January 23-February 2, 2025
18 Premiere Films Scheduled at the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse, and 9 at EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
1 USA Premiere, 11 Florida Premieres, 1 South Florida Premiere,6 Palm Beach County Premieres, & 8 North PB County Premieres
(West Palm Beach, FL – December 17, 2024) The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival© (SASIFF), presented by MorseLife, will launch its third season with screenings of 27 memorable, world class movies, including an audience-wowing assortment of comedies, dramas, and documentaries—every one a Premiere.
Over 11 days SASIFF will offer 1 USA Premiere, 11 Florida Premieres, 1 South Florida Premiere, 6 Palm Bech County Premieres, and 8 North Palm Beach County Premieres.
The Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse will host 18 Premieres (January 23-30) at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach 33401.
EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace will host 9 Premieres (January 31-February 2) at 14775 Lyons Road in Delray Beach 33446
USA Premiere
THE KISS
(Kysset)
(Historical Drama, 2022, USA Premiere. Directed by Bille August. Denmark, 116-minutes – In Danish with English subtitles)
Oscar-winning director August (Pelle The Conqueror) adapts Stefan Zweig’s best-selling novel Beware of Pity as THE KISS. In 1913 Denmark, as World War I is brewing, Anton (Esben Smed), an aristocratic but penniless cavalry officer helps Baron Lovenskjold (Lars Mikkelsen) out of a jam and earns a place as a favored guest at his castle. Attracted to the baron’s vivacious niece but showering solicitous attention on Edith, his beautiful wheelchair-bound daughter, Anton is soon caught in a trap of his own making when the grateful young heiress mistakes kindness for love. Demonstrating his signature talent for historical drama, August makes superb use of authentic Danish locations including the Ravnholt Estate and Lykkesholm Castle. Co-starring David Dencik and Clara Rosager.
Thursday, January 30 – 4 pm / The Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse
Florida Premiere
BUSHIDO
(Gobangiri)
(Historical Drama, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Kazuya Shiraishi. Japan, 129-minutes – In Japanese with English subtitles)
This reinvented samurai tale set in feudal Japan is steeped in history and the samurai code, and offers wrenching family sacrifice, dastardly betrayal, thrilling swordplay, and a look at the strategies of the chess-like Japanese board game of Go. A widowed samurai unjustly disgraced and ejected from his clan through the betrayal of a jealous rival lives in obscurity. Eking out a living as a humble craftsman, his masterful skill at the game of Go brings him unwanted attention. Once more the target of a false accusation, he is forced to defend his honor and save his daughter. Co-starring Masachika Ischimura and Kaya Kiyohara. “A profound exploration of feudal Japan… a must-see for longtime fans of samurai cinema”—Movie Pulse.
Sunday, February 2 – 4 pm / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
ETERNAL YOU
(Documentary, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck. Germany/USA, 87-minutes – In English and Korean with English subtitles)
This is an incisive look at the ways artificial intelligence technology is transforming the ways humans deal with death. A new industry offers the tempting opportunity to allegedly communicate with deceased loved ones by way of an avatar that appears to channel their voices, current thoughts, emotions and memories. In uncanny and increasingly unsettling encounters, including with the mom who would go to any lengths to again hug her dead child, the filmmakers survey the startling and sometimes shocking experiences of users. Interviews with multiple developers of the technology skirt around the ethical implications while eagerly plunging into the future. “This thought-provoking and bang-up-to-the-minute documentary explores a morally questionable use of AI… on the knife-edge between thrilling innovation and cynical recklessness” – The Guardian.
Friday, January 31 – 4 pm / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
FIRST CASE
(Drama, 2023, Florida Premiere. Directed by Victoria Musiedlak. France, 98-minutes – In French with English subtitles)
This is a thrillingly tangled web of ethical dilemmas and necessary lies, all held together by the glue of eroticism and the dark lure of the forbidden. Nora, a newly minted lawyer straight out of law school, is assigned to defend a 19-year-old accused of kidnapping and murder. Running interference with the brutally aggressive cop who is handling the interrogation, she soon finds herself as frighteningly stranded in unknown territory as the boy she is representing. Nora’s vulnerability leaves her wide open to the bold sexual advances of her nemesis, who sees her inexperience as his advantage. “Never a dull moment, and certainly no easy answers in this stunning first feature”—Filmuforia.
