Austin Jewish Film Festival kicks off Nov. 12

Well, from the legendary Catskills to the streets of Vienna and an extraordinary escape from the Nazis, these are just some of the stories coming to the big screen at the Austin Jewish Film Festival. Joining us this morning with the previews, the festival's director, David Finkel. David, thank you for your time this morning. We so appreciate it. So the festival kicks off November 12th. And it kicks off with a film about the resort that inspired Dirty Dancing. So can you tell us more about this film and what else audiences can expect from this year's great lineup? Oh, well, thank you. It's wonderful to be back with you, Katie. Thank you, Katie. We Met at Grossinger's is a beautiful, nostalgic film about the heyday of the resorts in upstate New York in the 50s and 60s, when blacks and Jews and others were being boycotted from other hotels. And the Jewish community created their own environment in which to celebrate their culture. and this is where lots of World-famous comedians like Steinfeld got their start. And it's also the story of this incredibly powerful woman who didn't have a great education, but she became a fantastic business person. She had the first interracial hug with Jackie Robinson on This Is Your Life. Other things we have going on, you mentioned... A story from the Holocaust about the Kindertransport. That is the mother of world-class musician Mona Golubek, who will be playing at our Saturday night event. About 20 minutes of classical music from her stage production. And then we'll be showing this fantastic film called Hold On To Your Music, followed by a Q&A with her. And then our closing night is super special. It's a story about Woody Guthrie and his relationship with his... Jewish mother-in-law from the second marriage, she was a very famous Yiddish poet, and we're gonna have Woody Guthrie's granddaughter, who's gonna be playing music before that event. These are just three of the amazing events that we have. So many powerful stories are gonna be shown there at the film festival. What do you hope people take away from this year's film festival, David? Well, there's a lot of dark stuff going off in our just worldwide politics, all sorts of stuff. This is just a really great time to learn about different things, to have a laugh, to experience some mystery. We even have a horror film, we've got world premieres. So I think just come out, experience stuff, meet some other people, have an interesting and enjoyable time. Okay, so you want it to be light and enjoyable. So here's the details on the screen. It's in person November 12th through 19th, but there is a way for people to watch these films that they cannot attend in person. So can you tell us about that? Yeah, sure, so after the in-person festival is over, most but not all the films will be available virtually. We'll also have additional short films available for free virtually. And people can go to our website, austinjff.org, and then after the in-person festival is finished, they'll see the virtual festival prominently there and how to participate. What's the AJFF's mission and how do you hope the festival continues to fulfill the mission year after year? Yeah, so our mission is to bring the best Jewish and Israeli films to the Austin community, and you can probably see behind me for Jew and U2, this isn't only for Jewish people. The stories have something Jewish or Israeli about them, but they're really for everybody. They're universal stories, and I think a large part of our goal is to actually connect with all sorts of people in the Austin community, to show them something different, give them experience that perhaps they haven't had, and to celebrate the best of Jewish culture. David, thanks for all you're doing. Congratulations, AustinJFF.org for more and for tickets. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Thank you, Katie.