The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is celebrating one of its biggest years yet kicking off its 20th anniversary from February 10 to February 27, and we have your sneak peek at the first films announced!
This first look includes six feature films with one Georgia-based short, directed by two local Atlantans. This is just a small piece of what’s to come with over 60 narrative and documentary titles that will eventually be revealed in the complete lineup.
Descriptions of the first few films are below with the remaining list here. The full lineup and official schedule will be announced on Friday, January 10 and tickets will go on sale via AJFF.org beginning Monday, January 27. We’ll see you at the movies!
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
Southeast Premiere
Documentary • USA • 94 minutes
A mesmerizing and unflinching look at the closeted, conservative lawyer and influential political fixer, Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn searches for the human being lurking behind the reviled Machiavellian persona. A ruthless and unscrupulous power broker in the rough and tumble world of New York City business and politics, Roy Cohn is best known for being chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Communist-hunting hearings and later molding the career of future president Donald J. Trump. A self-hating Jew who adamantly denied his homosexuality, this flamboyant personality and courtroom pit bull is revealed as an icon of a deeply troubled America. Featured interviews include attorney Alan Dershowitz, playwright Tony Kushner, actor Nathan Lane, filmmaker John Waters and gossip columnist Cindy Adams. Directed by the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed for espionage largely through Cohn’s efforts, this interrogatory and anecdotally revealing work is bolstered by recently unearthed archival video and audio material. Screened at the New York Film Festival.
The Glass Room
North American Premiere
Narrative • Czech Republic, Slovakia • 97 minutes
In this erotic love story spanning the most dramatic events of the 20th century, The Glass Room charts the war-torn saga of Czech newlyweds whose iconic modernist family home is a paean to both their greatest hopes and darkest secrets. Wealthy Jewish industrialist Viktor Landauer (Claes Bang) and his gentile wife Liesel (Hanna Alström) are filled with optimism as they build their dream home, a crystalline architectural masterpiece representing the optimism and cultural vibrancy of post-WWI central Europe. As the idealism of the 1930s evaporates under the forces of Nazi barbarism, Viktor searches for comfort in the arms of a young refugee woman, while Liesel’s flirtatious friendship with the sensual, mischievous Hana (Carice Van Houten) simmers with passion. Fleeing the Nazi onslaught, the Landauers struggle for survival abroad, while their home slips from Czech to Nazi to Soviet possession and finally as property of the Community Party, until Liesel and Hana are finally drawn back to where their story began. The Glass Room is based on the bestselling Simon Mawer novel and filmed on-location at the breathtaking Villa Tugendhat in the eastern province of Moravia. Screening at the UK Jewish Film Festival.
No Pork on a Fork
World Premiere
Short • USA • 23 minutes
A mouthwatering and often humorous behind the scenes look at the Atlanta Kosher BBQ Festival.
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