Friday, January 31 – 1 pm / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
THE FRENCH ITALIAN
(Comedy, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Rachel Wolther. USA, 92-minutes)
The Closing Night Film of SASIFF 2025. A white lie about a plate of cookies is the first tipoff to the flexible ethics of 30-something Manhattan hipsters Valerie (Catherine Cohen) and Doug (Aristotle Athari). Trouble brews in the haven of their Upper West Side rent-controlled apartment when horrendous noise from below begins to punctuate their days. Rather than confronting the couple downstairs, the pair plan to trap their neighbor’s actress girlfriend with a complex revenge scheme involving auditions and rehearsals for a non-existent play. Spinning a comic clash of New York types and lifestyles, director/co-writer Wolther escalates the action to the tipping point of a fake opening night, where Emmy-nominated comedian Ikechukwu Ufomadu manages to steal the show in a tour de force performance. Co-starring Chloe Cherry. “The funniest New York movie in years”—The Daily Beast.
Actor Ikechukwu “Ike” Ufomadu will be present for audience discussion.
Sunday, February 2 – 7 pm / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
HOLY COW
(Vingt Dieux)
(Drama/Comedy, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Louise Courvoisier. France, 90-minutes – In French with English subtitles)
Winner of the Youth Prize at the 2024 Cannes International Film Festival, HOLY COW is a rough and ready coming of age film with a foodie angle, set in the Jura region of France, renowned for its famed Comté cheese and hearty cuisine. Totone (Clément Faveau), a rude red-haired rascal, is forced by a tragedy to become guardian of his little sister and the failing family farm. The making and maturation of the cheese serves as an apt metaphor for the trajectory of the story and its zesty romance. A competition for best Comté cheese is a crafty strategy for giving viewers a fascinating glimpse of a little-known aspect of French country culture. “A joyful, earthy coming-of-age film about one of the most important things in life: good food”—Filmuforia.
Saturday, February 1 – 7 pm / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
HOUSEWIFE OF THE YEAR
(Documentary, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Cierán Cassidy. Ireland, 77-minutes)
Winner of Best Irish Feature Documentary at the 2024 Galway Film Fleadh. From 1968 to 1995, Irish television annually featured the “Housewife of the Year” contest in which mostly-middle-aged mothers of many children competed for the crown and sash and the grand prize of a gas range after demonstrating their skill in household arts including preparing a simple meal. Scenes from the show’s history range from humorously kitsch to shockingly sad, revealing a life with parameters strictly proscribed by society and the Catholic church, and in which motherhood was not optional. The film’s present-day encounters with surviving winners revive mixed memories while delving into once-forbidden subjects including virginity and marriage, unwed motherhood, contraception and husbands wedded to the pub.
Saturday, January 25 – 1 pm / The Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse
JULIE KEEPS QUIET
(Drama, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Leonardo Van Dijl. Belgium/Sweden, 100-minutes – In Dutch and French with English subtitles)
The official Belgian submission for 2025 Oscar consideration, in this coming-of-age film a scandal rocks an elite tennis academy where a popular coach is suspended under suspicion of sexually grooming his teen proteges. News of the suicide of one of them breaks and all eyes are on Julie, the young rising star long perceived to be his favorite. While not primarily a sports film, the vigorous and beautifully shot match sequences provide an apt metaphor for a conflict that plays out wrenchingly in Julie’s head. First-time actress and real-life tennis champ Tessa Van den Broeck turns in a remarkable performance as the talented but isolated young woman struggling with conflicting loyalties and a guilty secret as her future hangs in the balance. Co-starring Pierre Gervais. “A riveting psychological drama, slow burn intensity”—The Hollywood Reporter
Sunday, January 26 – 4 pm / The Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse
LIZA: A TRULY TERRIFIC AND ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY
(Documentary / 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Bruce David Klein. USA, 104-minutes)
The Opening Night Screening of The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival©, presented by MorseLife. One film is barely enough to encompass all the facets of the glittery life and career of Liza Minnelli, but director Klein pulls it off with many a humorously bossy aside from the Oscar-winning Cabaret star herself. This portrait puts the emphasis on a lifetime of meaningful relationships with mentors including Kay Thompson, Bob Fosse, and Halston as young Liza emerges from the shadow of her famous father, film director Vincente Minnelli, and her legendary mother Judy Garland to become one of the most extraordinary artists of our time. Appearances by friends and collaborators include Mia Farrow, the late Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, George Hamilton, and with running commentary by musician Michael Feinstein pulling it all together with his usual flair. “A gorgeous portrait of a legendary showbiz survivor, warmly celebratory but also unquestionably authentic”—The Hollywood Reporter
Note: Director Bruce David Klein will appear and answer questions at the Festival’s Opening Night screening.
