Jewish International Film Festival 2016

Overview

68 feature films from 19 different countries make up the program at this year's Jewish International Film Festival. Screening at select cinemas around Australia — and in Auckland, too! — the 27th annual edition of this celebrated festival will showcase films that explore every angle of Jewish history and identity through critically acclaimed dramas, side-splitting comedies, mind-blowing documentaries and more.

JIFF 2016 will be bookended by a pair of films about one of the darkest moments in human history. Opening night film Denial stars Rachel Weisz as Professor Deborah Lipstadt, who in 1996 was sued for defamation by English holocaust denier David Irving (Timothy Spall). Closing night, meanwhile, will screen the provocative documentary The Last Laugh, featuring the likes of Sarah Silverman, Mel Brooks and Louis C.K. as they ponder how far comedy can go when tackling such a sensitive topic.

Other standout titles include a new German adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank that premiered to critical acclaim at this year's Berlin Film Festival, as well as Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown, a documentary about the titular comedian's remarkable decades-long career.

The Melbourne leg of the festival will run from October 27 until November 23 at Elsternwick's Classic Cinemas and Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn. For the full JIFF 2016 program, go here.