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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

Jewish Movies

June Squibb as Eleanor (R), and Rita Zohar as Bessie (L) in "Eleanor the Great." (Anne Joyce/Sony Pictures Classics)

Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut tells Holocaust story in ‘Eleanor the Great’

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished September 28, 2025

(JTA) — When Rita Zohar stepped into the role of Bessie Stern, a Holocaust survivor whose death sets in motion Scarlett Johansson’s new film “Eleanor the Great,” she wasn’t simply acting. Zohar, 81, is a childhood survivor of the Holocaust....

Actor Robert Redford relaxes in the Belle Meade Theater manager's office for the conclusion of the Nashville premiere of his "All the President's Men" movie June 10, 1976. 760610 H

Robert Redford’s legacy is surprisingly Jewish

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished September 16, 2025

Robert Redford, the actor, director and film festival visionary, has died at 89. Remembered for his ruddy good looks, accomplished pivot to directing and helping to usher the film industry into its independent era by spearheading the Sundance...

bad shabbos

STL Jewish film festival alum ‘Bad Shabbos’ going digital after brisket-fueled success

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 10, 2025

We’ve been following the whirlwind success of "Bad Shabbos" since its debut at the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival in March. After making the leap to a wide release last month, the Tribeca Audience Award-winning comedy is now headed for its next...

Peter Sellers 1973 by Allan Warren

Peter Sellers at 100: The hidden Jewish story behind the comedy icon

Benjamin Ivry, The ForwardPublished September 7, 2025

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. Peter Sellers, the English Jewish comedian who was born 100 years ago on Sept. 8, 1925, lived at a time before leading...

Liev Schreiber, Austin Butler and Vincent D'Onofrio in Caught Stealing. 
Liev Schreiber, Austin Butler and Vincent D’Onofrio in Caught Stealing. Photo by Niko Tavernise

Film featuring Liev Schreiber as a tough, Hasidic mobster open all around St. Louis

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished September 1, 2025

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. Darren Aronofsky’s most formative encounter with Haredi Jews may have come when he was an 18-year-old in Israel at the...

Feb 11, 2017; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Counting Crows Adam Duritz performs at the Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Elkman/USA TODAY NETWORK

Meet Adam Duritz: the Jewish rock idol you didn’t know you knew

Published August 27, 2025

If you were a Jewish young man coming out of college in the early 1990s, still wanting to be cool and hip, you were listening to the Counting Crows. The band quietly electrified us thanks to their super-hip frontman Adam Duritz. And when it became...

Blood splatters on the floor of a family's home in Nahal Oz in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, when some 75 people in the southern Israeli community were killed. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Toronto Film Festival backpedals after yanking Oct. 7 rescue film

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished August 14, 2025

(JTA) — The head of the Toronto International Film Festival says he is still open to screening an Israeli documentary about Oct. 7 that had been yanked over concerns about disruption and, allegedly, about whether the filmmakers had the right to...

Workers paint and outdoor display next to a hotel wrapped in a Fantastic Four movie advertisement as San Diego prepares to host thousands of visitors for Comic-Con International, in San Diego, California, U.S. July 22, 2025.  REUTERS/Mike Blake

Marvel finally says it out loud: The Thing is Jewish, just like Jack Kirby who created him

By PJ Grisar, The ForwardPublished July 25, 2025

Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in Marvel artist Jack Kirby’s world — literally. It’s only at the end of the film that it’s revealed that Earth-828, the version of our planet that Marvel’s First Family ends up saving, is a reference...

Mark Feuerstein plays Rabbi Mo Zaltzman (center), a small town Rabbi who has to unravel a complex conspiracy. Courtesy of Salvador Litvak

New film ‘Guns and Moses’ blends Western grit with Jewish faith and fear

By Olivia Haynie, The ForwardPublished July 24, 2025

This story contains spoilers for the film Guns and Moses. When a member of his congregation, Allan Rosner (Dermot Mulroney), is murdered, the police arrest a young neo-Nazi who has been harassing the congregation. But Rabbi Mo Zaltzman (Mark Feuerstein)...

Cast member David Corenswet attends a premiere for the film "Superman" at the TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole

Up Up and Oy Vey! Jewish actor takes flight as Superman in historic film debut

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished July 13, 2025

“Superman: Legacy” opened in theaters this weekend, and with it came a bit of history: for the first time, the Man of Steel is played by a Jewish actor. David Corenswet, 30, may not be a household name yet, but his debut as Superman marks...

A still from "Sevap/Mitzvah." (©geminisnakeproductions)

St. Louis screens powerful film on Muslim-Jewish rescue during WWII

Shira Li Bartov, JTAPublished July 8, 2025

(JTA) — In 1941 Sarajevo, a Muslim woman hid her Jewish friend from fascist roundups. Half a century later, that same Muslim woman was trapped in the besieged capital during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War — and her Jewish friend made sure she got out. These...

Elliott Gould never sold out. He stayed Jewish. That matters now.

Elliott Gould never sold out. He stayed Jewish. That matters now.

Rochel Grosz, JNSPublished July 1, 2025

(JNS) -- It’s difficult to imagine a face like Elliott Gould’s becoming a matinee idol today. It is angular and brooding, with eyes that have carried a weight beyond their years and a voice that teetered between irony and sincerity. “Acting, for...

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