Thursday, January 23 – 7:30 pm / Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse
THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN
(Drama, 2023, Florida Premiere. Directed by Pat Collins. Ireland, UK, 111-minutes)
Seasoned documentary filmmaker Collins (Song of Granite), whose earlier work has explored disappearing aspects of Irish culture, turns to fiction with this adaptation of John McGahern’s novel. Joe (Barry Ward) and Kate (Anna Bederke) abandon trendy London careers for a quiet life in the Irish countryside where Joe was born and where the seasons rule the rhythm of their days. The locals regard them with suspicion, especially when they aren’t seen at the village church. Collins delves deep for the old stories of belonging, departure and return. The cast includes veteran actors of the Irish stage and screen, including Lalor Roddy, Ruth McCabe, Brendan Conroy, Seán McGinley, and more. Best Film, 2024 Irish Film and Television Awards. “The Emerald Isle has rarely looked greener”—Eye for Film.
Monday, January 27 – 7 pm / The Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse
THERE’S STILL TOMORROW
(Comedy/Drama, 2023, Florida Premiere. Directed by Paola Cortellesi. Italy, 118-minutes – In Italian with English subtitles)
Shot in black-and-white with a look that mimics the style of Italian Neorealism by Cortellisi, a multitalented popular star who cast herself as a longsuffering working-class wife and mother in mid-1940s Rome. This dark comedy riffs on the stereotypical image of a family under the thumb of a tyrannical father and irascible grandfather, with domestic violence staged for rueful laughs, but the wife just may have the last laugh when she receives a mysterious letter that holds the earth-shaking promise of change. Special Jury Award, Audience Award, 2024 Rome Film Festival. “With some nail-biting suspense…this is storytelling with terrific confidence and panache”—The Guardian.
Friday, January 31 – 7 pm / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
YASMEEN’S ELEMENT
(Drama, 2024, Florida Premiere. Directed by Amman Abbasi. USA, Pakistan, Portugal, 76-minutes – In Urdu with English subtitles)
The beauty of northern Pakistan’s mountainous Hunza Valley region is the breathtaking backdrop to this colorful tale of an earnest child’s pursuit of her lost homework assignment, unaware that the Taliban is enacting a restrictive new plan for her future in her very own village. Loosely adapted from journalist Jeffrey E. Stern’s nonfiction book The Last Thousand, this drama follows Yasmeen, a lively 12-year-old eager student in search of her teacher’s home and encountering baffled neighbors, preoccupied medical workers, and men dismissive of her mission. The film’s allegorical aspect is subtle yet ultimately clear when the next school day dawns for Yasmeen and her friends. Starring Eshal Fatima. “An enthralling escapade… transfixing”—IndieWire.
Wednesday, January 29 – 4 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
South Florida Premiere
BROKEN DOLLS
(Documentary / Jewish, 2023, South Florida Premiere. Directed by Tracy Whipple and Gilles Bovon. USA, 82-minutes)
A mother’s obscured past become a daughter’s call to action in reconstructing a history altered by the Holocaust. In 1939, a mysterious benefactor enables a seven-year-old Jewish girl and her mother to escape Nazi Germany on a ship for Shanghai, where they face deprivation and an uncertain future. In the Jewish Ghetto of the international Chinese city, the child spends a decade reinventing herself. Decades later, now herself a mother with an established life in Florida, she comes full circle, seeking to lay claim to her past. In the complex quest to reclaim her German citizenship, the discovery of a shocking secret adds a new perspective to her life story.
Note: Director Tracy Whipple will be present for audience discussion.
