Nora Lee Mandel
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mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
Nora Lee Mandel
@mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
280 followers 120 following 230 posts
Film & TV Critic - NY Film Critics Online http://MavensNest.net/movies.html
Authentic Jewish mother watching Jewish women on film & TV
#SupportWomenArtistsNow #iSWANs http://ff2media.com/
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mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@filmlinc.bsky.social SAPIRO VS FORD: THE JEW WHO SUED HENRY FORD – Aaron Sapiro’s words embodied by actor Ben Shenkman, dir Gaylen Ross brings us history we never learned in school about U.S.’s #1 antisemite brought down by leader of cooperative farmers 1/28 w/Q&A
www.filmlinc.org/films/sapiro...
Sapiro v. Ford: The Jew Who Sued Henry Ford
The notoriously antisemitic automobile tycoon Henry Ford met his match when a Jewish lawyer named Aaron Sapiro brought a libel suit against him. Gaylen Ross’s enlightening documentary tells the ultima...
www.filmlinc.org
January 28, 2026 at 7:42 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@filmlinc.bsky.social NY Jewish Film Fest FRONTIER Catalan director Judith Colell explores complexities of other side of Pyrenees (looming by DP Andreu Adam Rubiralta) in 1943 – in Franco’s Nazi ally Spain who would help Jewish refugees? 1/27 via @MenemshaFilms Now?
www.filmlinc.org/films/fronti...
Frontier
This remarkable historical thriller tells the gripping true story of the residents of a Spanish village who defied their country’s fascist regime to save Jews smuggled in from Nazi-occupied France.
www.filmlinc.org
January 27, 2026 at 7:42 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@filmlinc.bsky.social NY Jewish Film Fest: Director Tom Shoval and twin Eitan Cunio find intense irony and revelations in auditions, outtakes, background from YOUTH (2014) co-starring David with brother kidnapped 10/7/23. Go2Films version w/o update, but 1/26 w/Q&A
www.filmlinc.org/films/a-lett...
A Letter to David
Filmmaker Tom Shoval’s deeply moving documentary essay pays tribute to his friend David Cunio, who was taken hostage on October 7, 2023 while also examining the connection between cinema and memory.
www.filmlinc.org
January 26, 2026 at 8:53 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@filmlinc.bsky.social NY Jewish Films eats vicariously w/Tomer Heymann’s ORNA AND ELLA his exhausted friends close 26 yr Tel Aviv cafe; Emily Lobsenz visits different ages & immigrants make varied soup recipes A BIT OF EVERYTHING & MATZOH BALLS TOO 1/25, 1/27 w/Q&As
www.filmlinc.org/films/orna-a...
Orna and Ella
Award-winning documentarian Tomer Heymann’s mouthwatering film is a testament to the two women behind landmark Tel Aviv restaurant Orna and Ella. Preceded by Emily Lobsenz’s A Bit of Everything and Ma...
www.filmlinc.org
January 24, 2026 at 1:36 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@filmlinc.bsky.social NY Jewish Film revives OUT OF EXILE: PHOTOGRAPHY OF FRED STEIN (2021) directed & co-stars his son Peter & D-I-L Dawn Freer tracks Fred’s oeuvre from 1930s Europe to making it to US w/his partner wife Lilo thru posthumous recognition 1/25 w/Q&A
www.filmlinc.org/films/out-of...
Out of Exile: The Photography of Fred Stein
This visually marvelous documentary, which features the voices of Barbara Sukowa and Mark Waschke, portrays the courageous life and work of German Jewish photographer Fred Stein.
www.filmlinc.org
January 23, 2026 at 9:46 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@filmlinc.bsky.social NY Jewish Film Fest ALONG THE RIVER Dir Gerburg Rohde-Dahl documents 1st post 10/7/23 “trialogue” after 20 yrs of FRIENDSHIP ACROS BORDERS w/Israelis, Palestinians, and Germans, mostly young. Participant reactions are frank & raw. 1/22 w/Q&A
www.filmlinc.org/films/along-...
Along the River
Gerburg Rohde-Dahl’s powerful and momentous documentary follows a group of Israelis and Palestinians who came together in Germany for a seminar in the aftermath of October 7, 2023 to speak and listen.
www.filmlinc.org
January 22, 2026 at 10:23 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@filmlinc.bsky.social NY Jewish Film Fest Debut writer/director Anat Malz’s charming REAL ESTATE (aka ”A Love Story") with irresistible gig-economy preggers couple Victoria Rosovsky and Leib Lev Levin apt-hunting from noisy Tel Aviv to hilly Haifa w/Q&A via Go2Films
www.filmlinc.org/films/real-e...
