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A comics legend, a punk band and an Israeli sci-fi drama bring Jewish themes to the Tribeca Film Festival
(New York Jewish Week) – Now 21 years old, New York’s biggest film festival is also reliably rife with Jewish connections. And this year, the festival — which runs at various venues throughout Manhattan, beginning Wednesday evening and continuing through June 18 — boasts a cool crop, ranging from a profile of Jewish comics legend Stan Lee to a mystery surrounding an Iranian dissident artist whose daughter formerly oversaw one of the city’s most unusual Jewish film festivals.
Here are some of the Jewish-interest films premiering at Tribeca this year. If you can’t make it in person, select films this year will be available for streaming following the festival.
“The Future”
Screening in the international narrative competition, this Israeli sci-fi drama plays off the deep divides in Israeli society today. The story is a murder mystery: The head of the country’s space program is killed in the run-up to Israel’s first mission to the moon, and the leader of a new “Minority Report”-esque algorithm designed to predict future acts of terrorism decides to interview a Palestinian university student who has confessed to the murder.
Playing June 10, 11 and 17.
“Stan Lee”
In advance of its streaming premiere on Disney+, this documentary tells the life story of the Jewish Marvel Comics legend who co-created pop culture’s most recognizable superheroes (including Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four). The film also profiles other Jewish comics pioneers in Lee’s orbit, including underground comics publisher Flo Steinberg, who began her career as his secretary.
Playing June 10, 11 and 18.
“A Revolution on Canvas (Untitled Nicky Nodjoumi)”
The former artistic director of the New York Sephardic Film Festival, Sara Nodjoumi has also produced documentaries like “The Iran Job” and “When God Sleeps,” both about the explosive intersection of pop culture and the Iranian regime. Now, Nodjoumi has turned the lens on her own father, Nickzad, an Iranian “treasonous” artist who saw more than 100 of his paintings mysteriously disappear. Co-directed by Nodjoumi and her husband Till Schauder, the documentary attempts to trace the paintings’ disappearance while asking larger questions about the fate of artists in a repressive society.
Playing June 11, 13 and 15.
“Every Body”
This timely documentary on intersex activists from “RBG” co-director Julie Cohen profiles three people born with ambiguous genitalia who hope to push back on common misconceptions about the gender binary and “corrective” surgery in the wake of sweeping legislation targeting trans people in a growing number of states. One of the film’s subjects, Austin-based Alicia Roth Weigel, is Jewish, and has talked about studying Kabbalah because the Book of Genesis describes “the image of God” as “male and female.” The film will receive a broader theatrical release June 30.
Playing June 11, 12 and 16.
“Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story”
Self-proclaimed “Gypsy punk” band Gogol Bordello, which has rotated several Jewish members, has been a global cult sensation for decades (with one heck of a live act). This documentary, which will be screened before a live performance from the band, chronicles the group’s raucous history and its explosive new chapter as a loud protest voice in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the homeland of charismatic frontman Eugene Hütz. While Hütz is not Jewish, he told the Manchester Jewish Telegraph that his family often experienced antisemitism from neighbors who had assumed they were. (Hütz also starred in the film adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Jewish metafiction “Everything Is Illuminated.”)
Playing June 13, 14 and 16.
Bonus: Jewish issues in audio storytelling
As podcasts grew in popularity in recent years, TriBeCa has introduced an “audio screening” program to complement its film selections. A few of its audio selections this year are of interest to Jewish audiences. There’s “Shalom, Amore,” a docu-fictional series about an Italian Jewish family during Mussolini’s Fascist regime, featuring the voice talent of Stanley Tucci. “Aisha,” a short audio drama, follows developing tension between a Palestinian girl in Gaza City and an Israeli-American aid worker.
Check festival guide for showtimes.
For more details and information about this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, click here.
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The post A comics legend, a punk band and an Israeli sci-fi drama bring Jewish themes to the Tribeca Film Festival appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Herzog Says Wellbeing of Israelis His Only Concern in Deal With Netanyahu’s ‘Extraordinary’ Pardon Request
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks during a press conference with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga, Latvia, Aug. 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
i24 News – In an interview with Politico published on Saturday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog remained tight-lipped on whether he intended to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extraordinary” pardon request, saying that his decision will be motivated by what’s best for Israel.
“There is a process which goes through the Justice Ministry and my legal adviser and so on. This is certainly an extraordinary request and above all when dealing with it I will consider what is the best interest of the Israeli people,” Herzog said. “The well-being of the Israeli people is my first, second and third priority.”
Asked specifically about President Donald Trump’s request, Herzog said “I respect President Trump’s friendship and his opinion,” adding, “Israel, naturally, is a sovereign country.”
