict in the Middle East.

Nyles Gradus, Artistic Director of the Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival, joined us on “Arizona Horizon” to talk about the films.

Watch previews of four films on YouTube that will be featured at the festival:

1. Soda
2. Bad Shabbos
3. Running on Sand
4. Midas Man

Films

“Soda” is based in Israel in 1954 and is based on a true story “of a group of holocaust survivors and partisans who fought the Nazis that are in a bottling plant making soda,” said Gradus. The mystery of the story begins when a woman, a love interest to many, comes into town with the residents wondering if she helped with the Jews in the concentration camps.

“Bad Shabbos” is a comedy about an “interfaith engaged couple,” according to Gradus, that have moved into a New York apartment and want both the families to meet. Their plans go sideways when a dead body is found in their bathtub.

“The goal is how to prevent the Catholic family from meeting the Jewish family from knowing there’s a body in the bathroom,” Gradus said.

“Running on Sand” is a drama and also a comedy that shows the ethnic, cultural and racial diversity in Israel. The film is about an Eritrean refugee “is about to be sent back to Eritrea, he’s mistaken by an Israeli soccer team for the soccer star that they want to resurrect their team, he plays along and pretends to be that star because he doesn’t want to go back to Eritrea,” said Gradus.

“Midas Man” is about the man who helped rise The Beatles to fame, Brian Epstein. He was very creative and ambitious that lived a very interesting life however died young.

Impact of the films

An important part of the films are storytelling, a grand tradition within the Jewish culture. Each film has themes that Gradus says makes the film more appreciated.

“Our goal is to bring films from all over the world into The Valley so people can explore the history and experience and they all have themes and connections to being Jewish,” Gradus said.

Out of the 28 films, all of them represent different sectors of Judaism that bridge the community together. It helps the non-Jewish audience learn about the sectors, according to Gradus.