QC Film Blog

Holocaust Film Series 2023 begins March 12 at the Figge

The Lloyd M. Burstein Memorial Holocaust Film Series 2023 begins Sunday, March 12 at the Figge Art Museum Auditorium, 225 W. 2nd Street, Davenport, IA  Davenport, Iowa. This series is also part of the Out of Darkness: Holocaust Messages for Today project.

Tickets available at the door. Adults $7; Seniors (60+) and Military $6; Students Free.  For more information contact [email protected] or (309) 793-1300.

Resistance 

Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 4PM

He saved their lives in silence. Before he was the world-famous mime Marcel Marceau, he was Marcel Mangel, an aspiring Jewish actor who joined the French Resistance to save the lives of thousands of children orphaned at the hands of the Nazis. Jesse Eisenberg, Clémence Poésy, Ed Harris (Top Gun: Maverick), and Édgar Ramírez star in this compelling drama about a group of unsung heroes who put themselves in harm's way to rise above hatred and oppression during World War II. As a young man growing up in Nazi-occupied Europe, Marcel has no intention of getting involved in the war—his pursuits include impersonating Charlie Chaplin in burlesque clubs, painting backdrops for his plays, and antagonizing his obstinate father. His life is thrown into upheaval when he is recruited into the French Resistance, putting his acting skills to the ultimate test in teaching orphaned Jewish children how to survive in the horrifying reality of the Holocaust. Based on the inspiring true story, Resistance follows the revolutionary tale of a selfless act that would forever change countless lives.

120 minutes - English - Biography/Drama (2020)

Baltic Truth

Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 4PM

Hosted by award-winning Israeli performer Dudu Fisher (Les Misérables), "Baltic Truth" exposes the tragic events of the first months of WW2 in the Baltic States and how almost the entire Jewish community of the occupied Baltic Nations was eliminated by face to face executions, one bullet at a time with assistance of local population, before the Final Solution, before Auschwitz, and before gas chambers. The film reflects the need for accuracy of Holocaust history, and does not allow the shifting of blame simply onto Nazis, and the exculpation of Latvian and Lithuanian perpetrators. Lithuania is the most egregious historical revisionist today. That government’s well-organized and systematic campaign to rewrite the history of Holocaust criminals seriously jeopardizes the international community's efforts to preserve the truth of this dark period in history and thereby undermines efforts to prevent future genocide around the world. This film reveals the truth about the collaboration with the Nazi regime in the Baltic States; how neighbor turned on neighbor without hesitation, prompting a massacre of great proportions. Baltic Truth exposes how some national heroes involved in Holocaust crimes are being celebrated by their fellow countrymen to this very day.

90 minutes - English - Documentary (2022)

SHTTL

Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 4PM

This ambitious and technically astonishing film tells the expansive, multi-character story of a Jewish village in Ukraine on the border with Poland 24 hours before Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union. Shot in a single take in Ukraine, the film unspools with our knowledge of imminent terror and destruction looming, while at the same time focusing on the vitality of lives about to be destroyed. Featuring a remarkable cast that includes Moshe Lobel (who appeared in Broadway’s Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof revival) and Yiddish-fluent actor Saul Rubinek, this is a ruminative, philosophical work of naturalism that insightfully depicts a place brimming with vibrancy and the romance, politics, and intrigue of everyday life.

114 minutes - Yiddish & Ukrainian with English Subtitles - Drama (2022)



Reckonings: The First Reparations

Sunday, April 30 at 4PM

They met in secret to negotiate the unthinkable — compensation for the survivors of the largest mass genocide in history. Survivors were in urgent need of help, but how could reparations be determined for the unprecedented destruction and suffering of a people? Reckonings explores this untold true story set in the aftermath of the Holocaust.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman, Reckonings recounts the tense negotiations between Jewish and German leaders. Under the constant threat of violence, they forged ahead, knowing it would never be enough but hoping it could at least be an acknowledgement and a step towards healing.

