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PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. Westchester's 11th annual Jewish Film Festival kicked off Friday at The Jacob Burns Film Center and organizers say its 33 films may be the most diverse selection. The festival runs through May 2.
"In some ways I think that the most notable difference in the growth or change of the programming has to do with the diversity of films that we've been getting," said programmer Karen Goodman.
The festival began with a showing of the popular Israeli film "My Lovely Sister." Goodman said this year's showings include films from South American, Spain, Mexico, Cuba and more.
"We are seeing more and more really interesting films from Eastern Europe, actually from all over the world," Goodman said. "So that's really made a change in the diversity."
To find the films, Goodman said, the center scours every source it has at its disposal, including looking at other Jewish film festivals around the world. Goodman said the center also considers personal submissions from filmmakers.
In addition offering its most diverse batchs of films this year, Goodman says the festival is also expecting its largest crowds. Almost all of the 33 films will receive multiple screenings, for a totalling of more than 90.
"We've more than doubled in size in the last couple of years," she said. "So, we'll probably get close to or break 10,000 tickets sold this year."
The complete list of films and times is available on Jacob Burns Film Center's website.
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