JIFF: 2023 Shorts

Mahjong & Mahashas

AUSTRALIA — 2023, 15 MIN
DIRECTOR Carolyn Saul — WORLD PREMIERE

Mahjong and Mahashas is a rich and vibrant smorgasbord, an archival exploration of a family’s culture. The clatter of the mahjong tiles, the aroma of Middle Eastern spices and the celebration of age-old traditions are some of the flavours in the melting pot that is Sydney’s Singaporean Sephardic community.

Stones

AUSTRALIA — 2023, 19 MIN
DIRECTOR Chris Bennett, Stephanie Osztreicher — WORLD PREMIERE

As a woman struggles to deal with the loss of her aunt, mysterious packages containing stones from strangers all over the world begin to arrive on her doorstep, which leads her on a journey to face her grief.

Cut

AUSTRALIA — 2023, 19 MIN
DIRECTOR Samuel Lucas Allen — AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

Daniel, a teenage boy caught in a web of lies, is pulled in different directions by his best friend and burgeoningNeo-Nazi, his secret lover, and his orthodox Jewish father. As his ability to juggle his identities falters, he finds himself haunted by a Hasidic spectre demanding a sacrifice.

The Swap

AUSTRALIA — 2023, 16 MIN
DIRECTOR Natasha Kaminsky — WORLD PREMIERE

What would you prefer - to tell a lie, or to get divorced? Moishe Levi and Francesco Levi are far from related, but when they accidentally confuse and swap their children at birth, their lives and their lies become forever intertwined.

Demonstrating for Democracy: On the Frontline of Israel’s Protest Movement

ISRAEL, AUSTRALIA — 2023, 5 MIN
DIRECTOR Danny Ben-Moshe — WORLD PREMIERE

A journey into the unprecedented protest movement in Israel, as civil society fights to save democracy. Shot on the ground at the pro-democracy protests in Israel by documentarian Danny Ben-Moshe, this is a work in progress of what will be an immersive virtual reality film.