Getting farklempt

>> Our picks for the sixth Jewish Film Fest

by MATTHEW HAYS

Emotions run high throughout much of the material in the sixth annual Montreal Jewish Film Festival. And the city's moviegoers should be farklempt at the offerings--subjects range from everything from a lesbian looking for acceptance from her conservative Israeli family to Jewish children displaced during WWII.

In a mere six years, director Susan Alper has managed to create a thriving, fascinating anthology of shorts and features illustrating the rich diversity of Jewish life around the world. Highlights for the sixth time around include:

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport The Oscar-winner for Best Doc has its Montreal premiere at the fest, telling the often-brutal stories of tens of thousands of children (both Jew and Gentile) who were brought to Britain during the War to escape the Nazis. All expected to eventually be reunited with their families, but the vast majority never were. Director Mark Jonathan Harris has constructed an incredibly powerful film, adding to the canon of historical documentaries about the Holocaust and its traumatic consequences.

Emma Goldman: The Anarchist Guest Arch shit-disturber Goldman is profiled in this brief (42 minutes) but insightful doc about her belief in anarchism, her run-in with legendary cross-dressing FBI thug J. Edgar Hoover (who had her deported) and her eventual settling in Toronto, of all places. Essential viewing for politicos.

"It Will End Up in Tears..." A family of Argentinean Jews who have settled in Israel are the landscape on which a contemporary social issue is explored. The clan is sent into turmoil when a 21-year-old daughter, Maria, brings home her lover for them to meet. Trouble is, it's a girl. An unusual and touching look at one woman's effort to come out--and her family's attempt to reconcile itself to a queer among them.

Aimée & Jaguar Lesbian themes emerge once more in this feature film, based on a true story, about a dutiful Nazi wife who falls in love with a Jewish intellectual working in the underground. The film is based on the memoirs of Erica Fischer, a bestseller whose poignance is recaptured here beautifully.

Living for Tomorrow Israel wasn't just built on the belief in a Jewish state, but also, as this compelling doc illustrates, on the ideals of socialism. Director Lilach Dekel examines the phenomenon of the kibbutz and controversies over its viability through interviews with pioneer kibbutzers, now in their 80s and 90s.

This year's fest will feature an evening screening of the winners of the first annual Montreal Jewish Student Film Fest, including such entries as Nose Job Jew, Mama & Papa, Hitler's Testicle and Russian Dance.

The Montreal Jewish Film Festival runs from May 3-10 at the Imperial, NFB and Cinémathèque québécoise. Info: 283-4826 or www.mjff.qc.ca