Sunday, February 2 – 1 pm / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
Palm Beach County Premiere
DAYS OF HAPPINESS
(Les Jours Heureaux)
(Drama / LGBTQ+, 2023, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Chloe Robichaud. Canada, 118-minutes – In French with English subtitles)
The privileged world of classical music is the setting for drama on and off the concert stage as a young rising star conductor played by Sophie Desmarais makes a misstep that may put her dream of a prestigious new job in peril. A controversial program for the final concert of her residency triggers a fraught confrontation with her personal demons, including her relationships with her controlling father/manager and her lesbian lover. Desmarais was coached by conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kensho Watanabe, and Nicolas Ellis to master her conducting movements. The film’s soaring music includes pieces by Mozart, Schoenberg, and Mahler. “An effective (and affecting) drama that boasts a spellbinding performance at its core”—Reel Film Reviews
Friday, January 24 – 1 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
EX-HUSBANDS
(Drama/Comedy, 20234, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Noah Pritzker. USA, 98-minutes)
Griffin Dunne (After Hours, An American Werewolf in London) leads a predominantly male ensemble cast in a wryly humorous tale revolving around questions of women and the lack thereof. There’s a straight line drawn between soon-to-be-married and soon-to-be-ex for three generations of men in the Pearce family. Elderly patriarch Simon (Richard Benjamin) has recently exited a 65-year union; grandson Nick is heading for the altar with a load of doubts, and the marriage of father-of-the-groom Peter (Dunne) is in the rearview mirror. Nick and pals head for a stag weekend in a Mexican resort, where Peter shows up as the uninvited guest. Soul-searching starts at the bottom of a glass for this gang and romance may be on the menu for Peter. Rosanna Arquette co-stars. “Dunne is the main event with his charming portrayal”—Eye for Film.
Sunday, January 26 – 7 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
MY SUNSHINE
(Boku No Ohisama)
(Drama / LGBTQ+, 2024, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Hiroshi Okuyama. Japan, 100-minutes – In Japanese with English subtitles)
The enduring appeal of ice-dancing casts a spell over a film steeped in the bittersweet nostalgia of first love. Set at a small-town skating rink in picturesquely wintry Hokkaido, Japan, the film starring Keitatsu Koshiyama and Kiara Takanashi sets up a delicate triangle of association between two young skaters and their coach, with emotional fallout for all three. For Takuya, a bullied loner, it’s love at first sight when he spies Sakura, a girl his own age gliding and twirling to the strains of Claire de Lune. The coach senses the chance to recruit an ice-dancing partner for his most talented protege. Unrequited adolescent crushes have unforeseen consequences, however, when Sakura begins to understand that the handsome coach she dreams of is gay. “Profoundly moving”—RobertEbert.com.
Saturday, February 1 – 1 pm / EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
TROLL STORM
(Documentary / Jewish, 2023, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Eunice Law. USA, 83-minutes)
A Montana realtor’s win in a groundbreaking First Amendment court case that struck a blow to white supremacy and neo-Nazism is charted in this searing documentary. Tanya Gersh, a wife, mom, and successful businesswoman, becomes the target of a smear campaign initially launched by a neighbor. Outsider far-right extremists jump into the act, sensing an opportunity for grandstanding their antisemitic agenda. Gersh’s contact information and location is released nationally in a hate publication, resulting in a cyber storm of death threats and harassment that cause the family to fear for their safety. Steeled by a knowledge of history and a sense of solidarity with Holocaust survivors, Gersh digs in and chooses to fight back.
Note: Tanya Gersh will be present for audience discussion.
Wednesday, January 29 – 7 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
(Un Langue Universelle)
(Comedy, 2024, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Matthew Rankin. Canada, 89-minutes – In Persian and French with English subtitles)
Winner of the first-ever Directors Fortnight Audience Award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, and Canada’s official submission for the upcoming Oscar competition, UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE casts a strange comic spell in a lovingly bizarre tribute to Iranian cinema. In the surreal alternative universe of director Rankin, set in a time warp that weirdly resembles 1980s Canada, Persian is now the national language. A dweeby bureaucrat quits his government job and heads home to Winnipeg, bastion of prize-winning turkeys, abandoned monuments and Tim Horton’s shops serving tea from samovars. Asides, subplots and scores of delightful sight gags make this one of the most original and unforgettable films of the year. “A magnificent film, one that feels warm and familiar even as we realize just how startlingly original it is” – New York Magazine.
Saturday, February 1 – 4 pm /EVO Entertainment Delray Marketplace
WILD DIAMOND
(Diamant Brut)
(Drama, 2024, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Agathe Riedinger. France, 103-minutes – In French with English subtitles)
Selected to compete for the Palm d’Or in the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, WILD DIAMOND represents a daring new generation of go-for-broke French female directors. Liane (Malou Khébizi), a working-class teen in the south of France, lives for social media and aspires to Kardashian glitz styled from tawdry shoplifted booty. Although her online persona is brash and cartoonishly sexy, Liane is paradoxically an innocent, never more so than when she is led on by the scout for a TV reality show in search of new talent. Writer/director Riedinger poignantly creates a unique portrait of a wannabe influencer hungry for the endless fame of the internet. “A startling bold and true French drama.. the audience feels blessed by the arrival of a filmmaker this accomplished”—Variety.
