The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and TCM will team up this fall to present a gala evening of excerpts from the scores to “iconic” Jewish-themed films, the organizations announced Wednesday.
The Oct. 20 concert was announced during the closing night of the 2025 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, via the showing of a video heralding the event featuring TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz, who will host the program this fall. The evening will take place as part of the 25th anniversary season for the film festival; a previous concert of Jewish film music took place 15 years ago during a 10th anniversary celebration.
“I’ve been coming to the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival for years, and I couldn’t be more excited for this extraordinary celebration of film and music,” Mankiewicz said in a statement. “Iconic scores from classic Jewish cinema performed live? That’s a night you don’t want to miss. No tuxedo required — just a love for great movies, unforgettable music, and some kvelling. And maybe just a little kvetching too.”
Although the musical selections for the night have not been announced, films whose scores have been performed in past such events have included the likes of “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” “Exodus,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Schindler’s List,” “Yentl,” “Life Is Beautiful,” “The Producers,” “Masada,” “I Have Never Forgotten You,” “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” The announcement said the music for the evening will be drawn from contemporary as well as classic Jewish films.
Said Jennifer Barlament, executive director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: “We are honored to partner with AJFF as they celebrate 25 years of impact on the Atlanta community. Just as the drama of music heightens the emotion of all great films, this event, featuring the coming together of two of the leaders of Atlanta’s cultural community, each bringing our respective strengths, will create an unforgettable evening.”
Ticket information for the Oct. 20 concert will become available at a later date.
The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival wrapped up Wednesday night with a showing of the Brazilian dramedy “Here’s to Life.” During the festival, 50 films from 22 countries were shown, representing narrative features, documentaries and shorts. The lineup included an opening night screening of Bad Shabbos, with stars Kyra Sedgwick, Cliff “Method Man” Smith and Milayna Vayntrub in attendance; a tribute to Jerry Lewis with a restored “The Bellboy”; the North American premiere of the first Bedouin-Israeli feature film, “Eid”; and the world premiere of “Charles Grodin: Rebel with a Cause.”
The following films were honored with jury awards as the 2025 AJFF drew to a close:
Narrative Feature: “Pink Lady”
Documentary Feature: “Riefenstahl”
Short Film: “The Sacred Society”
Building Bridges Award: “Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round”
Human Rights Award: “Sapir”
Emerging Filmmaker: Tom Nesher (“Come Closer”)
