Centre Film Festival
Tickets are free for this event thanks to the sponsorship of the Sustainability Institute at Penn State.
Mazel Tov
At a banquet hall in Israel, at the height of a war, Adam Weizmann’s bar mitzvah party turns into a glorious catastrophe. On the cusp of manhood- and on the verge of a nervous breakdown- Adam takes a crucial step toward coming to terms with his sexuality.
Year: 2021
Runtime: 25 minutes
Language: Hebrew
Country: Israel
Director: Eli Zuzovsky
Eli Zuzovsky is an Israeli-born director, writer, and journalist. A 2021 Rhodes Scholar-Elect, he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University with a BA in Filmmaking and English Literature. At Harvard, he was the features editor of The Harvard Advocate and received honors like The Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts, The Thomas T. Hoopes Prize, and The Artist Development Fellowship.
Zuzovsky’s short film MAZEL TOV, starring Israeli Academy Award-winner Maya Dagan, Amit Rahav (Netflix’s Unorthodox), and Amir Khoury (Netflix’s Fauda), was shortlisted for The 2021 Israeli Academy Award. His work has been presented at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, The American Repertory Theater, and Tzavta Theater, among others. His writing and translations have appeared in publications like Haaretz, The Times of Israel, and The Harvard Political Review.
He has created works for the screen, stage, and page about the refugee crisis, Greek monsters, Benjamin Netanyahu, former drug addicts who box, lesbian ghosts, Allen Ginsberg’s mom, the French presidential election, the first openly trans I.D.F. soldiers, neoliberal tax reforms, Harvard’s homophobic past, and other themes.
Beans
Twelve-year-old Beans is on the edge: torn between innocent childhood and reckless adolescence; forced to grow up fast and become the tough Mohawk warrior she needs to be during the Oka Crisis, the turbulent Indigenous uprising that tore Quebec and Canada apart for 78 tense days in the summer of 1990.
Based on true events, Tracey Deer’s debut feature chronicles the 78-day standoff between two Mohawk communities and government forces in 1990 Quebec.
Year: 2020
Runtime: 92 minutes
Language: English
Country: Canada
Director: Tracey Deer
Born and raised in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, Tracey Deer is an award-winning Indigenous director, producer, writer, mentor, speaker, and leader. A graduate of Dartmouth College’s Film Studies program, Tracey is a visual storyteller who wants to have a positive impact on the world. Tracey is the Co-Executive Producer on “Anne with an E” and in 2016, Tracey was one of the 12 honorees at The Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year’s Women in Film during TIFF. Her work has been honored with two Gemini awards, many nominations for Canadian Screen Awards, and has earned acclaim from international film festivals, including Hot Docs and DOXA. She has worked with the CBC, the NFB, and numerous independent production companies throughout Canada. In 2008, Playback Magazine declared Tracey as one of the 25 rising stars in the Canadian Entertainment Industry.