Tuesday, January 28 – 4 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
North Palm Beach County Premiere
AUCTION
(Le Tableau Volé)
(Drama, 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Pascal Bonitzer. France, 91-minutes – In French, English, and German with English subtitles)
The issue of the return of Nazi-looted art to its rightful heirs makes this high-stakes art world drama as current as international headlines. A wily Paris art auctioneer gets wind of an alleged Egon Schiele painting stolen in 1939 but now come to light in a small working-class suburb. Writer/director Bonitzer creates a web of intrigue in which money over morals threatens to prevail. Worth millions if authentic, the painting triggers fevered ambition on the part of the auctioneer, his ruthless art appraiser ex-wife, and his emotionally unstable assistant. Between the auction house and the American heirs of the painting’s original owners stands a naïve and earnest young factory worker, the painting’s current owner. Co-starring Alex Lutz, Louise Chevilotte, Léa Drucker. “A ripped-from-the-headlines ensemble drama set in the crosshairs of art and high finance”—Variety.
Saturday, January 25 – 4 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
BAD SHABBOS
(Comedy / Jewish, 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Daniel Robbins. USA, 84-minutes)
The Centerpiece Night of SASIFF presents the Audience Award winner at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. This funny film showcases family dysfunction, religious disparity and sibling rivalry when a family on the Upper West Side invite the Midwestern Catholic family of their eldest son’s fiancée to a Shabbos dinner for a first social blending of the clans. With tensions simmering, kosher klutziness and a prank gone wrong set the scene for chaos. By the time that there’s a dead body on the bathroom floor it starts to look like Agatha Christie-meets-Woody Allen. Kyra Sedgwick is a quirky standout as an obsessive matriarch, and Cliff “Method Mad” Smith of Wu Tang Clan excels as a helpful doorman. “One of the funniest movies films ever to take place during a Shabbos dinner”—Solzy at the Movies.
Thursday, January 30 – 7 pm / The Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse
THE GLORY OF LIFE
(Die Herrlichkeit Des Lebens)
(Historical Drama / Jewish, 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Judith Kaufmann and Georg Maas. Germany/Austria, 98-minutes – In German with English subtitles)
A tender love story with Franz Kafka at the center would seem to run counter to the popular image of the author of such deeply paranoid works as The Metamorphosis and The Trial as a solitary, alienated man. For the filmmakers of THE GLORY OF LIFE, that is precisely the point as this bittersweet tragic tale unfolds the loving and life-affirming relationship between 40-year-old Kafka, already in poor health with tuberculosis, and Dora Diamant, the young children’s caregiver he meets in 1923. From the early days of their passionate attraction through a forced separation and a final reuniting in wintry Berlin, love, faith and humor come to the fore with a lightness that puts Kafka’s personal story in a new perspective. Co-starring Sabin Tabrea and Henriette Confurius.
Saturday, January 25 – 7 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
MIDAS MAN
(Musical Biopic of The Beatles / 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Joe Stephenson. UK, 112-minutes)
Often called “the Fifth Beatle,” manager/impresario Brian Epstein burned brightly as the man who catapulted the Fab Four to international fame then tragically died at 32. This brisk and wonderfully evocative film is a fictionalized capsule of early Beatles history from Liverpool’s grungy Cavern Club to the flower-power years, set against the background of Epstein’s short life. Jewish, closeted gay, and energized by the rocking tunes of the underground culture, Epstein (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) talks his way into managing the band of four scruffy lads. Also starring Emily Watson, Eddie Izzard, and Jay Leno as Ed Sullivan, MIDAS MAN brings to life one beloved chapter in the rock ‘n’ roll story with color and spirit, underlining the toll success took on the man who made it happen.
Friday, January 24 – 7 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
NEVER ALONE
(El Koskaan Yskin)
(Drama / Jewish, 2025, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Klaus Härö. Finland, 85-minues – In Swedish, Yiddish, Russian, Hebrew, English, Finnish, and German with English subtitles.)
Many heroes of Jewish resistance to the Nazis are still relatively unknown decades after WWII. In the hands of director Härö (The Fencer), the story of a risky maneuver by Jewish Helsinki businessman Abraham Stiller to save the lives of eight refugees comes to the screen with immense heart and impressive period veracity. Even as Finland appeared to be a haven for Jews fleeing the Nazis, the government forms an alliance with Nazi Germany against Russia. Stiller, wealthy, respected, and well-connected in political circles, calls in every favor and puts his life, reputation and business on the line to mount a clandestine mission to save the eight Jewish men scheduled for deportation to a death camp. Co-starring Ville Virtane and Karl Hietalahti.
