JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival

At the CJFF, our goal is to inspire movie-goers to expand their understanding of Jewish culture and to bring a wide-variety of entertaining films, with a Jewish lens, to our community. We promote films that have a Jew-ish connection to life, culture, history both on-screen and behind-the-scenes. To qualify as a CJFF submission, films must meet the basic category requirements and resonate with our Jewish community. Film must have a connection to the Jewish values or themes of - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, community, kindness, positivism, role modeling, stewardship of the earth, any Jewish holiday or historical event.

To qualify as a CJFF submission, Short Films must meet the basic category requirements and themes of the film festival. Film must have a connection to the Jewish values or themes of - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, community, kindness, positivism, role modeling, stewardship of the earth, any Jewish holiday or historical event. While Feature Films must be over 60 minutes, Short Film Submissions must be under 30 minutes including all intros and credits.

WHO: Student filmmakers of all experience levels (all are welcome, you don’t need to be Jewish to apply!) WHAT: New or previously created documentaries or narrative short films running 3-10 minutes in length, including credits. WHERE: Must reside in the Chicagoland area/suburbs (this includes parts of WI and IN) or participate in a JCC Chicago program (including Camp Chi and Springboard). WHEN: Ongoing WHY: Celebrate the Jewish experience connecting your film to (one or more) of the Jewish values or themes of - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, community, kindness, positivism, role modeling, stewardship of the earth, any Jewish holiday or historical event.