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Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival starts tomorrow

THE 34TH annual Philadelphia Jewish Film Fest, comprising more than a dozen premiere films from eight countries, starts Saturday and runs through Nov. 16.

Andrzej or Kamil Tkacz - this character in RUN BOY RUN was played by twins.
Regie: Pepe Danquart, Kamera: Daniel Gottschalk,  Produktion : Bittersüss
Andrzej or Kamil Tkacz - this character in RUN BOY RUN was played by twins. Regie: Pepe Danquart, Kamera: Daniel Gottschalk, Produktion : BittersüssRead moreHagen Keller

THE 34TH annual Philadelphia Jewish Film Fest, comprising more than a dozen premiere films from eight countries, starts Saturday and runs through Nov. 16.

The festival opens with a screening of "Anywhere Else" (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad St.), a comic drama about a young, homesick Israeli woman who takes a break from Berlin and her boyfriend for a short vacation with the folks. She settles into the familiar bickering routine of home until her German boyfriend shows up unexpectedly, just as the family is maneuvering to set her up with a nice Jewish doctor.

The festival includes a strong documentary section.

In addition to "Famous Nathan" (11 a.m., Nov. 16, National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 S. Independence Mall East) there is "The Sturgeon Queens" (11:30 a.m. Sunday, Gershman Y) about the Russ & Daughters smoked-fish store in New York City.

"Regarding Susan Sontag" (5 and 8 p.m. Wednesday, National Museum of American Jewish History) looks at the great essayist, with readings of her work by Patricia Clarkson. "Etgar Keret: What Animal are You?" (7 p.m. Monday, Gershman Y) examines the renowned Israeli writer.

"Joachim Prinz: I shall not be silent" (6 and 8 p.m. Nov. 11, National Museum of American Jewish History) looks at the life of the activist rabbi expelled from Germany in the 1930s who went on to become a leader in the U.S. civil-rights movement decades later.

"The Lady in Number 6" (11:30 a.m. Nov. 13, Gershman Y) documents the life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the world's oldest Holocaust survivor, who talks about the importance of music in her life.

There will be a screening at 7 p.m. Saturday (Landmark Ritz East, 125 S. 2nd St.) of the French film "24 Days," a blistering, fact-based procedural that follows the investigation into an anti-semitic gang's kidnapping and torture of Ilan Halimi, in France. It was directed by Alexandre Arcady and co-written by the victim's sister, Ruth Halimi.

The festival's centerpiece screening is the Holocaust drama "Run Boy Run" (7:30 p.m. Nov. 8, Gershman Y), based on the best-seller about an 8-year-old Jewish boy trying to survive in Nazi Occupied Poland.

More adaptations: "The Zigzag Kid" (1 p.m. Nov. 9, Gershman Y), from the popular David Grossman novel about a teen sleuth, and "The Dove Flyer" (7 p.m. Nov. 10, International House, 3701 Chestnut St.), based on the Eli Amir story of Jews forced to leave ancestral lands in Iraq.

The closing-night film, "Above and Beyond," 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce streets) is a documentary produced by Steven Spielberg's sister, Nancy, about the mostly American World War II pilot volunteers who flew for Israel in the 1948 war and formed the foundation of what would become the Israeli air force.