Jewish
Film Festival
The Virginia Peninsula Film Festival Committee is thrilled to announce the selection of films for the 2026 - 2027 Virginia Peninsula Jewish Film Festival. We strive to use the power of film to entertain, educate and connect our audiences to issues related to Jewish life in the U.S., Israel, and around the world.
All films will be shown at the Williamsburg Regional Library, 515 Scotland Street, Williamsburg, VA, on Sunday at 2 PM.
Sunday, November 1, 202
Movie 1
Among Neighbors
Combining magical realism and evocative hand-drawn animation with revelatory interviews and verité footage, the film examines the story of a small, rural town where Jews and Polish Catholics lived side by side for centuries before World War II. The Polish response to the Holocaust comes to life through the last living eyewitnesses, revealing both love and betrayal as it zeroes in on the only living Holocaust survivor from the town, and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews murdered there — not by Nazis, but by her own Polish neighbors.
Sunday, November 15, 2026
Movie 2
Ethan Bloom
Thirteen-year-old Ethan is supposed to be preparing for his bar mitzvah - but despite his Jewish family, Ethan is convinced his spiritual calling is with the Catholic church, where he secretly finds solace under the guidance of Father Diaz. Through the wisdom of an unconventional rabbi, the love of his complicated father, and his first romance with a cowboy-boot-wearing girl who can put him in a headlock, Ethan must confront his lies and grief to discover that faith isn’t about
choosing sides—it’s about honoring all the messy, beautiful pieces of who we are.
Sunday, January 31, 2027
Movie 3
Holding Liat
After two of their own are taken hostage by Hamas during the events of October 7, an Israeli-American family must grapple with their conflicting political perspectives and the pressures of the media spotlight as they fight for their loved ones’ release and the future of the places they call home. This stirring and moving documentary intimately explores a family’s journey in making space for empathy in the midst of tragedy.
Sunday, March 7, 2027
Movie 4
The Property
Regina and her granddaughter, Mika, embark on a journey to Poland to reclaim their family property seized during World War II. Not long after they arrive, Regina unexpectedly decides to abandon the mission entirely, leaving Mika lost and confused. To complicate matters further, an irritating distant relative keeps appearing at every turn. Just as Mika finds herself falling for a charming tour guide, Regina seizes the opportunity to pursue her own hidden agenda: finding her long-lost love, from whom she was separated seventy years ago. Based on the graphic novel by Rutu Modan.
Sunday, March 21, 2027
Movie 5
Frontier (Frontera)
This remarkable historical thriller tells the gripping and incredible true story of the heroism of a Spanish village on the border with France in the Pyrenees during World War II. In 1943, a group of the town’s inhabitants, led by customs officer Manel Grau (Miki Esparbé), defied their country’s fascist regime to save Jews smuggled in from Nazi-occupied France, despite the shadow of recent trauma connected to the nation’s Civil War under Franco’s rule.
We can't wait to see you at the 26th Annual Virginia Peninsula Jewish Film Festival!
Williamsburg Regional Library. All films shown at 2 pm.
