The 12th year of the Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival features eight films from all over the world and covers a diverse mix of genres, from documentary to dramedy. All of the films will be shown in the Belz Theater of the Orgel Family Performing Arts Center at the Memphis Jewish Community Center. The theater features comfortable seating, movie quality screens, surround sound audio, and more. This year’s film festival partners include Facing History & Ourselves, Jewish Historical Society of Memphis and the Midsouth, Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission, and Memphis Jewish Federation.

Opening night is Thursday, January 22 at the MJCC. The festival kicks off at 7pm with The Ring, a heart-warming dramedy about family and the history that reconnects them. Details of the 2026 Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival offerings are as follows:

The Ring
Israeli Academy Awards winner for best actor & International Emmy Awards winner, The Ring is a heart-warming dramady about three generations and the family history that reconnects them. Arnon Noble is a religious man with a strong bond to his mother, a Holocaust survivor. He usually drives her to school lectures where she tells the students how she saved the lives of her baby boy and herself with the help of a thin gold ring. When the mother’s health deteriorates, he travels to her old hometown, Budapest, to search for the mythological ring that saved her life in the past. He turns for help to his estranged daughter who is a TV researcher and offers her to go on this journey together. Will the search for the ring be successful? Will the ring save the mother’s life again and will the same ring that saved his mother also succeed in saving Arnon’s relationship with his own daughter?
(Opening Night at the MJCC, January 22 at 7pm)

The Stamp Thief
Part detective story, part heist film, part untold history, The Stamp Thief investigates a tale dating back to the Holocaust: that a mysterious Nazi stole priceless stamp collections from concentration camp victims and buried the stolen stamps in a small town in Poland. Embarking on a real-life “Argo”-like adventure, one-time Seinfeld producer Gary Gilbert sets out to confirm the story and recover the stamps. His tactic: a fake movie shoot. His goal: to return the stamps to their rightful owners, hopefully delivering a small measure of justice more than 70 years after the Holocaust. Gary is an improbable hero, a mensch who won’t take no for an answer. As he begins to peel back layers of Nazi family secrets, he discovers that the assumptions American Jews make about present-day Poland – and those that some Poles make about American Jews – complicate his plan in ways he never imagined.
Showing on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in partnership with Jewish Historical Society of Memphis and the Midsouth
(Showing at the MJCC Tuesday, January 27 at 7pm)

Tatami
The first feature co-directed by Iranian & Israeli Filmmakers, Academy Award Winner Guy Nattiv & Cannes Best Actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi and winner of 4 Ophir Awards. Based on true events, Tatami follows Iranian female judoka Leila and her coach Maryam, travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the competition, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: feign injury and comply with the Iranian regime as Maryam implores her to do, or defy them both and fight on, for the gold.
(Showing at the MJCC Thursday, January 29 at 7pm)

Diane Warren: Relentless
A captivating, surprising and inspiring underdog story, providing audiences with a rarely seen glimpse behind one of the most successful and prolific songwriters of all time: Diane Warren. One of the most prolific songwriters of all time, with a four-decade track record of writing mega-hits for industry giants, emerges as a force to be reckoned within Diane Warren: Relentless. Boasting 15 Academy Award nominations, an Honorary Oscar along with Grammy, Emmy, and Golden Globe Awards, Diane has etched her name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame and is responsible for some of the most iconic songs of our time. In this intimate documentary, filled with Diane’s signature humor, audiences get a rarely seen glimpse into Diane’s life and underdog journey to where she is today. Marked by a distinctive songwriting approach, exceptional work ethic and irreverence, the narrative delves into her most remarkable collaborations with first-hand commentary from Cher, Gloria Estefan, Common, David Foster, Jennifer Hudson, Kesha, and many more to showcase the creative genius that is Diane Warren.
(Showing at the MJCC Tuesday, February 3 at 7pm)

Pink Lady
In an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem, Bati appears to have the perfect life—happily married to Lazer with three beautiful children. But when Lazer is blackmailed by a gang and she discovers his secret affair, her world begins to unravel. Determined to protect her family and save the man she loves, Bati will stop at nothing to free him from the gang’s grip, all while confronting her own hidden desires. Directed by one of Israel’s most acclaimed filmmakers, Nir Bergman (Cannes Official Selection Here We Are and writer of In Treatment), this touching, provocative, and uplifting film follows one woman’s courageous journey of self-discovery, faith, and liberation.
(Showing at the MJCC Thursday, February 5 at 7pm)

No Name Restaurant
This heartwarming, culture-clash odyssey unfolds an improbable friendship between a stranded Brooklyn Jew and an Arab nomad in the vast desert, bringing humor and camaraderie. Ultra-Orthodox Ben sets out to rescue Alexandria, Egypt’s dwindling Jewish community, but finds himself marooned in the Sinai Desert. His last glimmer of hope rests with Adel, a gruff Bedouin in search of his lost camel. At first, they clash over cultural misunderstandings, until their broken-down SUV unites them in a fight for survival. Starring charismatic leads Luzer Twersky and Hitham Omari, this tender, whimsical road trip, set in breathtaking desertscapes, offers a parable of religious tolerance.
(Showing at the MJCC Tuesday, February 10 at 7pm)

For The Living
In January 1945, after 2 years as a prisoner in a death camp, 10-year-old Holocaust survivor Marcel Zielinksi embarked on a perilous 60-mile journey by foot from Auschwitz-Birkenau through an active war zone to Krakow, Poland. A child’s desperate search for any surviving family members. Decades later, 250 cyclists from 12 different countries traveled to Auschwitz and re-traced 84-year-old Marcel’s liberation path as a collective act of empathy called “Ride for the Living,” which was created by JCC Krakow. Marcel’s dehumanizing Holocaust experience and the empathy demonstrated during “Ride for the Living” provide a stunning parallel for humankind’s equally perilous journey between the two extremes of our nature: Dehumanization to Empathy.
Attendance to this event is free, thanks to the generosity our community partner Facing History and Ourselves.
This screening will be attended by Producer Lisa Effress and a Q&A will follow the screening.
(Showing at the MJCC Thursday, February 12 at 7pm)

The Property
Regina and her granddaughter Mika embark on a journey to Poland to reclaim their family property seized during World War II. But their quest quickly unravels. Regina unexpectedly decides to abandon the mission entirely, leaving Mika lost and confused. To complicate matters further, an irritating distant relative keeps appearing at every turn. Just as Mika finds herself falling for a charming tour guide, Regina seizes the opportunity to pursue her own hidden agenda: finding her long-lost love, from whom she was separated seventy years ago.
(Showing at the MJCC Thursday, February 19 at 7pm)

Individual movie tickets are available for $10 community / $8 member per person. Film Festival series passes are available for $56 for community and $45 for MJCC members. Series pass includes one ticket to each film. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.jccmemphis.org/filmfest or contact Jonathan McCarter, Director of Cultural Arts for questions at 901-259-9248 or at jmccarter@jccmemphis.org.