JEWISH cowboys, Jews in Kenya – and the flight of Billy Joel’s family from Nazi Germany.Those are just a few of the subjects of the 12th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, running Sunday through Jan. 23 at the Walter Reade Theater.
Produced jointly by the Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, this year’s edition boasts 33 films from around the world.
And while the festival has no particular theme – other than the vast range of the Jewish experience – at least a dozen films refer, indirectly or not, to the Holocaust.
These include “The Joel Files,” Beate Thalberg’s documentary about the rock legend’s grandfather, whose German textile business was “Aryanized” – taken away from its Jewish owners – in 1938.
“I didn’t even know Billy Joel was Jewish,” says Aviva Weintraub, a member of the film selection committee.
The film climaxes in a confrontation between the Joels (Billy among them), and the Neckermanns, the Germans who took over the family business. It screens Jan. 20 at 3:30 and 8:30 p.m., and Jan. 21 at 9 p.m.
Other highlights:
* “Kedma,” Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai’s drama about the clash between Underground Jewish forces and British soldiers in 1948 Palestine.
* “Shalom Y’all,” filmmaker Brian Bain’s trek through Texas to Tennessee, where he meets Jewish cowboys, kosher butchers and hoop-skirted tour guides.
* “Nowhere in Africa,” about a young family’s escape from Nazi Germany and resettlement in Kenya.
* A cluster of silent shorts, grouped under the title “Rediscovering Max Davidson,” featuring the bearded, wild-haired Eastern European star of American slapstick. Several were directed by Leo McCarey, who helmed the Marx Brothers’ “Duck Soup” and other classics.
* “Casting,” from French-Jewish director Emmanuel Finkiel, is a collage of audition tapes from actors responding to an ad for “Yiddish speakers, 60 to 90 years old.”
* “Qui Vive,” a poignant, often hilarious portrait of the marriage of Lea and Nico – Dutch Jews who, as children, were hidden with Christian families during World War II.
For a complete schedule, visit http://www.thejewishmuseum.org or http://www.filmlinc.com.
For tickets – $9.50; students, $7 – visit the Walter Reade box office at 165 W. 65th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, call (212) 496-3809 or visit http://www.filmlinc.com.