Premiering at the Berlinale’s European Film Market, Neighbours depicts a realistic look at the quiet dignity of villagers living with the oppressive tyranny and corruption of the Syrian government and Turkish border guards in the seventies. In his Kurdish village in northeastern Syria, Sero and his uncle act as the Sabbath goy’im (gentile, a non-Jew) for their Jewish neighbors and their spinster daughter, Hannah. With a growing state of antisemitism, the situation becomes precarious for the Jewish family, yet they are stripped of their Syrian citizenship and are unable to leave the country. When Sero’s mother is accidentally shot by a Turkish border guard, the Jewish family turns to Sero’s father to help Hannah flee using his dead wife’s papers. Years later, when Sero is with his family in an Iraqi refugee camp, Hannah comes to find him. The emotionally uplifting Neighbours, an emotionally uplifting and important humanistic film, will play at the JCA on Sunday, November 7 at 3 pm.

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Join us for the JCA's celebration of the arts at the 2021 Jewish Cultural Arts Festival. This year our Jewish literary, film and arts event, features artwork, films, performances and the 25th Anniversary of the JCA’s signature Jewish Book Festival.

Due to the generosity of our sponsors, the 2021 JCA Cultural Arts Festival events are free and open to the community!

To register for an event, please visit https://jcajax-rec.force.com/s/login/ or call (904) 730-2100 ext. 228.

For information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Ben Marcus at (904) 730-2100 ext. 318.

For additional details about the festival or how to get involved, contact either Rachel Sandler at (904) 730-2100 ext. 271 rachel.sandler@jcaja.org or Heather Terrill at (904) 730-2100 ext. 265 heather.terrill@jcajax.org.