Sun and Stars International Film Festival returns for second year in Palm Beaches
A film festival that launched last year in support of the nonprofit health care and educational organization MorseLife heads into its second year with a lineup of diverse film offerings.
The Donald M. Ephraim Sun and Stars International Film Festival runs Feb. 27 through March 11, with screenings of 25 films at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts' Rinker Playhouse in West Palm Beach and Paragon Theaters at Delray Marketplace west of Delray Beach.
The schedule features a slate of movies including documentaries, foreign films, romantic comedies, explorations of human rights and Jewish-themed dramas, the organization said.
Films at this year's festival include:
Opening night: "Taking Venice," a documentary that captures the story of the 1964 Venice Biennale — the Olympics of the art world — and a U.S. government plot to hijack its grand prize. The film features Philip Rylands, president and CEO of The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach. Rylands and director Amei Wallach will join the audience for a discussion following the film.
Feb. 29: "All About the Levkoviches," a comedy-drama about a Jewish family that struggles to find its footing following the death of their matriarch.
March 1: "My Name is Alfred Hitchcock," a documentary that provides an inside look at the master of suspense, his process and his life.
March 3: "God & Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism," a documentary produced by Rob Reiner and director by Dan Partland, covering the rise and roots of Christian Nationalism.
Closing night: "Never Too Late for Love," a romantic comedy that takes place in provincial Italy and follows an aging professor who falls for a woman in his ancestral village.
The festival in its sophomore year is being led by Artistic Director Barbara Scharres, the former director of programming at the Gene Siskel Film Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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"It's a festival that is really trying to find its place in the cultural calendar of the Palm Beach County area, and make a significant impact," Scharres told the Daily News. "That's the kind of work that I have always been involved in, in the cultural realm. I thought I had the skills to make it happen."
Scharres was connected to the festival through her work with the film center and Eliot Ephraim, who sits on the Siskel center's Philanthropic Council. Eliot Ephraim is the son of Donald Ephraim — the festival's namesake and co-founder.
When Donald Ephraim and his partner in the film festival and life, Terri Sriberg, were looking for an artistic director, they turned to Eliot Ephraim for advice, Scharres said.
"She has taken over the selection of all the films, and we probably have the best selection that we've had in the two years that we've been operating," Donald Ephraim said.
The challenge, Scharres said, is developing an audience for the festival. She also did extensive research on the types of festivals already in South Florida, including a Black film festival, an LGBTQ film festival and several Jewish film festivals.
"Our festival is an international film festival, and it aims to be very all-embracing in all those areas," Scharres said. "I think of an international film festival has a wonderful menu of things that are going on in the film world."
This is a great opportunity to explore trends and themes in film and what's being explored by movie-makers around the world, she said.
"While we're still small, we are determined to grow," Scharres said.
She was able to leverage her connections with film distributors around the world, previewing more than 100 films to narrow the field.
"I'm really looking for what's good, what's best, what is intriguing, what really stands out, and that's different in every case," Scharres said, adding that good art has something mysterious that can't be quantified.
"When it comes to what appeals to you as a piece of art and what appeals to you as a good film that touches your heart or challenges your mind, it's really about that mysterious factor," she said.
Born from a love for film
Donald Ephraim has a lifelong love of movies, a passion he carried into his work as an entertainment lawyer in Chicago, where his clients included the famed film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.
When Ephraim retired to Palm Beach from Chicago, he saw an opportunity to create a new film festival that could benefit MorseLife.
It was their work with MorseLife that brought Ephraim and Sriberg together. She shared Ephraim's passion for film, theater and music, and MorseLife CEO Keith Myers made the connection. Their joint venture, the film festival, has been a true labor of love, they said.
"We've had an interesting experience doing this," Sriberg said. "Both of us just love it, and he wants this to be special, wants to give back, and I'm here to help him do that."
In addition to its health care offerings, MorseLife has a number of awareness and education programs, including a Holocaust program for children in fifth through 12th grades.
"Our mission is to take care of those who can't take care of themselves," said Sriberg, a longtime MorseLife supporter. "We want to be proactive in our communities."
Representing those communities — which in South Florida are diverse and constantly changing and growing — was important to the film festival team.
"I think it's important in general to hear a bunch of voices, especially today, where there seems to be so much controversy," Donald Ephraim told the Daily News.
The films in this year's lineup include ones that tell Jewish and Muslim stories, are directed and written by women or represent the gay and lesbian community, they said.
The festival also features a handful of opportunities for audience discussions with key crew members from some of the featured films.
In "Less Than Kosher," (March 5) writer-producer Shaina Silver-Baird stars as a would-be star singer who begins to find success after taking a job as a cantor at a synagogue. Silver-Baird will be present for discussion after the film.
Calling her the Barbra Streisand of Canada, Scharres said Silver-Baird will perform a number during her appearance at the festival.
"She's going to do a Q-and-A, and I've been assured that she will definitely break into song at some point during that," Scharres said.
The film "Rabbi on the Block" (March 3) documents the true story of Rabbi Tamar Manasseh, a Black woman who is the first woman ordained by the International Israelite Board of Rabbis. She will be present for discussion after the film, along with director Brad Rothschild.
"I'm really proud that we were able to put together a menu for this festival that has so much diversity," Scharres said.
If you go
What: Donald M. Ephraim Sun and Stars International Film Festival presented by MorseLife
When: Feb. 27 through March 5 at the Kravis Center's Rinker Playhouse; March 8-11 at Paragon Theaters in Delray Marketplace
Where: Rinker Playhouse, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach; Paragon Theaters, 14475 Lyons Road, west of Delray Beach
Cost: $60 for opening night, including a cocktail reception; $13 for a general screening; $35 for a centerpiece night, including snacks and soft drinks; $35 for closing night
Information and full schedule: sasiff.org; 561-220-6735
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Film festival brings diverse lineup to West Palm Beach, Delray Beach
