Tucson - Through the magic and power of cinema, The Tucson Jewish Film Festival strives to promote the preservation of Jewish culture by providing an open and inviting forum for films with diverse Jewish themes that would not otherwise find a place for public exhibition in the southern Arizona marketplace. The Festival encourages cultural diversity, intellectual growth and dialogue within the audience it serves by providing a forum for films that challenge long-held assumptions and stereotypes.

The Tucson Jewish Film Festival proudly presents the 2nd annual Fabulous Faygeleh LGBT Film Festival. The LGBT film series features insightful cutting-edge cinema that wrestles with contemporary issues and universal themes of faith, love and social justice. It is a “must” for anyone who loves great cinema.

Special Guest Speaker Brooke Sebold will moderate discussions throughout the Fabulous Faygeleh Film Festival. Sebold is a documentary and narrative filmmaker currently based in New York City. In 2007, Brooke (with film collaborators Todd and Benita Sills) completed her first feature-length documentary, Red Without Blue, which received over 20 audience-choice and jury awards, and screened at 150+ film festivals, universities, and museums. Brooke’s films have garnered glowing reviews from Variety, The SF Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Seattle Times, The Advocate and dozens of other publications. Brooke is currently a Dean’s Fellow in Columbia University’s MFA Film Program.

The Films

Eyes Wide Open Aaron, a kosher butcher, is working hard to support his family and to study the Talmud at night. Ezri, a Yeshiva student, knocks one day at his door, asking for housing and for work. The latter finally succumbs to the advances of his young employee. Aaron yields to temptation asking, “How did I get here?”

Sidney Turtlebaum Sir Derek Jacobi stars as Sidney Turtlebaum – a smooth-talking elderly gay man in the twilight of his life who steals from grieving strangers at funerals where he pawns himself off as a loving and distant relative or acquaintance.

He’s My Girl Simon’s Ashkenazi mother accepts that he’s gay, but doesn’t realize that her pretty nurse is the Arab cross-dresser who steals her son’s heart. In the midst of this farce, Rosalie, Simon’s ex-wife, returns to Paris to star in Fiddler on the Roof with her new family, a husband and the precocious son, whom Simon hasn’t seen in a decade.

Off And Running With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers — one mixed-race and one Korean— a Brooklyn teen grew up in a unique and loving household. But when her curiosity about her African-American roots grows, she decides to contact her birth mother.

And Thou Shalt Love This deeply moving film centers on the inner turmoil faced by a closeted Orthodox Israeli soldier who falls in love with his study partner.

Yossi & Jagger Both soldiers in the Israeli army, Yossi is the serious commander and Jagger is the free-spirited second in command. Based on a true story, Yossi & Jagger portrays their secret love, set in a remote army base along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

The Fabulous Faygeleh series will screen Jan. 30 and 31 at the Crossroads Cinema 6 at Grant & Swan, the weekend following the Tucson Jewish Film Festival’s run at the Jewish Community Center.

Tickets may be purchased online at Tucsonjcc.org or at the Jewish Community Center, or by calling the TIJFF Hotline at 520-615-5432.