Israel, 2006, 86 minutes, color
Director: Hanan Peled
Hebrew with English subtitles

In Tel Aviv in the early 1960s, ten-year-old Hilik just wants to make his parents happy to compensate for the grief and loss they suffered in the Holocaust. But the family’s fragile balance is breached when Hilik's father chooses to believe that a lost son from his first marriage did not really die in Auschwitz, but somehow escaped to the United States to become President Kennedy's assistant.When the father writes a letter to Mr.Waldman, Hilik takes matters into his own hands. This coming-of-age story, written and directed by the son of survivors, beautifully captures the milieu of mid-century Israel and the peculiarities of growing up amid the emotional wreckage of the Holocaust.
NR, suitable for teens

Remarks by Ariella Lang, a visiting scholar in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. Her areas of expertise include Jewish-Christian relations, the Holocaust, and Jewish film.

Admission to all films is free, with a $6 donation suggested.