84 minutes -- English/ German with English subtitles -- Documentary (2022)

Presenting sponsor for this film series is:

The Joyce and Tony Singh Family Foundation (FYI - Lloyd Burstein was Tony Singh's mentor)

Additional sponsors include:

**Rauch Family Foundation II, Inc.

** Wheelan-Pressley Funeral Homes

**Quad City Bank & Trust

**Stanley and Bernice Harris Memorial Endowment Fund

**Bernard and Irene Goldstein Memorial Endowment Fund

**Louis & Ida-Fox Rich Fund

**Gary and Randi Segal Family

**Marlyne and David Weiner Family

**Glenn Peterson

**Friendship Manor, Rock Island, IL

 

When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

QC Environmental Film Series Season begins January 22 at Figge

RiverAction's 2023 QC Environmental Film Series begins in January and will run through March 5th, with screening events hosted at various venues in the Quad Cities region. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://riveraction.org/filmseries.

January 22 (Sunday), 2:00 p.m. "The Seeds of Vandana Shiva"
Hosted by QCEFS at the Figge Art Museum, 225 W 2nd St, Davenport, IA 

The Seeds of Vandana Shiva tells the remarkable life story of Gandhian eco-activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of industrial agriculture, rose to prominence in the food justice movement, and inspired an international crusade for change.

January 29 (Sunday), 2:00 p.m. "My Garden of a Thousand Bees"
Hosted by St. Ambrose Green Life at St. Ambrose University, 518 W Locust St, Davenport, IA 

A wildlife filmmaker spends his time during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown filming the bees in his urban garden and discovers the many diverse species and personalities that exist in this insect family.

Reflection Speaker is Kraig McPeek, Field Office Supervisor for the Illinois-Iowa Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service.

February 5 (Sunday), 2:00 p.m. "Youth Unstoppable"
Hosted by North High School Green Team at North High School Auditorium, 626 W 53rd St, Davenport, IA

YOUTH UNSTOPPABLE takes us inside the rise of the Global Youth Climate Movement. Slater Jewell-Kemker was 15 when she began documenting the untold stories of youth on the front lines of climate change refusing to let their futures slip away.

February 12 (Sunday), 2:00 p.m. "The Ground Between Us"
Hosted by Augustana College Student Sierra Club at Olin Hall Auditorium, Augustana College, 820 38th St, Rock Island, IL 

Since 2017, public lands throughout America have faced unprecedented threats. Bears Ears National Monument was shrunk by 85 percent, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was opened to oil exploration, and the Elliott State Forest in Oregon was nearly privatized. Throughout this, Americans from both sides of the political spectrum have stood up and made their voices heard in support of protecting these areas. The Ground Between Us presents these public lands debates alongside the day-to-day realities of three families who hold vastly different connections and perspectives on public lands.

February 26 (Sunday), 2:00 p.m. "Black Ice"
Hosted by Black Hawk College's Clean Sphere at the Figge Art Museum, 225 W 2nd St, Davenport, IA 

Told through the eyes of Malik Martin and Chris Dean, Black Ice follows a crew of aspiring ice climbers from the Memphis Rox gym travels to the frozen wilds of Montana, where mentors Manoah Ainuu, Conrad Anker and Fred Campbell share their love of winter adventure in the mountains.

March 5 (Sunday) 2:00 p.m. "Dead Sea Guardians"
Hosted by the Jewish Federation of the QC at the Figge Art Museum, 225 W 2nd St, Davenport, IA 

The Dead Sea - the lowest place on earth and one of the wonders of the world - is dying. Three historic enemies join forces on a heroic journey to stop this catastrophe and save the Dead Sea from disappearing.

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When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

Jewish Federation of QC's Israeli Film Series featured at Figge in July

The Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities presents the "Israeli Film Series 2022" at the Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd Street, Davenport, Iowa, beginning in July.

Tickets available at the door. Adults $7; Seniors (60+) and Military $6; Students Free. For info call (309) 793-1300.

Three award-winning films will screen:

Sunday, July 10, 4:00 p.m "Crescendo"
Sunday, July 17, 4:00 p.m "Sublet"
Sunday, July 31, 4:00 p.m "Asia"

All have adult content.

"Crescendo"
Sunday, July 10, 4:00 pm
106 minutes - English & German with English subtitles - Drama (2020)

When world-famous conductor Eduard Sporck accepts the job to create an Israeli-Palestinian youth orchestra, he is quickly drawn into a tempest of sheer unsolvable problems. Having grown up in a state of war, suppression or constant risk of terrorist attacks, the young musicians from both sides are far from able to form a team.

