Charlotte Jewish Film Festival Takes a Look at Race

The Charlotte Jewish Film Festival (CJFF), a program of the Levine JCC Cultural Arts Department, is excited to partner with The Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte for this special film “They Ain’t Ready for Me,” and the wonderful opportunity to host a live Q&A with the film’s Producer/Director Brad Rothschild and star Tamar Manasseh. As part of both organizations’ commitment to racial justice, we are pleased to offer our community meaningful opportunities to engage and educate on issues of race and racism, through a Jewish perspective.

We are working to adapt to this new COVID-19 reality by offering this flexible, virtual viewing format, in which you can enjoy not only the film on your own time, from the comforts of your home, but also discuss the film with filmmakers and stars who we would never get to meet, a silver lining of this unprecedented time!

In “They Ain’t Ready for Me,” Tamar Manasseh, founder of MASK (Mothers Against Senseless Killings), believes she can do anything! A mother and rabbinical student who dreams of becoming a rabbi someday, she is not only emerging as an important voice within Chicago’s Black community but also is on her way to becoming a national symbol of what can be achieved as a grassroots activist.

Timely and inspirational, “They Ain’t Ready for Me” also demonstrates the challenges Tamar faces in both her Black and Jewish worlds. While she is grateful for the support she receives from the Jewish community, she still cannot help but cringe when she is asked to validate her claim to Judaism just because of the color of her skin.

This will be the first of many virtual film offerings, as the CJFF screening committee is hard at work selecting films for our 2021 festival, which will begin on Saturday, February 1, 2021. We hope this new format will allow us to reach even more audience members who may not have been able to attend our festival in the past but will be able to attend virtually this year.

For more information and to register for this event, visit www.jewishcharlotte.org.