8th Annual Jewish Film Festival

This year’s Jewish Film Festival at the Honolulu Academy of Arts is the largest since its 2002 debut, with six feature films and one short all making their Hawaii premieres.

The lineup includes two works with a Japanese connection: “Inside Hana’s Suitcase,” which follows a Tokyo teacher and her class as they unravel a Holocaust victim’s life from the few clues left in her suitcase, and “A Matter of Size,” about Israeli sumo wrestlers. The festival will also feature a bit of humor from Catholic-turned-Jewish comedian Yisrael Campbell’s “Circumcise Me” and the romantic comedy “Beau Jest.”

Filmmaker Lynn Roth will be at tomorrow’s opening night to introduce her film “The Little Traitor,” starring Alfred Molina. The film won the 2008 Audience Award for best feature film at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival. Roth will also lead a discussion following the film.

Rabbi Peter Schaktman of festival sponsor Temple Emanu-El will also lead a post-screening discussion after “The Lemon Tree,” which addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (This year, Temple Emanu-El celebrates its “50 Years on the Pali” anniversary.)

The synagogue created the film festival in honor of the late civil rights attorney Kirk Cashmere, who was also interested in sharing Jewish culture with the people of Hawaii.