Long Island Jewish Film Festival: Janis Ian, Brian Epstein, Elie Wiesel docs on tap, much more

From a documentary about a rabbi who dresses in drag to a dark comedy about one family’s memorable Shabbat dinner, the selections at this year’s Long Island Jewish Film Festival offer a kaleidoscopic look at the many faces of Jewish identity.

The third annual festival runs from Thursday through May 6 at Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre, with filmmakers scheduled to speak at many of the screenings.

As in the past, titles were chosen with no specific agenda in mind, according to programmer David Schwartz, a Centerport native whose credits also include Netflix’s Paris Theater in Manhattan and the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. When his eight choices for the festival finally coalesced, he says, what emerged was a focus on personalities, not politics. "It’s a really difficult and challenging time to be Jewish," Schwartz adds, citing Israel’s polarizing war in Gaza and a worrisome rise in antisemitism in the United States. "I just hope this is in some ways a kind of joyous event."

Here's a sample of what’s playing:

ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE (Thursday and Monday at 7 p.m.)

This documentary on the Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of the Holocaust memoir "Night" eschews talking heads and instead relies on Wiesel’s own words and archival material. Editor-producer Michael Chomet will speak in person at the first screening, director Oren Rudavsky at the second.

THE HEIRESSES (Friday and Sunday at 7 p.m.)

Isabelle Huppert stars in an overlooked but recently restored drama, from 1980, set in Budapest during the rise of Nazism. In a relatively early role, Huppert plays Irène, a young Jewish seamstress who agrees to become a pregnancy surrogate for a wealthy woman. Directed and co-written by Hungary’s Márta Mészáros.

JANIS IAN: BREAKING SILENCE (Saturday and Tuesday at 4 p.m.)

The young singer-songwriter first burst on the scene in 1967 as a teen with "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)," her controversial song about interracial dating, and in 1976 scored a Grammy-winning hit with "At Seventeen," one of the great outsider anthems, then faded from view. Now 74, Ian explains in the documentary how the pressures of fame and her then-closeted sexuality impacted her career. Followed by a prerecorded Q&A with writer-director Varda Bar-Kar.

MIDAS MAN (Saturday at 7 p.m. and Monday at 4 p.m.)

A documentary on Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles, who wore his Jewish heritage openly but hid his homosexuality at a time when men could be jailed for it in England. Followed by a prerecorded Q&A with writer Brigit Grant.

BAD SHABBOS (Sunday at 4 p.m.)

Kyra Sedgwick plays the matriarch of a family whose Shabbat dinner goes haywire after an unexpected death. Daniel Robbins directed and co-wrote this dark comedy, which also features the Hempstead rapper Method Man. It’s due in theaters May 23.

SABBATH QUEEN (Tuesday at 7 p.m.)

Sandi Dubowski’s documentary, filmed over 21 years, follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie as he struggles to reconcile his many identities: descendant of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, biological parent, out gay man, drag queen. He’s also the founder of Lab/Shul, which bills itself as a "God-optional, pop-up, experimental community for sacred Jewish gatherings." Dubowski will speak in person at the screening.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com