March signals the start of spring — and the return of the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival for a 31st year. From March 15–26, the festival will feature moving documentaries, gripping historical and romantic dramas, sharp-witted dramedies and crowd-pleasing comedies from around the globe, including Israel.
“The film festival itself is a fantastic tapestry of documentaries, dramas and comedies,” said John Wilson, director of cultural arts at the Jewish Community Center of St. Louis. “Joshua Malina, who was just in St. Louis in November for the St. Louis Book Festival and Speaker Series, will now show up on our silver screen in his brand-new comedy, ‘Ethan Bloom.’ We also have all our films thematically linked to specific days.”
The festival returns to B&B Theatres Creve Coeur West Olive, home to last year’s festival. New this year, however, is an additional venue: the Alamo Drafthouse at the Foundry in St. Louis, which will host a screening of “Vindicta.” The film will also receive a second showing at B&B.
“It’s been my ambition to expand our viewer attendance since I arrived three years ago,” Wilson said. “In line with that vision came establishing our new home at the wonderful B&B Theatres. The next phase in this vision was taking our festival ‘on the road’ and literally expanding into new communities.
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“So, we’re dipping our toe into new possibilities by partnering with the Alamo Drafthouse at the Foundry to share one of our festival films with our midtown neighbors. The plan is to continue to expand (with more films at Alamo), but also in future festivals to find other sites that broaden our JFF family.”
The films are carefully chosen by a screening committee, and this year’s committee chair is Sue Koritz.
“This year’s festival has something for everyone in our community: young, older, Jewish and non-Jewish,” Koritz said. “Half of the films are in English, and the rest have easy-to-read English subtitles. They run from the humorous ‘Ethan Bloom,’ to the shocking true documentary ‘The Tasters,’ to the heartwarming ‘Once Upon My Mother’ and everything in between.”
Wilson said the selection committee screens nearly 80 films each year. By the time it narrows the field to the final dozen, members are confident they are presenting six days of exceptional cinema to the community, he said.
The festival will host a preview event screening of the documentary “Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness” on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center near Creve Coeur. The film is about a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania in 1939 who helped Jewish refugees flee to Japan to escape the Nazis.
It will be followed by a talk from one of its award-winning producers, Diane Estelle Vicari. Before the screening, St. Louis Osuwa Taiko will perform traditional Japanese taiko drumming.
The program also aligns with the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum’s special exhibition “Resilience,” on view through April, which examines Executive Order 9066 and the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
The festival opens Sunday, March 15, with “Memory and Moral Reckoning,” a two-film program featuring the documentary “For the Living” at 3 p.m. and the narrative feature “Nuremberg” at 7 p.m. An Opening Night buffet reception, open to ticket holders for either screening, will be held between the films.
“In the afternoon, we are showing ‘For the Living,’ a moving true story about 250 cyclists who retrace the liberation route of a Holocaust survivor from Auschwitz-Birkenau to Kraków,” Koritz said, noting that a discussion will follow with the film’s producer and co-director.
“Nuremberg” stars Russell Crowe as Hermann Goring and Rami Malek as psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, who evaluated Nazi leaders before the trials began.
The festival continues March 17 with “Bearing Witness, Choosing Courage,” featuring the documentary “Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire” at 3 p.m. and the Spanish WWII drama “Frontier” at 7 p.m.
“Elie Wiesel” offers an in-depth look at the writer and moral voice, often in his own words. A Q&A will follow with Dr. Erin McGlothlin, the Gloria M. Goldstein Professor of Holocaust Studies at Washington University, who appears briefly in the film.
“Frontier,” presented in Spanish with English subtitles, tells the true story of a Spanish customs officer in 1943 who quietly helped Jewish refugees flee Nazi-occupied France, defying orders from Spain’s fascist regime with the support of his village.
The searing historical drama “Vindicta,” in English, will be shown March 18 at 7 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse at the Foundry in St. Louis. The film centers on a young Jewish woman who witnesses the killing of her parents by Nazis but escapes and goes into hiding, secretly embarking on a plan of vengeance.
“Vindicta” will be repeated March 19 at 7 p.m. at the B&B, part of the day’s theme “Women Under the Reich,” which also features “The Tasters” at 3 p.m. “The Tasters” is an Italian historical drama in German with English subtitles, inspired by a true story, about women who were forced to be food tasters for Hitler.
On March 22, the theme is “Love, Legacy & Moral Choice,” with the French historical drama “The Pianist’s Choice” at 3 p.m. and Israel’s “The Ring” at 7 p.m. “The Pianist’s Choice,” in French and German with English subtitles, is a tale of love and loss for a gifted pianist, set against a backdrop of the rise of the Nazis in Germany and the occupation of France. “The Ring,” in Hebrew with English subtitles, begins with the discovery of a ring, which reveals a long-hidden family secret.
“Family, Faith & Finding Yourself” takes the screen March 24, with the French-Canadian film “Once Upon My Mother” at 7 p.m. and the English-language comedy “Ethan Bloom” at 3 p.m.
In “Ethan Bloom,” Molina plays the indulgent father of a 13-year-old Jewish boy in a farcical coming-of-age story that explores grief and family.
“Once Upon My Mother” is a humorous, ultimately heartwarming adaptation of a memoir about a boy born with a clubfoot and the unstoppable Moroccan Sephardic Jewish mother determined to give him a full, happy life.
The festival closes March 26 with “Love, Loss & Connection,” featuring the Israeli comedy “Love, Statistically Speaking” at 3 p.m. and the closing night film, “Eleanor the Great,” at 7 p.m.
“Love, Statistically Speaking,” in Hebrew with English subtitles, follows an 80-year-old actuary whose carefully calculated life unravels after he loses his wife — and then her insurance money — prompting a search for answers with his granddaughter’s help.
“My personal favorite is ‘Eleanor the Great,’ ” Koritz said, calling it “funny, thoughtful and heartwarming all at once.” The film, about an aging woman confronting grief and finding friendship, marks the directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson and stars June Squibb.
Wilson said he thinks “The Pianist’s Choice” and “Once Upon My Mother” will be audience festival favorites. And he noted that the festival is a chance for area moviegoers to see “Nuremberg” and “Eleanor the Great,” two mainstream films that St. Louis audiences may have missed.
“There is so much that’s new this year for JFF 2026,” Wilson said, promising “the same high-quality experience with a fresh breeze of innovation,” including a festival keepsake, the JFF Passport, which Koritz describes as “a keepsake record of their journey through the festival,” complete with a personal ID page and a stamp for each film. All-festival pass holders get this keepsake for free, and individual ticket buyers can by one for $10.
St. Louis Jewish Film Festival
WHEN: March 15-26
WHERE: All films will be screened at B&B Theatres Creve Coeur West Olive, with one film having an initial screening at Alamo Drafthouse at the Foundry in St. Louis
MORE INFO: For full schedule and ticket and festival pass pricing, visit stljewishfilmfestival.org, or call (314) 442-3283. Brochures can be picked up at the J.
All-festival passes and individual tickets can be purchased online at stljewishfilmfestival.org or by calling the JCC box office at 314-442-3283. Short reviews of “Vindicta,” “The Pianist’s Choice and “Once Upon My Mother” will appear in the March 11 edition of the Jewish Light and in the Morning Light newsletter prior to the festival.
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