UK Jewish Film Festival: British Jewish Life on Film

Director Various
UK, 2024/5, 75m

An evening of poignant and entertaining short films exploring British-Jewish life. Films screening in the programme will be:

Our Neighbour’s Ass (15 mins) 

A widow, played by Dame Maureen Lipman, left with the responsibility of caring for her late husband’s donkey, comes up against her neighbours’ frustrations as the donkey becomes a local nuisance.

Winner – Pears Short Film Fund at UK Jewish Film 2024

Friday Night Flop (15 mins) 

Tracy-Ann Oberman plays a mother losing touch with her daughter in an age of digital distraction. But a turn of events sparks a new beginning.

To Fly or Float (10 mins)

Set during the 1979 Winter of Discontent, it tells the deeply moving story of a young girl who is sent to Birmingham to live with her uncle after the death of her parents.

Beshert (10 mins) 

A tender and witty piece, which charts the relationship between a young teenager and an elderly man who are brought together when the former is forced by his school to visit a retirement home.

Ink (5 mins)

Ink is a short, stylised documentary exploring the intersection of modern tattoo artistry and Jewish identity through the lens of British tattooist Tal Booker.

55 Years and Counting (5 mins)

55 Years and Counting is about a group of Jewish women (and a couple of honorary Jews) who met in reception at King David Primary School, Liverpool in 1970… and who’ve been best friends ever since. They’ve supported each other through key moments in life: marriages, divorces, childbirth, cancer and death. They describe themselves as having a “lifetime of memories together”. This is a film about Jewishness, about Liverpool, and most importantly, about female friendship. 

Leaving Home (5 mins)

89-year-old Denis Davis is about as British as any man could be. Born in the Jewish East End, he has lived in London pretty-much all of his life. So why is he now leaving his familiar house in Bushey and starting all over again in a new country? 

Fighting Back (5 mins)

Fighting Back is about learning how to fight like a (Jewish) girl. Miriam, an Orthodox Jewish woman from Hendon, is shattering expectations. She’s a kickboxing champion – fighting not just for fitness, but to reclaim her confidence, protect herself, and push back against rising antisemitism. This is a film about strength, identity, and the power of defying stereotypes.

Liorah (5 mins)

Liorah is a tender, visually poetic documentary that draws us into the world of artist Liorah Tchiprout. At its centre is the dollhouse she builds and returns to—an intimate, ever-evolving space that anchors her creative world and echoes through her paintings.

[Advised cert 15]