Shana Tova

Shana Tova & welcome to our October 2014 update! This time of year always feels so busy and we have much activism planned for the coming months as well as lots of cultural events to tell you about! As ever, do get in touch via email, our website, Facebook or Twitter to volunteer, donate and share your news!

In this issue:

Keshet UK training workshop in November
Share your story
Keshset UK's 2014 Chanukah Reception in Parliament
Events from our affiliate groups JGLG and Gay Jews in London
LGBT themed films at this year's UK Jewish Film Festival
News from the Rainbow Jews project

TRAINING

Apply now!

We are delighted to host our second 3-part training workshop from 22nd - 24th November that aims to furnish the activists in the community with the tools to facilitate a discussion around gender and sexuality. Spaces are limited.

SHARE YOUR STORY

Click here!

Telling your story can make a real difference to LGBT people and their allies. Whether youâ€™re writing a piece for our blog or speaking at an event for us, there are a number of ways you can help people understand your struggle.

RECEPTION 2014

I can help!

Yes that's right we are hoping to host the second Keshet UK Chanukah Reception in Parliament on Wednesday 17/12/14. But to make it happen we need some help coordinating the event. Just 6 hours from you between now and then can make the difference.

Keshet UK, JGLG and BKY are proud to announce that Keshet USA's Dr Andrea Jacobs will be special guest at a joint Chavurah to take place on 20th November. Dr Andrea Jacobs is an experienced consultant, educator and facilitator, with over 20 years experience working for change in both Jewish and wider-world organisations. She is passionate about gender equality, supporting the leadership of women and girls, LGBTQ civil and human rights, anti-racism work, and generally bringing attention to issues of power, privilege, and oppression.

More details to follow shortly in a separate e-mail.

EVENTS FROM OUR AFFILIATE GROUPS

Midweek drinks - Tuesday 21 October - Having not hosted an event like this in a while, JGLG invite you to midweek drinks event in a Central London bar, To receive the location and time details or for more information, confirm your attendance by clicking the RSVP button below or visiting the JGLG website.

The Annual Fireworks Party! - Saturday 8 November - Join 100 other LGBT Jews and their partners for a great evening with a professional fireworks display, home-made soup, viennas and chips (kosher / veggy by request) and all you can drink for just Â£15.

RSVP & Further Information

Gay Jews in London - Post work drinks
Thursday 21 October

The popular post-work drinks event returns. Join other gay Jews and let your hair down after work from 7pm on the first floor of The Edge, Soho Square, London. RSVP via the Facebook page or via email to steven@gayjewsinlondon.com There are always new faces each time so bring your mates - the more the merrier!

BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW!

This year JGLG, GJIL and Keshet UK are delighted to be bring you a selection of LGBT short films with a Jewish theme at this year's UK Jewish Film Festival. Alongside these shorts are a number of other features of interest.

A message from the UKJFF

The UK Jewish Film Festival is delighted to celebrate and explore
LGBT life and themes as part of its 2014 Programme. This year we are bringing you nine LGBT films from the around the world including Ira Sachs exquisite 'Love is Strange' starring John Lithgow and Alfred Molina; the tense Polish thriller 'In Hiding'; and the hilarious and touching collection of shorts 'Jews in Shorts'. We look forward to welcoming you soon to the 18th Festival.

UKJFF LGBT FILM LISTINGS

Monday 10th November JW3
JEWS IN SHORTS
LGBT SHORT FILMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Natives I USA 2013 I Jeremy Hersh I 20 mins
Dark comedy about a young woman meeting her girlfriend's parents for the first time.
Winner best short Seattle LGHT Film Festival, Best Live Action Short Durango Independent Film Festival, official selection SXSW, BFI Flare.
The Seder I Canada 2011 I Justin Kelly I 12 mins
"Directors Choice, 2012" Detroit/Windsor Intl Film Festival, Best Short film Directors Guild Awards (DGC) 2012 , Best Foreign Short film - LA Comedy Film Festival 2012, Best Ensemble Cast - LA Comedy Film Festival 2012
Leo, Jewish and gay, is finally bringing his boyfriend to meet the family, at Seder dinner!
Zazaland I Israel 2013 I Maayan Cohen I 12 mins
It is the night of Gur and Dikla's engagement ceremony . The two Georgian families are tense, waiting for Gur. Outside, Gur's father is scheming to wed Madonna - his mistress' daughter, to Gur. Will Gur keep his sexual identity hidden for the sake of tradition? In this tragic comedy Gur has to choose his destiny.
Barely in Love I Israel 2013 I Nadav Mishali I 16 mins
Yotam is an Orthodox young man whose mother does not accept that he is gay, and tries to match him with women.

Tuesday 11th November Barbican
In Hiding (W ukryciu)
UK PREMIERE
Dir. Jan Kidawa-BÅ‚oÅ„ski | Poland 2013 | Drama | Polish with English subtitles | 103 minutes
A tense thriller set against the backdrop of a Nazi-occupied city in Poland at the end of WWII. Living alone with her father, Janina takes an interest in the Jewish woman being given shelter in their home. When Janina's father is arrested, the two women are drawn together, by their fear and loneliness.
As the war draws to a close, what starts as an impossible love story soon turns into a dark obsession.
In Hiding features scenes of a sexual nature.

Monday 17 November Odeon Swiss Cottage
Sounds from the Fog (KlÃ¤nge des Verschweigens)
UK PREMIERE
Dir. Klaus Stanjek | Germany 2013 | Documentary | German, English and Czech with English subtitles | 94 mins
Part detective story, part historical enquiry, Sounds From The Fog is about a filmmaker who discovers that his 90 year-old uncle, a German entertainer, is gay and was in the Nazi camps for 8 years.
Klaus Stanjek, a veteran filmmaker, offers a beloved, and fascinating, portrait of a man and a time, while uncovering both personal and historical repressions.
Tue 11th Nov, Odeon Swiss Cottage

Wed 19th Nov 6.30PM, Cine Lumiere
The Dune (La Dune)
UK PREMIERE
Dir. Yossi Aviram | Israel, France 2013 | Drama | French and Hebrew with English subtitles | 87 mins | Cast: Lior Ashkenazi, Niels Arestrup, Mathieu Amalric
'An uncommon film of great sensitivity' Variety
A quiet, and exquisitely filmed, story of two broken men - a father and his estranged son - played by actors at the peak of their careers, Israel's Lior Ashkenazi and France's Niels Arestrup.
Hanoch, a man in his forties, decides to leave his life in Tel Aviv and to fly to Paris. For mysterious reasons, he starts to secretly follow a 65-year old man, Ruben, before suddenly leaving the capital.
Ruben is about to put an end to his career as a police officer. He is slowly sinking into gloom when a colleague asks him to investigate a last case of disappearance.
Stunning panoramas of the Bordeaux countryside and the Israeli desert accompany the action.
Best Debut - Haifa Film Festival
+ Q&A WITH YOSSI AVIRAM

Following a successful Crowdfunding campaign, generously contributed to by none other than Stephen Fry, Rainbow Jews is continuing on its UK tour. The ground breaking exhibition which showcases LGBT Jewish life in the UK is currently being hosted by Birmingham Progressive Synagogue after a successful month in Leicester. This will be followed by the Liverpool Homotopia festival at Unity Theatre in November, Limmud Conference in December and finally Brighton Library for LGBT History Month in February 2015. For more information and to offer your support, visit the Rainbow Jews website.