Anniversary of the Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival

The 30th anniversary celebration of the Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival begins on February 12, 2026, and runs through March 1. The decades-long festival brings compelling, thought-provoking and entertaining Jewish cinema to audiences across the metropolitan Phoenix area.

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

In 2025, more than 13,000 people attended a sold-out opening night and screenings at three Valley locations.

Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival artistic director Nyles Gradus joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss films included in the festival.

“There are a lot of attributes that can make up a Jewish film,” Gradus said. “It’s very subjective. In fact, we have a formula in how we select our films. It’s EV plus JC equals FF.”

The EV in the formula stands for entertainment value, with JC meaning Jewish connection. To place in the festival a film has to have a high entertainment value while equally having a strong Jewish connection, according to Gradus.

“Never in the history have we had a flop,” Gradus said, attributing this formula to that reason.

In 30 years, the festival board has screen over 1,200 films to narrow that number down to the 420 films that have been screened for audiences.

“You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy them,” Gradus said. “Most of the films have universal themes which should resinate and be meaningful to everybody. [They] should build bridges, inspire conversation, learn about culture, history and connections to one another.”

One of the films at this year’s festival, “Once Upon My Mother“, is based upon a real story about a mother in Paris set during the 1970s.

“She is a force to be reckoned with, in terms of maternal nurturing,” Gradus said. “She has a son who has a club foot and she fights tooth and nail to make sure that her son has every possibility to have a normal and fulfilling life.”

The films “I Had the Heart”, “The Ring” and the documentary “Everything’s Kosher” will be making their debuts. To find out more about these films and more visit the Greater Phoenix Film Festival’s website.