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The 31st Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg (Jfbb), Germany’s largest Jewish film festival, unveiled its line-up Thursday, spotlighting independent features from Israel, the U.S. and Europe depicting Jewish narratives from a global perspective.

The festival kicks off May 6 with Daniel Robbins’ Bad Shabbos, a dark comedy centered on a chaotic New York Shabbat dinner, which premiered at Tribeca last year and features Kyra Sedgwick, David Paymer, and Method Man. Other feature highlights include Dani Rosenberg’s Of Dogs and Men, a docudrama revisiting the aftermath of October 7th, following a woman who returns to her kibbutz just weeks after the attacks in search of her missing dog; and Iveta Grófová’s The Hungarian Dressmaker, the story of a Hungarian widow, who hides a Jewish boy from a fascist militia, which was Slovakia’s official submission to the 2025 Oscars for best international feature.

Israeli cinema is well represented at the Jffb again this year,...

In 1942, Iveta Grófová’s film “The Hungarian Dressmaker” depicts Slovakia during World War II. The Slovak-Hungarian border region pulses with national tensions and political conflict. The Nazi-backed Slovak state creates an environment where personal identity crumbles under oppressive systems.

Marika, a widow with Hungarian roots, struggles after her dressmaking salon closes. Her life exists in a delicate balance until she encounters Šimon, a Jewish boy. By choosing to protect him during dangerous times, Marika transforms her vulnerable situation. Her choice introduces intense personal and political complexity to her world.

The film explores how individuals survive amid extreme social pressure, revealing the quiet courage of those who resist during dark historical moments. Marika’s protection of Šimon becomes an act of profound human connection against a backdrop of systemic violence and division.

Plot Overview: The Fragility of Survival in a Divided World

Grófová’s film centers on Marika, a widow in...

On Tuesday, the Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) announced its official 2025 lineup for the nearly two-week event that’s being held from Jan. 2 to Jan. 13.

The opening night movie will be Paramount Pictures’ “Better Man,” starring Robbie Williams and directed by Michael Gracey, which chronicles the pop star’s meteoric rise and dramatic fall. And the festival will close with Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Penguin Lessons,” starring Steve Coogan and directed by Peter Cattaneo, in the dramedy about a teacher whose life changes when he adopts a penguin. In all, Psiff will screen 158 films from 71 countries, including 68 premieres.

Artistic director Lili Rodriguez said, “Our lineup this year is truly something special. In true Psiff fashion, it spans genres and crosses borders to bring an exciting mix of films to the Coachella Valley. Over the past year, our Palm Springs International Film Festival team has carefully crafted a program that celebrates the art of storytelling,...

The Palm Springs International Film Festival is set to kick off on Jan. 2 with “Better Man,” directed by Michael Gracey, while the closing film on Jan. 12 will be “The Penguin Lessons,” directed by Peter Cattaneo.

The lineup will feature 35 of the international feature film Oscar submissions. Over 11 days, the festival will screen 158 films from 71 countries, including 68 premieres.

Also set are a focus on Spanish films including a spotlight on Pedro Almodóvar, and the return of sections such as New Voices New Visions, Modern Masters, Queer Cinema, Cine Latino, True Stories and World Cinema Now.

“Better Man” is based on the true story of the rise, fall and return of British musician Robbie Williams. Cattaneo will be in attendance for “The Penguin Lessons,” a dramedy about a schoolteacher in militaristic Argentina who rescues a penguin.

Several of the honorees from the Palm Springs International Film Awards are set to participate in the Talking Pictures screenings,...

There are 31 animated films, 85 international films and 169 documentaries competing in the 2024 Oscar races for Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature, the Academy announced on Thursday.

In the animated feature category, contenders include “Flow,” “Inside Out 2,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Piece by Piece,” “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rorhirrim,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” and “The Wild Robot.”

In the international category, the list includes “Emilia Perez,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” and “I’m Still Here.” The list of eligible films was reported exclusively by TheWrap in October.

In documentaries, the field includes “Sugarcane,” “Dahomey,” “No Other Land,” “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” “Black Box Diaries” and “Daughters,” among many others.

In all three categories, Academy members are given lists of films that are required viewing, but are eligible to view and vote for films outside their lists as...

The Hungarian Dressmaker, Slovakia’s official submission to the Academy Awards for best international feature film, is more apt than ever, says its director and writer, Iveta Grofova.

Through interpretation by translator Jakub Tlolka, the filmmaker shares her insight into spotlighting a specific part of political history with the World War II drama, which screened in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s main Crystal Globe competition and stars Alexandra Borbely. “I found it very important to highlight the subject again,” Grofova says during a recent THR Presents panel, powered by Vision Media. Marika (Borbely), a Hungarian widow dressmaker, shelters a Jewish boy in her home on the Slovak-Hungarian border. Adapted from Peter Kristufek’s book Emma and the Death’s Head, the movie takes place during the turbulent years of the Nazi-aligned Slovak state, forcing Slovakians to confront a dark era of their past that many, Grofova says, would prefer to forget.

Charlie McDowell’s The Summer Book starring Glenn Close and Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language Venice Golden Lion winner The Room Next Door starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton bookend the 37th AFI European Union Film Showcase.

Running December 4-22 at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Maryland, the showcase presents 54 features representing all 27 European Union member states including 12 international feature film Oscar submissions and six US premieres.

Besides the festival’s Finnish opener The Summer Book and Spanish closing night selection The Room Next Door, Brady Corbet’s Venice Silver Lion winner The Brutalist from Hungary starring Adrien Brody is the centrepiece selection.