3:30 pm Doors Open

3:45 pm Film Screening 

Three generations of funny women tell the stories of six of the greatest female comic performers in the last century. In Making Trouble, over knishes & corned beef at Katz’s NYC, four Jewish women reflect upon the comedic icons whose shoulders they stand on: Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, & Wendy Wasserstein.

The acerbic humor of immigrant women who fought for a place in America with their brains trickles down through a century of hard times leavened with wit, as these rugged individualists struggled to feed their souls while feeding their families. Making Trouble celebrates the journey from Yiddish theater to vaudeville to Broadway, from Ziegfield’s Follies to Saturday Night Live.

5:20 pm Film Screening 

Before Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, there was Shari & Lambchop. Shari Lewis was the early pioneer of the children’s television show, setting the precedent for an entire genre. Best known for her skillful ventriloquism as the counterpart to the beloved sock puppet Lamb Chop, she was an unconventional feminist with a traditional Jewish who was primed for the spotlight as she grew up in the Bronx. Lewis’s mother was a pianist and also a proud feminist; her father was a Yeshiva University professor who moonlighted as Peter Pan the Magic Man. 

When an injury sidelined Lewis’s early dance aspirations, the misfortune led her to discover a passion for ventriloquism. Through the highs of those early years at NBC to her crushing cancellation when animation began to edge out live children’s television, Lewis’s talent and perseverance served as the cornerstone on which she waged her incredible comeback. The powerhouse behind NBC’s wildly popular family variety shows in the 50s and 60s, this multi-talented singer, dancer, magician, puppeteer, and ventriloquist was also a seminal writer, director, and producer. Shari and Lambchop showcases her countless accomplishments and the force of her resilience. Come see Shari as you’ve never seen her before!

5:30 pm Doors Open

5:45 pm Film Screening

Based on the best-selling graphic novel by Joann Sfar, The Rabbi’s Cat tells the story of a rabbi and his cat– a sharp-tongued feline philosopher brimming with scathing humor and affection for the rabbi’s voluptuous teenage daughter. In 1930s Algeria, amid an intersection of Jewish, Arab and French culture, a cat belonging to a widowed rabbi and his beautiful daughter, Zlabya, eats the family parrot and miraculously gains the ability to speak. Along with the power of speech comes unparalleled sardonic wit, and the cat – and filmmaker Sfar – spare no group or individual as they skewer faith, tradition, and authority in a provocative exploration of (among other things) God, lust, death, phrenology, religious intolerance, interspecies love, and the search for truth. Embark on a cross continent adventure through Mediterranean Africa rich with the textures, flavors and music of multiple layered cultures and histories, from the tiled terraces, fountains, quays and cafes of colonial-era Algiers to Maghrebi tent camps, dusty trading outposts, and deep blue Saharan nights in search of a lost Ethiopian city.

5:00 pm Doors Open & Live Music

6:00 pm Film Screening

Rose is the story of an intimate revolution. At 78 years old, Rose loses her adored husband. When her grief gives way to a powerful impulse to live, she discovers herself, realizing she is more than a mother, grandmother, & widow. As she surrenders the role of staid matriarch, she finds in herself a woman who has the right to joy and desire for the rest of her life. However, as she realizes the full scope of her reinvigorated self, her family’s balance is disturbed and their equanimity, upended. Come early for live music; stay and savor Rose.

6:00 pm Film Screening

At last, the deli documentary you’ve been waiting for! Deli Man explores Jewish culture as it reflects the heart of a vital ethnic history through food in the story of 3rd generation deli man, Ziggy Gruber. In Houston, Texas Ziggy has built, arguably, the finest delicatessen in  the United States, Kenny & Ziggy's. His story augments those of iconic delis such as Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, Carnegie Deli, & the Stage in New York City. Through its savory, nostalgic foods, it preserves memory and tradition, embodying culinary memories that evoke places and cultures otherwise lost to time and historical trauma. Indulge in the deli foods you love and learn about the traditions that make deli one of America's great cuisines.