Herzog addressed a wide range of topics in the interview, including the US-Israel ties and the shifts in public opinion on Israel.
“One has to remember that the fountains of America, of American life, are based on biblical values, just like ours. And therefore, I believe that the underlying fountain that we all drink from is the same,” he said. “However, I am following very closely the trends that I see in the American public eye and the attitude, especially of young people, on Israel.”
“It comes from TikTok,” he said of the torrent of hostility toward Israel that has engulf swathes of U.S. opinion since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, “from a very shallow discourse of the current situation, pictures or viewpoints, and doesn’t judge from the big picture, which is, is Israel a strategic ally? Yes. Is Israel contributing to American national interests, security interests? Absolutely yes. Is Israel a beacon of democracy in the Middle East? Absolutely yes.”
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Syria’s Sharaa Charges Israel ‘Exports Its Crises to Other Countries’
FILE PHOTO: Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday escalated his messaging against Israel at the Doha forum.
“Israel is working to export its own crises to other countries and escape accountability for the massacres it committed in the Gaza Strip, justifying everything with security concerns,” he said.
“Meanwhile, Syria, since its liberation, has sent positive messages aimed at establishing the foundations of regional stability.
“Israel has responded to Syria with extreme violence, launching over 1,000 airstrikes and carrying out 400 incursions into its territory. The latest of these attacks was the massacre it perpetrated in the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside, which claimed dozens of lives.
“We are working with influential countries worldwide to pressure Israel to withdraw from the territories it occupied after December 8, 2014, and all countries support this demand.
“Syria insists on Israel’s adherence to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. The demand for a demilitarized zone raises many questions. Who will protect this zone if there is no Syrian army presence?
“Any agreement must guarantee Syria’s interests, as it is Syria that is subjected to Israeli attacks. So, who should be demanding a buffer zone and withdrawal?”
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Turkey’s Fidan: Gaza Governance Must Precede Hamas Disarmament in Ceasefire Deal
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2025. Photo: Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Saturday that not advancing the US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan to its next stage would be a “huge failure” for the world and Washington, noting that President Donald Trump had personally led the push.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Fidan said a credible Palestinian civil administration and a vetted, trained police force needed to be in place to allow Hamas to disarm, and that the group was prepared to hand over control of the enclave.
“First of all, we need to see that the Palestinian committee of technical people are taking over the administration of Gaza, then we need to see that the police force is being formed to police Gaza – again, by the Palestinians, not Hamas.”
NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza. It played a key role in brokering the ceasefire deal, signing the agreement as a guarantor. It has repeatedly expressed its willingness to join efforts to monitor the accord’s implementation, a move Israel strongly opposes.
Talks to advance the next phase of President Trump’s plan to end the two-year conflict in Gaza are continuing.
The plan envisages an interim technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave, overseen by an international “board of peace” and supported by a multinational security force. Negotiations over the composition and mandate of that force have proven particularly difficult.
Fidan said the Gaza police force would be backed by the international stabilisation force. He added that Washington was pressing Israel over Turkey’s bid to join the force, to which it has voiced readiness to deploy troops if needed.
FIDAN SAYS KURDISH SDF IN SYRIA NOT WILLING TO INTEGRATE
Asked about a landmark deal in March in which the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and Damascus agreed that the SDF would be integrated into Syria’s state structures, Fidan said signals from the SDF showed it had “no intention” of honouring the accord, and was instead seeking to sidestep it.
Ankara, which considers the SDF a terrorist organisation, has threatened military action if it does not comply, setting a deadline of the end of the year.
“I think they (SDF) should understand that the command and control should come from one place,” Fidan added. “There can be no two armies in any given country. So there can only be one army, one command structure … But in local administration, they can reach a different settlement and different understandings.”
Almost a year after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, Fidan said some issues of minority rights were unresolved, insisting that Turkey’s backing of the new Syrian government was not a “blank cheque” to oppress any groups.
He said Damascus was taking steps toward national unity, but that Israeli “destabilisation policies” were the chief obstacle.
Israel has frequently struck southwestern Syria this year, citing threats from militant groups and the need to protect the Druze community near the frontier. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he expected Syria to establish a demilitarised buffer zone from Damascus to the border.
TURKEY: U.S. COULD REMOVE SANCTIONS ‘VERY SOON’
Fidan also said Washington’s initial 28-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war was just a “starting point,” and that it was now evolving in a new format. He said mediation by US officials was “on the right path.”
“I just hope that nobody leaves the table and the Americans are not frustrated, because sometimes the mediators can be frustrated if they don’t see enough encouragement from both sides.”
Asked about efforts to lift US sanctions imposed in 2020 over Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, he said both sides were working on it, adding: “I believe we’ll soon find a way to remove that obstacle.”