A premiere and a debut

IT may not have quite the kudos of Cannes or Venice but the Jewish Film Festival still pulls in the punters.

The annual event launched in Melbourne last Wednesday night, with the premiere of Lea and Darija, a true story tracing the friendship between two famous child performers – one Jewish, one not – in 1930s Zagreb.

Despite their closeness, as Nazism spreads into Croatia, their fortunes and fates follow very different paths. The gala screening also marked the public debut of the festival’s new director, Aviva Kipen, stepping into the cinematic shoes of Les Rabinowicz, who held the role for more than 20 years.

Reflecting on the choice of Lea and Darija to open the event, Kipen said: “It’s a tough thing to tackle the place of children in the Holocaust but there are a whole spate of films that are emerging from the depths of people’s five decades of having subdued all of that. I think we have captured the emergence of the farewell to the million children and to launch that on Kristallnacht is heart-rending and entirely appropriate, I think.”

The festival runs at ACMI and the Classic Cinema in Elsternwick until November 27. For schedule and tickets, visit jewishfilmfestival.com