Shorts WJFF

Roland Manookian, USA , 2022, 15min

Living in a cloistered Hasidic milieu in Brooklyn, Malke is a Holocaust survivor and a beloved sex-ed teacher who has never been able to have children of her own. However, Malke has secretly been slamming poetry in New York's Lower East Side for the last three decades, defying all communal norms and laws. One day her transgressive pursuits are discovered by one of her bridal students. Is Malke willing to risk it all for her poetry? The film includes live readings from poets such as Venus Thrash, Julia Kasdorf, and Everton Sylvester as well as featuring poetry by Yermiyahu Ahron Taub and Esther Hoffman.

01.11, Wednesday | 00:00 | Online

Samuel Lucas Allen, Australia, 2023, 19min

Daniel, a teenage boy caught in a thickening web of lies, is pulled in different directions by his buddy, burgeoning anti-Semite, James, his secret lover, Isaac, and his orthodox Jewish father, Adam. As his ability to juggle his identities falters, he finds himself haunted by a Hasidic spectre demanding a sacrifice.

01.11, Wednesday | 00:00 | Online

Sean Weinstein, Canada, 2023, 14min

Intensely personal short film about trauma, suicide and the Holocaust. Wrapped in a deceptive meta-genre package, this witty documentary/narrative hybrid explores the generational impact of ultimate experiences.

01.11, Wednesday | 00:00 | Online

Dominik Chaciński, Poland , 2023, 20min

After reaching 18th birthday, Sandra, who lives in an orphanage, is forced to pay for a room. Wanting to continue to have a roof over her head, she unwittingly decides to work as a cleaner. When she arrives at the cleaning site, it turns out that she will be cleaning the house of the dead people. She is more interested in the story of the house and the owner than in the actual cleaning - when people claiming to be family come to the house, she helps them. After a while, it turns out that the couple came for only one thing, a painting that Sandra found in a hidden room, the woman describes it as a miniature of a Jewish woman. Sandra realizes that they are scammers..

01.11, Wednesday | 00:00 | Online

Amit Shamir, Israel, 2022, 13min

A traumatic military event sent two friends on different life paths. One became the quintessential family man, while the other prefers plants to people. Child's innocuous birthday party incinerates any attempt of "normalcy" for both of them. Mazal Tov indeed!

01.11, Wednesday | 00:00 | Online

Maya Katherine, United Kingdom, 2023, 19min

‘Moishe’ is a short film based on the true story of Moishe Gralnick and of the Cantonists. This is the real history of a Ukrainian boy’s defiance to the Russian military’s attempts to erase his Jewish identity. We follow a 12 year old Moishe in a journey from his Jewish community in Ukraine to an institution with the goal of converting Jews to Christianity. Moishe struggles with his faith, friendships and fights for survival.