Real Estate
A young couple is priced out of their Tel Aviv apartment and on the hunt for an affordable new home, just as they are planning to start a family, in Anat Malz’s film about belonging, economic instabil...
www.filmlinc.org
January 21, 2026 at 10:10 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@filmlinc.bsky.social NY Jewish Films Dir Abby Ginzberg LABORS OF LOVE: LIFE AND LEGACY OF HENRIETTA SZOLD reveals her family’s surprising connection that turned a scholar into whirlwind to save Palestine/Israel children's lives w/pleas for shared peace
1/20 w/Q&A
www.filmlinc.org/films/labors...
Labors of Love: The Life and Legacy of Henrietta Szold
Peabody Award–winning director Abby Ginzberg’s heartfelt documentary spotlights Henrietta Szold, one of the 20th century’s most influential American Jewish women, who reshaped history through compassi...
www.filmlinc.org
January 20, 2026 at 10:38 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
BlueSky
@filmlinc.bsky.social NY Jewish Films MY UNDERGROUND MOTHER journo/daughter/debut dir @marisafox.bsky.social reveals her mother’s hidden Holocaust experience w/ignored brutality vs 5K+ girls in Nazi slave camps & from Russian liberators+
1/19, 1/20 w/Q&As www.filmlinc.org/films/my-und...
My Underground Mother
In this absorbing and intimate debut documentary, New York journalist Marisa Fox delves into her mother’s secret past, discovering revelations about her life as a spy and freedom fighter against the N...
www.filmlinc.org
January 19, 2026 at 9:05 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz’s MALDORER enmeshes audience in inspired by true crime/police/judiciary scandal of 1990’s Belgium through the eyes of an obsessed, redemption-seeking new cop (darkly by DP Manu Dacosse) @filmmovement.bsky.social
filmmovement.com/product/mald...
Maldoror :: Film Movement
filmmovement.com
January 17, 2026 at 3:22 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@angelstudio.bsky.social viscerally brings the anguish and desperation of 5 different past Syrian+ migrant families to mainstream US audiences with activist/filmmaker Brandt Andersen’s I WAS A STRANGER to generate sympathy for other asylum-seeking migrants today
www.angel.com/watch/i-was-...
I Was a Stranger | In Theaters Now | Angel
Five strangers are pulled together, colliding on a single night where survival is uncertain.
www.angel.com
January 17, 2026 at 2:37 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
Writer/Director/Star Albert Birney’s OBEX is fond nostalgia for 1987 computer nerds discovering 1st participatory fantasy game (and those who lived with them, I know 1st hand). Via @Oscilloscope Now @ifccenter.bsky.social w/Q&As Next Week SF LA Cambridge OH CO more
obex.oscilloscope.net/obex-site/
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obex.oscilloscope.net
January 9, 2026 at 10:17 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
Dardenne Brothers' realistic YOUNG MOTHERS Belgium Oscar entry Which of 5 naïve teens will cope w/babies even w/social welfare support, romance, drugs, their mothers have big impacts @musicboxfilms.com Now NYC @ifccenter.bsky.social LA 1/16 Chicago & Seattle+
www.musicboxfilms.com/film/young-m...
Young Mothers - International Films - Independent Films | Music Box Films
Five young mothers living in a shelter strive for a better future for themselves and kids amidst challenging upbringings.
www.musicboxfilms.com
January 9, 2026 at 6:53 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
ALL THAT’S LEFT OF YOU – Jordan’s Oscar entry pick - writer/director/star Cherien Dabis with Bakris father/sons epic portrait of multi-generational Palestine as victims to very sad music @watermelon_pics Opens 1/9 NY @AngelikaFilmNY LA w/Q&As SF More 1/15
www.watermelonpictures.com/films/all-th...
January 8, 2026 at 11:03 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
Chinese Wr/dir Johnny Ma’s THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR is empathetic cross-cultural, cross-generational, cross-climate, cross-gender “while You Were Sleeping” @dekanalog.body.social Bring parent for discount thru 1/7 @ifccenter www.ifccenter.com/films/the-mo...
January 6, 2026 at 1:08 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
THE CHORAL writer Alan Bennett & dir Nicholas Hytner find a fresh way to reveal small town Britain in 1916 amidst Great War with Ralph Fiennes amidst classic and young talents Now NYC @angelikafilmny & LA @laemmle_royal Nationally 1/16 @sonyclassics.bsky.social
www.sonyclassics.com/film/thechor...
