The ASF’s Successful 25th NYSJFF, Now Online
The American Sephardi Federation’s (ASF’s) 25th New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival (ASF- NYSJFF) opened on Monday night with the ASF Pomegranate Awards Ceremony recognizing exemplary achievements of four awardees:
- The acclaimed Israeli-born Yemenite, Ghiora Aharoni – “Pomegranate Award for Art, Design, and Architecture”
- The award-winning Moroccan-Israeli filmmaker, Shlomi Elkabetz – “Pomegranate Award for Filmmaking.”
- The Jerusalem-born popular and renowned Ladino music singer-songwriter, Yasmin Levy – “Pomegranate Award for Music”
- The prolific Algerian-French writer, Hélène Cixous – “Pomegranate Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature.”
The evening also inaugurated an exclusive, limited exhibition by Aharoni in the Center for Jewish History’s Steinberg Great Hall. Aharoni’s pieces, which challenge social norms and explore dualities, such as the intersection of religion and science, are held in remarkable collections worldwide, including The Pompidou Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Vatican.
Elkabetz spoke movingly about his sister, the late Ronit Elkabetz, A”H, recipient of the 1st Pomegranate Award in 2011. “When my sister… and myself met here in New York, a few buildings from here, to write our first script for what has become the film TO TAKE A WIFE and later on… we dreamed of doing the impossible, echoing the concepts of freedom and equality through the body of an Arab, Moroccan, Jewish woman.”
The 25th ASF-NYSJFF’s three-part tribute series to Ronit includes the North American Premieres of JE T’AIME RONIT ELKABETZ and BLACK NOTEBOOKS: PART I – VIVIAN, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Cixous, in her video acceptance of the Pomegranate, coined the term “Sépharashkenaze!” to describe her transcendence of divisions and affirmation of the unity of the Jewish people.
The ASF’s President David Dangoor presented Yasmine Levy with the Pomegranate Award for Music and she returned to the stage later in the evening for a tour de force performance of Ladino and Spanish songs, including a duet with a recording of her late father, Yitzhak Levy, A”H, a Hazzan and scholar whose works she viewed earlier in the ASF’s National Sephardic Library & Archives.
Introducing the evening, the ASF’s Executive Director Jason Guberman called for the rejection of the baseless hatred that causes disunity and destruction, invoking Israel Sephardi Chief Rabbi Meri Hai Ouziel’s call for Jews to “remove this divisiveness that plagues us, and instead make our work as a community a reflection of peace and love.”
Echoing the theme, Na’ama Keha, the NYSJFF’s Artistic Director and a award-winning filmmaker, said “beyond my love for cinema, I truly wanted to contribute to this organization, The American Sephardi Federation, because I believe in its mission, and I appreciate the way ASF collaborates with Arabs and with Muslims, and working together towards building cultural bridges out of respect, honor, and love. I wish this practice of peace and co-existence will also apply in my homeland Israel. We really do need this, now, more than ever.”
The ASF’s 25th NYSJFF is
Dedicated to Ike, Molly, & Steven Elias
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