Want to see a great film this summer? How about 54 great films? Back by popular demand, the Kehillah of Chester County’s Summer Shorts Film Festival is an eight-week film and discussion series now kicking off its sixth year. Every Wednesday evening, you can see a half-dozen or so captivating Jewish short films ranging in length from two minutes to a half hour, which run the gamut from documentary to animation to drama. The festival is arranged by themes, with each week’s roster touching on subjects including social justice, food, family and Israel.
Unexpected delights await no matter which weeks you attend. “Intergenerational” week, for example, includes the documentary Death Metal Grandma, about an aging Holocaust survivor who, in an effort to be heard, joins an unlikely band. “Community” week includes films about the history of yarmulkes, the evolution of a Jewish Philadelphia neighborhood, and the angst of “I Heart New York” creator Milton Glaser. “Relationships” week includes romances of various stripes, including that of a college student and her sugar daddy; and a couple of 40 years who has never lived in the same time zone.
The Summer Shorts Film Festival is produced by The Kehillah of Chester County, a Jewish Community Collaboration funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Neighborhoods Initiatives Grant. Screenings take place every Wednesday through August 28th, 7:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville. Suggested donation per evening is $10.00, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. For a full listing of the films and to register, click here. For more information about Jewish Federation-supported neighborhood programming, click here.