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Showcasing the Best 8 New Israeli and Jewish International Films
FESTIVAL SPONSOR
WELCOME TO OUR 16TH ANNUAL FILM FESTIVAL
Film Enthusiasts Will Delight in Our Heartwarming Funny and Poignant Award-Winning, Award-Nominated, and Acclaimed Films. You Will Laugh! You Will Cry and You Will Be Motivated to Think About Relevant Topics!
Toby Shylit Mack,
Director,
Axelrod Jewish International Film Festival (AJIFF) and Film Education
WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY FLIFF40
WINNER: BEST HOLOCAUST DOCUMENTARY BIJFF
“Riveting…an edge-of-your-seat experience …”
— The Guardian
“Remarkable”
— Haaretz
“Powerful… telling the hard truths can also be heroic.”
— Forward
“An odyssey”
— Times of Israel
“Revelatory”
— KQED
SPECIAL THANKS TO CLAIRE BOREN, SURVIVOR, and Sponsor of this Special Event
Don’t Miss Opening Night:
A Conversation with Filmmaker Marissa Fox
Dessert Reception Following Film for Series Ticket Holders
Marisa Fox is an award-winning journalist and the film director of My Underground Mother. As a correspondent for Haaretz, New York Newsday, New York and a contributor to The Daily Beast, Rolling Stone, CNN, Forward and The New York Times, she has reported on major news stories from 9/11 to the opioid crisis. My Underground Mother, won the Best Documentary jury award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, and led her to curate one of the only women’s Holocaust monuments and a digital exhibit of women’s testimonies with USC’s Shoah Foundation. She is currently writing a book about her search for her mother’s missing past.
Special Event Closing Film With Producer
NANCY SPIELBERG
Tuesday July 21, 2026
Producer Nancy Spielberg to Speak
Produced by Nancy Spielberg and directed by acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Tom Shoval, A Letter to David is a searingly intimate and emotionally devastating film born from the events of October 7. That day, Shoval’s closest friend and creative collaborator, David Cunio, was abducted alongside members of his family from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas terrorist attacks. The tragedy reverberated with cruel irony, as a decade earlier, David and his twin brother, Eitan, starred in Shoval’s Berlinale-premiering debut, Youth (2013)—a film about brotherhood and kidnapping that now reads as unbearably prophetic.
Best Documentary Prize at Israeli Academy Awards
Nancy Spielberg is an award-winning producer and passionate advocate for films on the Jewish experience. An accomplished businesswoman and philanthropist, she shifted her focus to producing films in 2013 and has steered more than a dozen projects to completion since then. In addition, she is a globally recognized speaker on tolerance and antisemitism and a founder of Jewish Story Partners, a film fund for stories reflecting the diversity of Jewish life and promoting dialogue and understanding.
Series Pass — $78*
Includes All 8 Films
2026 SCREENINGS AT THE AXELROD PAC:
"Opening Night" With Guest Speaker, Director Marissa Fox:
My Underground Mother
Sunday, July 12 • 7:30 PM
A haunting documentary uncovering a hidden Holocaust legacy through one woman’s buried past. Director Marisa Fox pieces together generational trauma using archival footage and personal testimony. As secrets surface, the film reveals the emotional cost of silence.
★ Fort Lauderdale Best Documentary • SF Jewish FF • Santa Fe FF
Dead Language
Tuesday, July 14 • 7:30 PM
From Mihal Brezis and Oded Binnun, this intimate drama follows two strangers whose unexpected connection unfolds beyond language. It explores longing, isolation, and fleeting intimacy.
★ Tribeca Selection • Jerusalem FF Best Screenplay • Tallinn Selection
"Closing Night" Featuring Guest Speaker, Director Nancy Spielberg
A Letter To David
Tuesday, July 21 • 7:30 PM
Director Tom Shoval crafts a cinematic letter to actor David Cunio, blending past collaboration with present loss after October 7. The film moves between fiction and reality as memory and absence collide. It becomes both tribute and political reflection.
★ Berlinale Special • Ophir Award Winner • Audience Award