National Center for Jewish Film Festival

Join us for a vibrant program of new film premieres and rare archive treasures best experienced on the big screen! All screenings will be in person.

Highlights include new films from Israel, Germany,  Australia and Italy. And the New England premiere of our Center’s 35mm restoration of the Yiddish feature film Mothers of Today starring Esther Field, the 1930s radio personality known as the “Yiddishe Mama.”

Schedule:

7:00pm - The Plot Against Harry

Don’t miss this rare screening of one of cinema’s least known, singular showstoppers. Revealing too much of the plot of Michael Roemer’s 1969’s The Plot Against Harry would spoil all the fun, satire, and surprises.  All you need to know is that after a nine-month stint in prison, Harry Plotnick (Martin Priest), a New York racketeer, tries to regain his lost turf in a neighborhood much changed since he went inside. Harry’s life is complicated exponentially when he runs into his estranged ex-wife, grown children and ex-brother-in-law. What follows is a verité but slightly surreal world of Mafia barbecues, Kosher catering, call girls, bar mitzvahs, lingerie fashion shows, Cuban-Chinese mobsters, subway parties, and much more.

In 1969, writer-director Michael Roemer failed to find distribution for the film and it languished unseen until two decades later when Roemer overheard a technician laughing hysterically while making a video transfer of the film. Finally released in 1990, the film garnered critical acclaim and cult status.

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Date: May 12-21, 2024