Interview with Lindy Tamir, JIFF Co-Director and Sponsorships

The Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF) is back this October with exciting new films to inspire conversation and intrigue movie buffs of all kinds. We asked Lindy Tamir, JIFF Co-Director and Head of Sponsorships to share her insights into this year’s festival.

JIFF in its current incarnation is in its fifth year. Tell us what we can expect from this year’s selection of films and how might they differ from previous year’s films?

The Jewish International Film Festival has more films this year and is our most evolved best program to date. We are one of the major Jewish Film Festivals in the world and we have gained the respect to acquire the best Jewish films because film producers want to launch at JIFF.

As one of the head organisers of the Jewish International Film Festival, you must watch a lot of films! Tell us a little about the process of selecting the films for the festival. What is involved and how far in advance do you prepare?

Eddie is the artistic director of JIFF and Tamar (JIFF manager) and I are on the team to watch the films. I watch 300 films each year. We attend Cannes film festival and the Berlinale and Docaviv, the documentary festival in TelAviv. We are also sent links to every Jewish and Israeli feature film and documentary. There is a yes, no and maybe list. We buy and secure films direct from producers or through sales agents from around the world.

Without giving too much away, which films do you think will be real crowd pleasers this year and why?

We have exciting Jewish food films. We have the new and the best feature film ever made on Anne Frank (from the uncensored diary). We have an audience pleaser with The People Vs Fritz Bauer, a feature that is Germany’s entry for the Oscars. I am excited about our documentary biography films on Jerry Lewis, Arthur Miller and Rabin. And I am thrilled to share our moving and funny closing documentary Last Laugh. It was just announced that our film Sandstorm won the Ophir award (Israeli Academy Awards). We hope this film will win the best foreign film at The Oscars. It is a Bedouin polygamy story.

What kind of reactions do JIFF viewers have of the films they see?

Our audiences are open at JIFF. They are open to see all our quality films, even if they argue and disagree in the foyer after.

The JIFF has expanded to new Aussie cities and even to New Zealand in recent years! How has the festival been received in those locations?

Melbourne and Sydney is where the pandemonium to see every film happens. This year we expect Perth to take off. Brisbane, Canberra and Auckland are modest and growing.

What are your favourite films from this year’s event?

Difficult to answer with 70 films! Here are my top six.
The People Vs Fritz Bauer
The Diary of Anne Frank
One Week and a Day
Rabin in His Own Words
In Search of Israeli Cuisine

Thank you Lindy!

JIFF tickets are on sale this Friday, 30 September via jiff.com.au. Save the dates for JIFF 2016 which promises to be bigger and better once again.

Melbourne: 27 Oct – 23 Nov
Sydney: 26 Oct – 23 Nov
Perth: 26 Oct – 6 Nov
Auckland, Brisbane & Canberra : 10, 12,13, 19 & 20 Nov

On September 28th & 29th the JIFF 2016 Program will be officially launched at special advance screenings of Woody Allen’s brand new film, Cafe Society.