"Sublet"
Sunday, July 17, 4:00 pm
89 minutes - Hebrew & English with English Subtitles - Drama (2020)

Michael is a travel writer for The New York Times, travelling to Tel Aviv for work. He is a former bestselling author, having written a book about New York City during the peak of the AIDS crisis, in which he lost a good friend to the disease. Instead of staying at a hotel, Michael meets Tomer, a younger film student in need of some extra money, and sublets his apartment in a popular neighborhood. The two gay men face a generational gap that puts their personal and clashing life philosophies into perspective.

 

"Asia"
Sunday, July 31, 4:00 pm
85minutes - Hebrew & Russian with English subtitles - Drama (2020)

Asia's motherhood has always been an ongoing struggle rather than an obvious instinct. Becoming a mother at a very early age has shaped Asia's relationship with her teenage daughter Vika. Despite living together, Asia and Vika barely interact with one another. Asia concentrates on her job as a nurse while Vika hangs out at the skate-park with her friends. Their routine is shaken when Vika's health deteriorates rapidly. Asia must step in and become the mother Vika so desperately needs. Vika's illness turns out to be an opportunity to reveal the great love within this small family unit.

The Israeli Film Series is sponsored by:

The Joyce and Tony Singh Family Foundation

Rauch Family Foundation II, Inc.

Wheelan-Pressley Funeral Homes

Quad City Bank & Trust

Stanley and Bernice Harris Memorial Endowment Fund

Bernard and Irene Goldstein Memorial Endowment Fund

Louis & Ida-Fox Rich Fund

Gary and Randi Segal Family

Marlyne and David Weiner Family

Glenn Peterson

 

When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

Gay Pride Films at the Figge in June

In recognition of Gay Pride Month, the Figge Art Museum will present a series of three award-winning, independent films on each Sunday in the month of June. Free to the public. The Figge is located at 225 West Second Street, Davenport, Iowa.

 

Sunday June 5th 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

The Oscar-nominated documentary How to Survive a Plague (2013) will be presented.

The Oscar-nominated documentary "How to Survive a Plague" (2013) will be presented.

Synopsis: In the late 1980s, members of Act-Up and other AIDS activists battle hostility and indifference to bring attention to the disease and try to reduce the number of victims while hoping to lead the drive to find a cure.

On Sunday June 12th 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

Rafiki (2018) will be presented

 

 

Synopsis: Kena and Ziki live very different lives in Nairobi. Kena works in her father's shop and awaits the start of nursing school, while Ziki passes the days hanging out with her friends and making up dance routines. Their paths cross when their fathers run against each other for seats in the County Assembly, and they find themselves drawn to each other. Soon their interest grows to affection and the girls find ways to love each other despite the ever-watching gaze of the neighborhood.

 

On Sunday June 19th 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

God's Own Country (2017) will be presented.

Synopsis: In Yorkshire a young unhappy farmer is living with his grandmother and sickly father. He numbs his frustrations with drinking and casual sex until a Romanian migrant worker sets him on a new path.

 

When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

"Holocaust Film Series" March 13-April 3 at Figge

The Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities presents The Lloyd M. Burstein Memorial "Holocaust Film Series 2022" beginning Sunday, March 13th, 4:00 p.m. at the Figge Art Museum Theater, 225 W. 2nd St, Davenport, Iowa.

Tickets are available at the door: Adults $7; Seniors (60+) and Military $6; Students Free. For info call (309) 793-1300. All of the films in this series have won multiple awards, and all have adult content.

"Love it was Not"
Sunday, March 13, 4:00 pm

A tragic love story between a prisoner and her captor. Flamboyant and full of life, Helena Citron is taken to Auschwitz as a young woman, and soon finds unlikely solace under the tutelage of Franz Wunsch, a high-ranking SS officer who falls in love with her and her magnetic singing voice. Risking a certain execution if caught, their forbidden relationship went on until her miraculous liberation. But when a letter arrives from Wunsch's wife, thirty years later, begging Helena to testify on Wunsch's behalf, she's faced with an impossible decision: will she help the man who brutalized so many lives, but saved hers, along with some of the people closest to her? (86 minutes) Hebrew/German with English subtitles - Documentary/War (2021)

