British-Jewish Life on Film

12A

A mixture of short docs and dramas which demonstrate the vitality and huge diversity of British Jewish life.

This year’s Pears dramas both deal with loss from an intergenerational perspective. Beshert, starring Anton Lesser, and set in a Leeds-based nursing home, is a tender story about a grumpy old man and his unlikely friendship with a reluctant Bar Mitzvah boy. Meanwhile, the wistful To Fly Or Float, which stars Ben Caplan and is set in Birmingham in during the Winter of Discontent explores grief through the eyes of a young orphan and her grieving uncle. Our five Dangoor Short Docs introduce us to an orthodox woman boxer, a Jewish tattoo artist, a leading British painter, an 89-year old man making Aliyah and an energetic group of Liverpudlian women who have known each other for fifty-five years and counting.

This year’s screenings also include The Innocents, which was commissioned by our friends at the Jewish Small Communities Network, which looks at the lives of Jewish communities in Lincoln and Norwich; two cities which are synonymous with Medieval Blood Libel. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll learn things you never knew… but more than anything, you’ll feel great pride.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Jason Solomons, Debra Tammer, Gary Enkin and Benjamin Till.