Asheville Jewish Film Festival 2026

The Asheville Jewish Film Festival 2026, presented by the Center for Jewish Studies at UNC Asheville, invites audiences into a month of film, conversation, memory, humor, and community. This year’s festival features four acclaimed films shown on the UNC Asheville campus, beginning with an opening night reception and continuing across four weekends with screenings, special guests, and facilitated conversations that bring Jewish stories into dialogue with Asheville and Western North Carolina.

Festivalgoers may choose individual screenings, student tickets, multi-film packages, or a full festival pass. All screenings include free campus parking, with shuttle service planned for accessibility and ease of arrival. Whether you are joining for one film, bringing friends for opening night, or spending the month with us, AJFF offers a welcoming space to encounter powerful cinema, gather across generations, and support a growing Jewish cultural event in Asheville.

Opening reception for the Asheville Jewish Film Festival, October 10, 5:30 pm

Once Upon My Mother (Trailer)

Set in France and spanning decades, Once Upon My Mother follows Esther, a Sephardic Jewish mother whose fierce devotion helps her son Roland, born with a clubfoot in 1963, push past medical forecasts and social barriers. Warm, funny, and deeply moving, it’s a crowd-pleasing story about resilience, family, and the stubborn power of love.

• Showing on Saturday, October 10 at 7:00 pm
• Showing Sunday, October 11 at 2:00 pm

Sabbath Queen (Trailer)

Filmed over 21 years, Sabbath Queen traces Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s extraordinary journey as an heir to generations of Orthodox rabbis who becomes a queer religious innovator and founder of Lab/Shul, an “everybody-friendly” experimental Jewish community. This expansive documentary explores ancestry, identity, reinvention, and the many ways Jewish life can be built with courage and imagination.

• Showing on Saturday, October 17 at 7:00 pm
• Showing Sunday, October 18 at 2:00 pm

The Sea (Trailer)

In this powerful Israeli drama, 12-year-old Khaled, a Palestinian boy on a school trip to the Mediterranean, is turned back at a checkpoint and sets out on his own to reach the sea for the first time. A tense, intimate coming-of-age story, The Sea invites viewers into a child’s determination and the human stakes of borders, language, and freedom of movement.

• Showing on Saturday, October 24 at 7:00 pm
• Showing Sunday, October 25 at 2:00 pm

The Ring(Trailer)

Based on a true story, The Ring follows Arnon Noble, a devout Israeli whose world is shaken as his Holocaust-survivor mother’s health declines. He travels to Budapest to uncover the truth behind the ring that once saved her life. A gripping blend of family mystery and historical reckoning, the film explores survival, memory, and what we inherit across generations.

• Showing on Saturday, November 7 at 7:00 pm
• Showing Sunday, November 8 at 2:00 pm