The Choral | Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics presents 'The Choral' - Opens December 25
www.sonyclassics.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:43 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
DAVID: Visually colorful animation, a somewhat international voice-acted cast belting out catchy but too short tunes in overly simplified Children’s Bible Story through a Christian perspective via Angel Studios
My review: mavensnest.net/David.html
www.angel.com/movies/david
Reel Life: Flick Pix
mavensnest.net
December 21, 2025 at 7:57 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
The passing of guitarist/bedrock of Stax Steve Cropper (RIP) reminded me: his
"Green Onions" was one of the first 45s I ever bought - 3 for $1 sale at Acme in Little Falls, NJ. [With Phil Spector's Crystals' "He's A Rebel"(by Gene Pitney) & Motown's Mary Wells' "You Beat Me To The Punch" by Smokey]
December 10, 2025 at 1:01 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
TALE OF SILYAN Native Macedonia dir Tamara Kotevska flies w/generations of symbiotic storks & farmers torn by economics finding temp peace in folk tale w/local instruments N Macedon Oscar entry
@natgeodocs.bsky.social 11/28 @ifccenter.bsky.social 12/5+:
films.nationalgeographic.com/the-tale-of-...
films.nationalgeographic.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:25 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND Belgian wr/dir Hélène Cattet 4th collab w/Bruno Forzani is dizzying fast sports car romp of satirizing European James Bond imitations Pan- European cast is all-in the violent fun @shudder.com Showcase @ifccenter.bsky.social Streams 12/5
www.ifccenter.com/films/reflec...
IFC Center - Reflection in a Dead Diamond
When the mysterious woman in the room next door disappears, a debonair 70-year-old ex-spy living in a luxury hotel on the Côte d’Azur is confronted by the demons and darlings of a lurid past in which ...
www.ifccenter.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:49 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
See Huang Xi’s NYC/Taiwan DAUGHTER'S DAUGHTER for proder/star SYLVIA CHANG’s multi-faceted performance as a reluctant, sandwich-generation matriarch Now @metrographnyc.bsky.social w/Taiwanese “Like Mother/Like Daughter” series thru 12/12 Via @dekanalog.bsky.social
www.dekanalog.com/films/daught...
Daughter's Daughter — Dekanalog
www.dekanalog.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:28 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED Inspired by family history, wr/dir Pierre Saint Martin's debut personalizes generational trauma from gov’t violence in intensity & aged body of Luisa Huertas. Mexico's Oscar entry now @cinemavillage , Houston + 2026 @cinematropical.com
www.cinematropical.com/new-events/u...
U.S. Theatrical Release of WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED — Cinema Tropical
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED / NO NOS MOVERÁN A film by Pierre Saint Martin (Mexico, 2024, 100 min. In Spanish with English subtitles) Winner of four Ariel Awards—for Best First Feature, Original Screenpl...
www.cinematropical.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:13 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
SECRET AGENT Kleber Mendonça Filho @metrographnyc.bsky.social retrospective follows Wagner Moura as widowed dad dodging corruption, murder, urban legends, Carnivale (DP Evgenia Alexandrova) 1977 Recife, Brazil Opens 11/26 @filmlinc.bsky.social 12/5 L.A. then nat’l
www.neonrated.com/film/the-sec...
The Secret Agent
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival but soon realizes that the city is not the safe haven h...
www.neonrated.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:23 AM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS dirs Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni embed w/Azers NW Iran village over yrs (w/gov’t harassment) to track unconventional woman leader/organizer vs traditions limits young & old females @filmforumnyc.bsky.social 12/5 SF @roxie LA @laemmle
www.gandomproduction.com/cutting-thro...
Cutting Through Rocks, Documentary Film — Gandom Films Production
Winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary. As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions. Directed ...
www.gandomproduction.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:40 PM
mandelmavensnest.bsky.social
@docnycfest.bsky.social Kurdish-Iraqi-Norwegian director Zaradasht Ahmed returns to the cradle of civilization Mosul post-ISIS to reveal passionately different views on how THE LIONS BY THE RIVER TIGRIS can be preserved - any post-war heritage Streams now thru 11/30
www.docnyc.net/film/the-lio...
THE LIONS BY THE RIVER TIGRIS - DOC NYC
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE In the aftermath of Mosul’s destruction by ISIS, Bashar Salih and his family sift through the ruins of their ancestral home,
www.docnyc.net
November 22, 2025 at 3:11 AM