Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival Goes Virtual
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The Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival will get under way for the 25th year this week. For the first time, the festival will be a virtual event.
Staging a virtual film festival is something new for Jerry Mittelman, the co-executive director of the festival. He says 40 films will be shown and while the festival is being staged in a nontraditional way, the topics are more traditional.
He also says all the films will be Jewish themed. They show that Jewish people enjoy the same things in life and have the same issues as everybody else.
Mittelman worked with several streaming services to ensure that festival attendees would be able to view the films. Tickets will be sold on the festival’s website and be available for 72 hours once the film is released.
The festival attracted about 13,000 visitors last year. Mittelman says a decline in ticket sales is expected this year.
“We’re getting inquiries and ticket sales from Flagstaff and Tucson, Prescott and all over the state. And we’re also getting ticket sales from out of state," he said. "People who haven’t come to the Valley this year because of the pandemic but have been here in previous years.”
Mittelman says people have 72 hours to view each film once they are released.
The festival runs Feb. 14 through March 3.
