After 21 years, director parts with festival

THE 21st Festival of Jewish Cinema got off on a quirky but sweet note on Tuesday night with the screening of French satire The Names of Love.

The festival, the last with long-time director Les Rabinowicz at the helm, was opened by Foxtel CEO and film buff Kim Williams before a full house at ACMI in Federation Square.

Stepping down, Rabinowicz told the assembled guests he had decided it was time for a younger generation to take over.

Explaining that he established the festival in his 30s, he said he still loved the work 21 years later, but needed to move on so the festival would “maintain relevance”.

“I’m as passionate today as I was 20 years ago about Jewish cinema, maybe even more so,” he said.

Iconic movie critics David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz paid tribute to Rabinowicz from the set of At the Movies, wishing him “mazal tov” on establishing “the forerunner of many festivals that would emerge over the years”.

Williams, the former chief executive of the Australian Film Commission, told the audience the Jewish festival was the “first and most consistent specialised ethnic film festival in our country”, adding its role was to “share, celebrate and interrogate Jewish life”.

“It has brought an astonishing array of films to a wide range of Australian audience,” he said, and has featured Jewish-themed films from both up-and-coming filmmakers and top overseas directors.

The movie itself was well-received by the audience. The Names of Love is a quirky and humorous tale of a 40-something man who meets a much younger woman.

The two engage in an entrancing and somewhat political love affair as they attempt to reconcile her French-Algerian background with his background, which on the outside looks very quotidian, but actually includes grandparents who were killed in the Holocaust.

The Festival of Jewish Cinema is showing until November 30 at the Classic Cinema and ACMI Cinemas, Federation Square. Enquiries: www.jewishfilmfestival.com.au.

NAOMI LEVIN