Tuesday, January 28 – 7 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
OF DOGS AND MEN
(Al Klavim Veanashim)
(Drama / Jewish, 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Dani Rosenberg. Israel, Italy, 82-minutes – In Hebrew with English subtitles)
Following the October 7 attacks, Israeli director Rosenberg (The Vanishing Soldier) felt compelled to process the emotions and the pain by making a film. Operating from a fictional framework but within the total reality of place, 16-year-old Dar (Ori Avinoam, the production’s only professional actor) travels to the ravaged Nir Oz Kibbutz within sight of the border in search of her lost dog. The missing dog stands in for many things that cannot be spoken of, including the disappearance of Dar’s mother. The girl’s many encounters include soldiers, an outspoken taxi driver, an 80-year-old kibbutz resident, and a woman who rescues abandoned pets. All are real non-actors whose presence and participation put a complex human face on the tragedy. Co-starring Yamit Avital. “A sober attempt to address the unthinkable, avoiding intrusiveness and sensationalism”—Screen Daily.
Monday, January 27 – 4 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
PINK LADY
(Drama / Jewish, LGBTQ+, 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Nir Bergman. Israel, Italy, 106-minutes – In Hebrew with English subtitles)
Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox community is the setting for this story of a marriage in crisis when the husband’s secret desires are outed by criminals intent on blackmail. Bati (Nur Fibak), a mother of three happily married to devout and seriously observant Lazer (Uri Blufarb) receives a mysterious envelope in the mail containing graphic photos of her husband kissing another man. Amid denials and flimsy claims of Photoshopping, Bati takes a new look at her man. An unexpected encounter with a very unusual woman causes her to take a fresh look at herself. The film opens a Pandora’s Box of issues: Orthodox family values, homosexuality and conversion therapy.
Friday, January 24 – 4 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
YANIV
(Comedy/Jewish, 2024, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Ammon Carmi. USA, 80-minutes)
Consider a Bronx high school drama teacher getting around budget cuts by funding the school’s spring musical with illegal gambling loot. That’s the wacky plot premise cooked up by writer/director Carmi and co-writer/actor Benjamin Ducoff, a real-life NYC high school teacher. Desperate for funding, the teacher gets tipped off to a high-stakes underground gambling ring where Yaniv, “the Blackjack of the Jewish people,” is the game of choice. The catch? The secret basement nightclub is run by and for a tight-knit group of Hasidic men, and the teacher and his pal don’t have a ghost of a chance at passing, until…they don Orthodox disguises complete with fake beards, and it is game on. Co-starring Annabelle Steven. “A fun and funny thriller with a lot of heart”—FilmThreat.
Sunday, January 26 – 1 pm / The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
For more information about the SASIFF or to purchase tickets, please visit www.sasiff.org.
About The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival:
The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival©, presented by MorseLife, aims to bring highly anticipated, critically acclaimed, and thought-provoking films to Palm Beach County. As a world-class film festival, The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International represents a major contribution to the cultural life of Palm Beach County. SASIFF returns for a new season with screenings at the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (Jan. 23-Jan. 30, 2025) and EVO Entertainment Delray (Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2025). For more information, please visit www.sasiff.org, www.facebook.com/DME.SASIFF and www.twitter.com/dmesasiff or www.instagram.com/dme_sasiff or contact [email protected] or 561.220.6735.
About MorseLife:
MorseLife serves more than 3,600 seniors every day on its campus in West Palm Beach and through its community outreach programs. Founded in 1983, MorseLife is a provider of health care and residential services for seniors in Palm Beach County. A charitable, not-for-profit organization, its programs also include short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, independent and assisted living, memory care assisted living, hospice, home health care, care management, meals-on-wheels, and PACE. Since its beginnings, MorseLife has built a reputation and tradition of caring for seniors with excellence, dignity, and compassion. For more information, visit morselife.org, www.facebook.com/MorseLife, www.twitter.com/MorseLifeHealth, www.instagram.com/morselifehealth or www.linkedin.com/company/morselife-inc-/ or contact [email protected].
Directed by Bille August
Nordisk Film Production
Photo Credit Rolf Konow
(Photos Courtesy of Sun & Stars International Film Festival /
Photo Credit: Rolf Konow)
- THE KISS – January 30 / USA Premiere – Pix