Editor

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR 15TH ANNUAL BOSTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

Gay-themed Israeli feature and personal/historical documentary by first-time filmmaker are 2003 winners

The 15th annual Boston Jewish Film Festival ended a great run (November 6-16) on Sunday, November 16.

Audience members participated in the Festival¹s second Audience Award
balloting. Winning Best Feature and Best Documentary filmmakers each
receive $1,200 in film stock, generously donated by Eastman Kodak.

Ballots have now been counted, and the winners are:

BEST FEATURE: YOSSI AND JAGGER, directed by Eytan Fox (Israel, 2002, 65
minutes, Hebrew with subtitles, 35mm).

A love story between two young Israeli Army officers stationed on a remote
army base on the Israeli-Lebanese border. A hit when the Festival
co-presented the film in last spring¹s Boston Gay/Lesbian Film/Video
Festival, the Festival screening at the Coolidge Corner Theatre was
introduced by Congressman Barney Frank. A post-film reception and
discussion was hosted by Combined Jewish Philanthropies¹ GLBT Team, Keshet,
Am Tikva, and the American Friends of Jerusalem Open House.

Director Fox is known to Boston Jewish Film Festival audiences for his hit
on Israeli television, FLORENTENE, which screened in the 1998 Boston Jewish
Film Festival.

YOSSI AND JAGGER is distributed in the U.S. by Strand Releasing
(www.strandreleasing.com). It will be released in Boston in March.

BEST DOCUMENTARY: THUNDER IN GUYANA, directed by Suzanne Wasserman (USA,
2001, 60 minutes, English, video)

A skillful blend of personal and historical documentary, the film looks at
the life and political career of Janet Rosenberg Jagan, the first woman
president of the tiny country of Guyana. Born in Chicago, Jagan attended
Wayne State University. Returning to Chicago to attend nursing school, she
met Cheddi Jagan, who became her husband, and they moved to his homeland,
Guyana. First-time documentary filmmaker Wasserman is the daughter of Janet
Rosenberg Jagan¹s first cousin. Participants in our Festival screening at
the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston found Wasserman to be a skillful discussant
of complex political issues.