Explore the Jewish Experience through Film at NYJFF 2025

The 34th annual New York Jewish Film Festival (NYJFF), co-presented by the Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center, will take place from January 15 to January 29, 2025, at the Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue). This year’s festival continues its tradition of showcasing a diverse lineup of films from around the world that explore the Jewish experience, including exceptional features, documentaries, and shorts.

Opening the festival is Midas Man (2024), a biopic directed by Joe Stephenson that chronicles the life of Brian Epstein, the Jewish and gay manager credited with discovering the Beatles. The centerpiece film, Of Dogs and Men (2024), by filmmaker Dani Rosenberg, tells the poignant story of a teenager’s search for her missing dog in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attacks in Israel. Closing the festival is Ilana Trachtman’s documentary Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round (2024), which revisits a pivotal chapter in the civil rights movement of 1960 when Jewish locals joined Black students in protesting Maryland’s segregated Glen Echo Amusement Park.

The festival will feature two historic films: the 50th-anniversary restoration of Hester Street (1975), depicting Jewish immigrant life on New York’s Lower East Side, and the silent classic Breaking Home Ties (1922), digitally restored by the National Center for Jewish Film and presented with a newly recorded score by Grammy-winning musicians. Other notable highlights include Blind at Heart (2023), Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire (2024), The Glory of Life (2023), The Spoils (2024), and The Zweiflers (2024).  

Tickets are available at nyjff.org, with general admission priced at $19; $15 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $14 for members of Film at Lincoln Center and the Jewish Museum. Keep in mind that opening film tickets are slightly more expensive. You can also see more and save with the 3+ Film Package.

Celebrate the enduring legacy of Jewish storytelling at this year’s NYJFF, a vibrant celebration of culture and history through the lens of cinema.

Image: The Glory of Life, Courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center