ENCORE

Following the 20th anniversary celebration of the Chicago Festival of Israel Cinema last spring, the Festival will present ENCORE: the Chicago Festival of Israel Cinema’s Mini Fest this fall. The festival will offer a chance to showcase Israel’s talented filmmakers, shunned from many global film festivals in the current climate of antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

Commemorating the second anniversary of October 7 will be the Midwest premiere of Tom Shoval’s A Letter to David, a documentary about still-unreleased hostage David Cunio of Kibbutz Nir Oz. The film will be shown on Oct. 5, at 2 p.m., followed by a recorded interview with Shoval, at the Wayfarer Theatres in Highland Park. The film is presented in partnership with the Chicago JCC Jewish Film Festival.

For tickets, please visit tinyurl.com/LettertoDavidDoc.

Later in the month, ENCORE will kick off with an in-person sneak preview of the U.S. debut of For the Love of a Woman on Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Directed by Italian Guido Chiesa, the film is based on the novel The Loves of Judith, written by Israeli writer Meir Shalev. The film stars Mili Avital (Stargate, Dead Man, The Human Stain, Noodle) and Ori Pfeffer (Hacksaw Ridge, Spy, The Testament).

Here is a glimpse of the remainder of the Mini-Fest films, which will stream from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2:

• Among Neighbors: In this documentary, Yoav Potash examines how some locals, not just Nazis, turned on Jews they had lived with for generations during the Shoah (Holocaust), while others were righteous gentiles. Interviews with present-day Polish villagers mingle with animated sequences and archival photographs to reveal stunning truths.

• Kichka: Telling Myself: Gad Aisen’s eponymous documentary chronicles famed Belgian-born Israeli cartoonist and Bezalel Academy legend Michel Kichka.

• Labors of Love: Abby Ginzberg’s documentary paints a heart-felt portrait of Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization, who created the Israeli healthcare system for Jews and Arabs while saving children’s lives.

• The New Jew: Days of War: Asaf Nawi’s sequel to the critically acclaimed 2022 TV miniseries The New Jew. The documentary follows Israeli comedian Guri Alfi as he explores the impact of October 7 on American Jews. An interview with Alfi will follow the film.

• The Ring: Actor, screenwriter, and comedian Adir Miller makes his directorial debut with a feature film based on a true story about a man’s search for his Holocaust survivor mom’s mythological ring that saved her life in the past. The film stars Miller, Tiki Dayan, and Joy Rieger.

Tickets, trailers, and more can be found at cfic.eventive.org.

Cindy Stern is the Executive Director of the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema.