AJFF Celebrates 25 Years of Jewish Films

A change from City Springs back to the Cobb Energy Centre welcomed 800 supporters who walked the red carpet for the 2025 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Opening Night Gala on a chilly evening on Feb. 19.

Special well wishes were on hand for Kenny Blank, AJFF Executive Director, and Martha Jo Katz, honorary event chair, who have worked tirelessly over the long run to realize 25 years of the festival’s growth. Honorary festival chair Steve Labovitz told the AJT, “I’m incredibly thrilled with the growth of the festival. Many different folks now attend and are represented here for the first time. It’s not just ‘Jewish community,’ but the community at large recognizing our mission to create dialogue and education.”

Katz welcomed co-chair Leah Blum, along with first time co-chair Annie Herbert. As a triple team, Blum expressed that Katz planned to bow out after this year. “We cannot let her leave. No one can say ‘no’ to Martha Jo.” Katz said, “I thank Kenny for the good energy and letting me run wild with it all through the decades.”

Then there are those anticipating the upcoming movies. American Jewish Committee board member Murray Goldman showed his list of the five movies he had selected: “Janis Ian,” “The Bibi Files,” “Matchmaker 2,” “Midas Man,” in addition to that night’s “Bad Shabbos.”

Barry Epstein, a third-year sponsor, said he was seeing 28 films. Around 90 minutes after the 5 p.m. start, the “Bad Shabbos” cast and producers posed on the red carpet and chatted with fans. Star Kyra Sedgwick, the mother in the film, was reunited with Eydie and Steve Koonin, whom she knew from his days at Turner Broadcasting.

Two young Jewish movie “machers,” Adam Mitchell, producer, flew in from New York and cohort Daniel Robbins, director and writer, were the impetus behind making “Bad Shabbos.” Mitchell told the AJT, “I based the movie on my own family’s shabbat dinners.”

When asked how a young kid like himself got to produce a movie, he said, “You can call it ‘luck’, but I paid my dues working up from a mailroom clerk at a talent agency in L.A.”

Eighteen restaurant vendors lined the U-shaped ballroom with an open bar in the center under icicle-like glitzy lighting. The desserts were adjacent to the lobby area. An exciting new restaurant this year was Ilene Oxman’s Reunion, out of East Cobb, keeping busy serving lemon caper chicken alongside daughter, Aly Kapper. Oxman, who also owns Harry’s Pizza on Powers Ferry, remarked, “I’m absolutely thrilled to connect to this community. Some others ran out of food; and we are still serving and have a good amount of leftovers for the Giving Kitchen.”

Longtime participant Stuart Fierman, of the Fifth Group, had two booths: Ecco and South City Kitchen. He shared that the latter’s dish was one of his and his parents’ favorite brunch menu items.

“Often vendors prepare a dish here that’s not on their traditional menu. Our salmon mousse is,” he said. Ecco offered sour potato sufganiyot topped with thin sliced cucumber and seafood. Another favorite was first timer O-Ku which served luscious avocado puree laced Hamachi tartare. The Alden chef, Jared Huck, offered a rich grilled local mushroom tart and announced that they are now open for lunch two days per week.

Other food partners were C &S Seafood (tuna tartare), Hawkers Asian (PoPo Lo’s Curry), Il Giallo, Imperial Fez (Kelta tajine and chicken mrouzia), Indaco (sweet potato arancini), The Select (acorn squash risotto), Vino Venue, and Reverence at Epicure.

Longtime community partner and Dunwoody mogul, David Abes, of Message in a Bottle (chilled rare sesame tuna), welcomed son, Mitchell, to the family biz and announced the opening of their upcoming Ice Cream Shop and Soda Pop, where diners can take a fizzy drink and walk over to Bar (n) and add some booze and make it a “fuzzy.” Wife, Julie, will include her cookie dough in that also.

Dessert vendors were Bloom Flavours, Shake Shack (house made frozen custard), Davinci (cake style) DoNuts, and Tiny Lou’s with reconstructed baklava bites. Favorite flavors for Bloom’s ultra-premium Italian ice were green apple, mango and strawberry cheesecake. There’s always room left for sweets, even after eating 14 dishes from 14 selections!