HJFF: An Afternoon of Shorts

Featuring film historian, Eric Goldman, providing introductions and context to each short, along with a performance on piano.

Anne
Directed by Desirée Abeyta
USA, 2021, 10 minutes
Language
English
Genre
Drama

Two actresses, one Black and one white, audition to play Anne Frank, prompting the question: Who is best suited for the role?

Ibach
Directed by Rachel Weinberg
USA, 2022, 8 minutes
Language
English
Genre
Documentary

An Ibach piano that escaped the Holocaust reveals its untold history as it is restored four generations later.

The Violin Upstairs
Directed by Asali Echols
USA, 2019, 3 minutes
Language
English
Genre
Documentary

The Violin Upstairs charts the true history of the filmmaker’s violin, from its birth in 18th-century Austria, to its existence in modern day San Francisco.

The Tailor
Directed by Gordon Grinberg
USA, 2010, 7 minutes
Language
English
Genre
Drama

Culture and confusion meet on a Brooklyn Street, in this hilariously charming reconstruction of a Borscht Belt joke.

Minyan Duty
Directed by Ivan Kander
USA, 2022, 14 minutes
Language
English
Genre
Drama

Hoping to say Kaddish after their mother’s death, Leah and Ariel find themselves one person short of making a Minyan.

Underwritten by Mitzi Shure & Jerry Wische 

Eric Goldman is a noted film historian and educator who lectures on Jewish, Yiddish, and Israeli cinema. Goldman is adjunct professor of cinema at Yeshiva University and founder of Ergo Media, a distributor of Jewish, Yiddish and Israeli cinema. His most recent book is The American Jewish Story through Cinema, and he is currently writing a book on Israeli society through the
lens of film.