Since the Jewish Film Festival’s opening program 13 years ago, most of us have attended several significant bar/bat mitzvahs.

In my case, my granddaughter Claire became a bat mitzvah in 2003, the first in my family to do so and I can’t begin to describe to you the excitement associated with it.

Then there was a friend’s Down Syndrome grandchild whose bat mitzvah left the congregation without a dry eye.

Now the community will celebrate the Jewish Film Festival’s thirteenth anniversary, opening on Sunday, June 22 with Sixty Six, a feature film from the United Kingdom about a boy’s plans for his bar mitzvah which inconveniently coincides with England’s first admission to the World Cup soccer finals.

The festival will close on Thursday, June 26 with an American documentary, Praying with Lior, about a young man with Down Syndrome who inspires his family, friends and community as he prepares for his bar mitzvah.

“Both these films are absolutely wonderful and inspiring,” enthused Judy Schwartz Jaffe and Myra Glazer, the co-chairs of the premiere party to be held on the 22nd at Plaza Frontenac Centre Court.

“We are having such a good time giving this party, planning the menu and the decor for the event. Since the opening film takes place in 1966, we have selected a traditional sixties bar mitzvah menu including chopped liver and baby knishes — none of today’s sushi-type food. We’re also planning some fun surprises.”

The patron dinner will be served at an international buffet at 6 p.m., and patrons may choose to attend a screening of Sixty Six either at 4:15 before the party or at 7:45 afterward.

The cost of attending the premiere bar mitzvah event is $95 per person. The invitations should be in your mailbox any minute now, or if you want to make advance reservations, call the festival hotline at 314-442-3179 or visit www.stljewishfilmfestival.org.

Here’s a brief preview of Sixty Six. It is the summer of ’66, and England is about to be consumed by World Cup Fever. For 12-year- old Bernie though, the biggest day of his life is looming; his bar mitzvah, the day he becomes a man. However, Bernie’s family is increasingly distracted by the threat of losing their business and their wayward older son.

The scale of Bernie’s bar mitzvah diminishes daily.

Worst of all the Cup Final is scheduled to take place on the same day, and when England makes it through the qualifying rounds, Bernie’s longed-for bar mitzvah looks like it is set to be a complete disaster.

Starring in Sixty Six, are Helena Bonham Carter of Sweeney Todd and Stephen Rea who you might remember from The Crying Game. This film, aside from being about the trials and tribulations of Bernie’s bar mitzvah, is also the story of wacky/warm family dynamics, bonding experiences and a series of personal revelations which accompany the rites of adulthood.

This year’s Jewish Film festival is chaired by Dee and Jack Berman.

In between the opening and closing bar mitzvah-related films, there are six additional documentaries and feature films produced in the United States, France, Belgium and Sweden, and four in celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary. All films will be shown at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema, located at Clayton Road and Lindbergh Boulevard. Advance ticket prices are $10 and after June 21 they will be $11.

The cost of attending the opening film without the party is $15 per ticket.

Again, for more information call the festival Hotline at 314-442-3179.