"Sobibor"
Sunday, March 27, 4:00 pm

Sobibor" is based on the history of the Sobibór extermination camp uprising during WWII and Soviet officer Alexander Pechersky. When he was a POW in Sobibor, he managed to do the impossible - to organize a revolt and mass escape of the prisoners. Many of the escapees were later caught and died - the rest led by Pechersky managed to join the partisans. Script based on the book by Ilya Vasiliev: "Alexander Pechersky: Breakthrough to Immortality." (110 minutes) Dutch/Russian/German/Polish with English Subtitles - Drama/War (2018)

"Three Minutes - A Lengthening" 
Sunday, April 3, 4:00 pm

"Three Minutes - A Lengthening" presents a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938 in a Jewish town in Poland and tries to postpone its ending. The film is a haunting essay about history and memory. As long as we are watching, history is not over yet. The three minutes of footage, mostly in color, are the only moving images left of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk before the Holocaust. Those precious minutes are examined moment by moment to unravel the human stories hidden in the celluloid. Different voices enhance the images: Glenn Kurtz, grandson of David Kurtz, and Maurice Chandler, who appears in the footage as a young boy. Actress Helena Bonham Carter narrates the film. (67 minutes) English - Documentary (2021)

The annual "Holocaust Film Series", presented by the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cites, is named the "Lloyd M. Burstein Holocaust Film Series".

Lloyd Burstein was born in 1920 in Granville, Illinois to Latvian parents fleeing religious persecution in the pre-WWI Baltic State. During the Depression, Lloyd, who was the oldest of 5 children, worked hard to keep his siblings together as they lived in a cooperative Jewish children's orphanage in Southern California, and simultaneously he took night classes at UCLA to earn an undergraduate degree in physics. Lloyd was a Radar Battalion Officer in the US Army during WWII and afterwards continued his career as a systems engineer in the DC area. In 1957, he and his family settled in Vienna, Virginia where Lloyd was very active in uplifting the inner city community through the integration of schools, equal educational opportunities, and civil rights initiatives. In 1999, Lloyd received the Human Rights Award from the Fairfax County Human Rights Commission.

Presenting Sponsor:

The Joyce and Tony Singh Family Foundation

Additional Sponsors:

Rauch Family Foundation II, Inc.

Wheelan-Pressley Funeral Homes

Jewel Osco

Quad City Bank & Trust

Stanley and Bernice Harris Memorial Endowment Fund

Bernard and Irene Goldstein Memorial Endowment Fund

Louis & Ida-Fox Rich Fund

Gary and Randi Segal Family

Marlyne and David Weiner Family

 

When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

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River Action's Environmental Film Series features "Picture of His Life" film and filmmaker January 23

The award-winning movie, "Picture of His Life", the 1st movie in River Action's Environmental Film Series 2022, will be shown on Sunday, January 23, at 2:00 pm, at the Figge Art Museum Auditorium, 225 West 2nd St, Davenport, Iowa. Talk-back with the film's writer/director Dani Menkin will follow the film via live ZOOM. Dani is an Israeli-American living in California.

 

Admission is $5. Tickets may be purchased at riveraction.org or before the movie. Due to COVID seating is limited to 50. The Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities is one of the many proud sponsors of River Action's Environmental Film Series 2022. The Figge requires masks be worn and seating will be limited. 

 

Writer/Director Dani Menkin.

Synopsis: Amos Nachoum is one of the greatest underwater photographers of all time. Fascinated by the most fearsome creatures on earth, he has developed a unique approach, that puts him face to face with his subjects without any protection. He swam with crocodiles and killer whales, with anacondas and with great white sharks, but one major predator has always eluded him: the Polar bear. He tried before and barely escaped, but now, as he nears the end of his career, he is determined to give it one last shot.

 

As the journey unfolds, Amos contemplates the series of unspoken events that drove him here, to the end of the world. It has been a long and painful journey, after serving in an Elite Israeli Commando Unit during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and witnessing the horrors of war, but where others find fear, Amos finds redemption. (72 minutes)

 

View the film's trailer HERE!

 

When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

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River Action presents Quad Cities' first Environmental Film Series in September

Join River Action for the Quad Cities' first Environmental Film Series!

