Chelsea Film Festival Spotlights TV Series and Films by Israeli, Jewish Directors
by Shiryn Ghermezian
A promotional photo of the film “His Death.” Photo: Chelsea Film Festival.
The internationally-focused Chelsea Film Festival (CFF) will feature a range of works directed by Israeli and Jewish directors this month, among the 141 films from 21 countries presented.
The Yiddish-language short film “His Death,” from director Avishai Sivan, is about a secular Jew named Noah who gathers with his Haredi siblings in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim for the first time in years, to hear the written will of the family’s recently deceased patriarch.
Another showing is the documentary “The United States of Fashion: Designer Elie Tahari,” by Moroccan-Jewish director and producer David Serero. It explores the life of the Jewish designer and mogul, and how he built a billion-dollar fashion empire.
The documentary won the award for “Best Director on a Documentary” by the Berlin Indie Film Festival, “Best Producer Award” by the Eastern Europe International Movie Awards and received an Honorable Mention at the London International Film Festival.
Running from October 14-17, the CFF will also showcase the pilot episode of the English-language TV series “Stuck!” from Israeli director Omri Anghel. The show is about how “an oddball, a hothead, and a former child star become unlikely friends as they band together to fight for their shared dream of becoming actors as they discover that it really is about the long ass journey, not the destination,” according to the film festival.
In addition, the 9th-annual CFF will present “Surviving on LES,” a full-length English-language comedy about New York City’s Lower East Side, directed by Anthony Amatullo. The film follows three Lower East Side stalwarts — 60-year-old Jewish Orthodox store owner Sammy Markowitz, his sales associate and store manager — as they try to adapt to gentrification and cultural changes in the neighborhood.
CFF will be held both in-person at Regal Theatres on 14th St. in New York City and virtually on FilmFestival+, which is also accessible through Apple TV.
