March 4 gala to debut Film Festival

The 14th Annual Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival, March 4-15, will feature a mix of comedies, drama and documentaries from the U.S., Israel and Spain, offering various perspectives on the Jewish experience.

The Film Festival is presented annually by the Tampa Jewish Community Center in cooperation with the Golda Meir/Kent Jewish Center and the JCC of Pinellas County (now combined as the JCC Suncoast).

Chairs for this year’s Film Festival are Stuart Novick and Ed Rudd.

The festival, which will include nine feature length films and two short films, will take place at venues in Tampa and St. Petersburg beginning with the opening night celebration on March 4 at the Tampa Theatre. The award-winning 2007 film The Debt will be shown at the opening night event.

A gala celebration for major donors will be held at nearby TECO Plaza at 6:30 p.m., with live music, cocktails and hors d’eouvres. Everyone is invited for the screening of the movie at 8 p.m. followed by a dessert reception.

The Debt is a fast-paced, psychological drama/ thriller that was nominated for four Israeli Academy Awards, The film —based on historical facts, but not a true story — centers around Rachel Berner, one of three Mossad agents who capture the infamous Nazi butcher, “the Surgeon of Birkenau.” After the “Surgeon” escapes under Berner’s guard, the agents, to save their reputations, claim the prisoner committed suicide. But “the Surgeon” resurfaces in the Ukraine 35 years later, and the ex-agents decide that Berner, now a famous Israeli writer, must eliminate him. But can the grand old lady of Israeli letters return to her cold-blooded past?

The film festival will continue with special screenings at venues around the Tampa Bay area including Tampa Theatre, Baywalk Muvico in St. Petersburg, and at the University of South Florida Health Sciences Auditorium.

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Full film descriptions, directions and advance purchase tickets are available online at the Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival website at www.tbjff.org. Advance purchase online tickets are $6. Day of show tickets are $8 for adults and $7 for seniors and students. Festival passes are available for festival supporters who donate $150 or more.

Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival schedule

• For My Father, Saturday, March 6 at 7 p.m. and Jerusalem Syndrome at 9 p.m. at Baywalk Muvico, St. Petersburg.

• Letters for Jenny, Sunday, March 7 at 1 p.m. and Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueberger at 3 p.m. at Baywalk Muvico, St. Petersburg

• On the Road to Tel Aviv, Thursday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Killing Kastzner at 8 p.m. at Baywalk Muvico, St. Petersburg

• Matter of Size, Saturday, March 13 at 7 p.m. and Jerusalem Syndrome at 9 p.m. at Tampa Theatre.

• Got Next & Holyland Hardball, Sunday, March 14 at 1 p.m. and For My Father at 3 p.m. at Tampa Theatre.

• The Band’s Visit, Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at the Marshall Center, USF.