 

The films "Honeyland" on September 20 and "Anthropocene: The Human Epic" on September 27 will be held at the Blue Grass Drive In Theater.

 

 

Read about the details, times and admission at: https://www.riveraction.org/filmseries.

 

When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

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JDQC's March Holocaust Film Series' Screenings Postponed

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit will screen at the Lloyd M. Burstein Memorial Holocaust Film Series May 5th. 

The Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities presents the annual Lloyd M. Burstein Memorial Holocaust Film Series at the Figge Art Museum, 225 W 2nd St, Davenport, IA on selected Sundays March through May.

March 22 screening of Sobibor is POSTPONED. Visit https://www.jfqc.org/ for updates on when the film will be rescheduled.

March 29 screening of I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians is POSTPONED. Visit https://www.jfqc.org/ for updates on when the film will be rescheduled.

May 3, 4:00 p.m. - When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit will screen.

May 10, 4:00 p.m. - The Invisibles will screen.

 

Tickets available at the door. Adults $7; Seniors (60+) and Military $6; Students Free. For info call (309) 793-1300.  This film has adult content.  

Presenting sponsor: The Joyce and Tony Singh Family Foundation. Additional sponsors: Rauch Family Foundation II, Inc., Wheelan-Pressley Funeral Homes

 

For more information visit the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities at https://www.jfqc.org/.

 

When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

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Jewish Film Series presents "Fig Tree" and "Leona" in October at Figge

The Gordon Ney Jewish Film Series is underway with special screenings of award-winning films in the auditorium of the Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd St. 

Presented by the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, all films are shown at 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors (60-plus) and military, and free for students. 

On Sunday, October 6th Fig Tree screens. Released in 2018, the 93 minute drama is Amharic/Hebrew with English subtitles. Synopsis: 16-year-old Jewish Mina is trying to navigate between a surreal routine dictated by the civil war in Ethiopia and her last days of youth with her Christian boyfriend Eli. When she discovers that her family is planning to immigrate to Israel and escape the war, she weaves an alternate plan in order to save Eli. But in times of war, plans tend to go wrong. Marsha's coming-of-age film debut film is based on her childhood memories of a civil-war-torn Ethiopia.

On Sunday, October 20th Leona will screen.  A 2019, 95 minute Spanish with English subtitles drama.

Synopsis: "Leona" is an intimate, insightful, and moving film that tells the story of a young Jewish woman from Mexico City who finds herself torn between her family and her forbidden love. Ripe with all the drama and interpersonal conflicts of a Jane Austen novel, watching her negotiate the labyrinth of familial pressure, religious precedent, and her own burgeoning sentiment is both painful and beautiful — there are no easy choices to be made and the viewer travels back and forth with her as she struggles with her heart to take the best path.

Call 309-793-1300 or visit jfqc.org for more information about the Gordon Ney Jewish Film Series.

When you want to see great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area, visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

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Putnam Giant Screen Showcases "The Catcher Was a Spy" starring Paul Rudd June 19

The Putnam Giant Screen will showcase the New York Film Critics Series special presentation of "The Catcher Was a Spy" starring Paul Rudd on Tuesday, June 19.

A recorded introduction will be presented by film critic Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone and an interview with Rudd will follow the film.  

The Putnam is located at 1717 W 12th St, Davenport, Iowa.  The doors open at 6:30 P.M. and the preshow and film begins at 7:15 P.M. $10/pp at http://putnam.org/getdoc/5d64dd8f-a27e-4a8e-8afc-6a348ef88861/Time-to-rethink-movie-night!

Synopsis: In the midst of World War II, major league catcher Moe Berg (Paul Rudd) is drafted to join a new team: the Office of Security Services (the precursor to the CIA). No ordinary ballplayer, the erudite, Jewish Ivy League graduate speaks nine languages and is a regular guest on a popular TV quiz show. Despite his celebrity, Berg is an enigma - a closeted gay man with a knack for keeping secrets. The novice spy is quickly trained and sent into the field to stop German scientist Werner Heisenberg before he can build an atomic bomb for the Nazis.

"The Catcher Was a Spy" is rated R. Viewers under 17 require an accompanying parent or adult guardian.