FROM: JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER TOLEDO
Jewish Federation and Foundation of Greater Toledo will present its annual festival with five films June 30 through July 28 at Southview High School and Lourdes University Franciscan Theatre.
Highlights of the festival include a post film discussion with Adam Fried, star and director of “Everything’s Kosher” (Monday, July 21) and a closing night featured event welcoming special guests, Susan Feniger (celebrity chef and Toledo native) and Liz Lachman, to discuss their film, “Forked” (Monday, July 28). The Film Festival is dedicated to sharing with audiences excellent Jewish-themed films that are often only featured in larger cities.
To purchase tickets, call 419-724-0351, email sherry@jewishtoledo.org, or visit form.jotform.com/jewishtoledo/films2025. Tickets can also be purchased at the door. General Admission is $10 per person per film.
A series package, which includes all five showings, can also be purchased for $45. All pre-purchased tickets and passes will be available the day of each film. Concessions are included in the ticket price, and there is free parking available at both screening locations. For more information, contact Hallie Freed at 419-724-0362 or hallie@jewishtoledo.org. Large bags or backpacks will not be allowed at the showings.
“Bad Shabbos”
“Bad Shabbos” will be featured Monday, June 30, at 7 p.m. at the Southview High School auditorium, 7225 Sylvania, Ave., Sylvania. There will be a coffee bar, popcorn, candy, and take-home shabbat sets.
Soon after its Tribeca Audience Award win, this comedy transforms a tense Upper West Side Shabbat dinner into “an unhinged circus of chaos and calamity.” David (Jon Bass) and his fiancée Meg (Meghan Leathers), who is converting to Judaism, invite her devout Midwestern Catholic parents to meet his outspoken, sharp-tongued Jewish family for the first time. Already fraught, the evening takes a disastrous turn when a guest suffers a suspicious mishap in the bathroom—a seemingly unlucky accident that spirals into a frantic cover-up, pushing the dysfunctional household to its breaking point.
At the center of the chaos is David’s neurotic mother, Ellen (Kyra Sedgwick), whose peevish antagonism and relentless kvetching keep everyone on edge. His good-natured father, Richard (David Paymer), struggles to maintain order, but long-simmering sibling rivalries only add more fuel to the tribal fire. When the unsuspecting future in-laws finally arrive, the valiant doorman (Cliff “Method Man” Smith) steps in with ludicrously off-the-wall fixes, escalating the madness to new heights.
The run-time is 84 minutes and will be shown in English.
“Welcome to Yiddishland“
“Welcome to Yiddishland” will be shown Monday, July 7, at 7 p.m. at the Southview High School auditorium. There will be a coffee bar, popcorn, and candy.
“Welcome to Yiddishland” offers an exploration of a global community of artists rediscovering and revitalizing the endangered Yiddish language through progressive and provocative creative works. As one journeys through “Yiddishland” — not a homeland, but a heartland without borders — one travels across continents, from Melbourne to Berlin, New York to Haifa, meeting a diverse array of individuals who find solace, identity, and inspiration in Yiddish language and culture.
The bilingual film’s run-time is 96 minutes and will feature English and Yiddish.
“Midas Man“
“Midas Man” will be shown Monday, July 14, at 7 p.m., at the Southview High School auditorium. There will be a coffee bar, popcorn, and candy.
Set against the backdrop of 1960s London, this musical biopic explores the “genius and demons” of the trailblazing Jewish manager hailed as the “fifth Beatle.” Brian Epstein’s visionary efforts propelled The Beatles’ meteoric rise to global stardom, from smoky Liverpool clubs to dazzling performances that defined a generation. Amid the heady swirl of fame and ongoing cultural revolution, he navigated societal pressures, solitude, and the hidden struggles of life as a closeted gay man. Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Epstein delivers a raw, authentic depiction in this bittersweet portrait, blending mod-inspired visuals, an evocative soundtrack, and a sensitive exploration of the seismic shifts Epstein ignited—and the toll they exacted on him.
The run-time is 112 minutes and will be shown in English.
“Everything’s Kosher“
“Everything’s Kosher” will be shown Monday, July 21, at 7 p.m., at the Southview High School auditorium. There will be a coffee bar, popcorn, and a Bavarian pretzel and mustard bard. Special guest, director and star, Adam Fried will be in attendance for a post-film discussion.
In ”Everything’s Kosher”, Adam, a divorced Jewish father from Chicago, embarks on a heartfelt journey to fulfill a promise to his only daughter: never to abandon her. Settling in a small German town steeped in the shadows of antisemitism and Nazi history, he dreams of opening a Jewish deli to reconnect with his roots and forge new bonds within his community.
As he navigates the challenges of his new life, a painful rift with his estranged father, who abandoned the family decades before, weighs heavily on his soul. Determined to break the cycle of abandonment and heal old wounds, Adam travels from Germany to Chicago and finally to Cape Cod, where he confronts the man he hasn’t spoken to in forty years.
The run-time is 78 minutes and will be shown in English.
There will be a post-film discussion with special guest, director and star, Adam Fried
Adam Fried is a filmmaker known for his work on “The Walk” and “Everything’s Kosher”. His films often explore themes of identity and culture, blending humor and introspective storytelling. With an eye for detail and a unique perspective, Fried’s work has resonated with audiences and critics alike.
“Forked”
The feature, “Forked”, will be shown at Lourdes Franciscan Center, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania, on Monday, July 28, at 7 p.m. There will be a coffee bar, popcorn, and candy. Special guests Susan Feniger and Liz Lachman will join for a post-film discussion.
A verité style documentary following award-winning celebrity chef Susan Feniger on her first solo restaurant and her passionate struggle to bring global street food under one roof in the form of a new LA restaurant: STREET. Shot by her longtime filmmaker partner in Vietnam, Shanghai, and Los Angeles, featuring appearances by Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay, and Mary Sue Milliken, it’s a personal story of starting over and about not IF one fails… but HOW.
The run-time is 93 minutes and will be shown in English.
There will be a post-film discussion with special guests, Susan Feniger and Liz Lachman
Susan Feniger is an American chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, radio and TV personality. She is known for starring in the cooking show “Too Hot Tamales” and “Tamales World Tour” on the Food Network, “Iron Chef”, “Top Chef Masters”, “Cooking with the Master Chefs”, and more. She is a co-chair on the board of the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center and on the board of the Scleroderma Research Foundation. In 2018, Feniger and partner Mary Sue Milliken were named the recipients of the Julia Child Award from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts.
Liz Lachman is an Emmy Award winning musician, and a Golden Reel Award winning music editor. She is currently in development on the feature narrative psychological thriller, “Pin-Up”, which she wrote and will direct. As a writer, Liz has twice been a Quarter Finalist and a Top 15% in the Academy Nicholl Screenplay Competition, a semifinalist and quarter finalist in the PAGE Screenplay Awards and a semi-finalist in the Final Draft Screenplay Competition.
