Beth El Hebrew Congregation’s annual Summer Film Festival has tripled its turnout compared to past years by aiming to create a comfortable, welcoming community space.
Now in its third year, the film festival has expanded from one movie screening per month to two. This summer, anywhere from 30-50 adults come to the Alexandria synagogue every other Sunday afternoon to watch a movie that has a Jewish theme or connection.
Attendees snack on popcorn, chips and other snacks and can stay afterward to mingle, often to talk about the movie.
The festival kicked off with an introductory event on June 23 hosting Jewish filmmaker Yael Luttwak as a guest speaker. Ever since, Beth El has shown a Jewish comedy — this summer’s theme — with classics including “Shiva Baby,” “Kiss Me Kosher” and “Spaceballs” and will continue through August.
One of the largest turnouts was on July 28 for their screening of “Crossing Delancey,” a 1988 romantic comedy film named for the New York street that runs through a Manhattan neighborhood, said Linda Waller, the former president of Beth El who planned the Summer Film Festival.
Tying into the film’s setting in the Lower East Side, Beth El added a deli lunch option for the first time — attendees could nosh on deli sandwiches, pickles, salad, black-and-white cookies and babka during the movie.
“We’re Jewish; we can’t let people out the door hungry,” Waller quipped.
The film festival, originally an idea during the pandemic, came about because some congregants voiced the lack of programming at Beth El during the summers, according to Waller.
Heather Glick, Beth El’s director of programming and engagement, said she pursued the idea of hosting bimonthly film screenings since movies are a “really easy, accessible” indoor activity.
“The challenge in the summer is the heat and that a lot of people are traveling,” Glick said. “But on the plus side, there’s not a lot happening in the [Beth El] building, so to kind of take it over for a Sunday afternoon is just a really easy, fun thing to do.”
Waller said she worked with some other congregants to select which movies to show for the first two years of the film festival since she wasn’t as familiar with movies when the program first started in June 2022 — past years’ themes have included Mel Brooks’ movies and older vintage films.
“I am probably the least likely person to put together a film program because I am cinema illiterate,” Waller said. “So this is part of why I wanted to do this, so I could go to the movies.”
Waller added that watching these Jewish-related movies has increased her perception of the Jewish experience.
“Because I haven’t seen many of these films, which are really part of our culture, watching them expands my understanding of life and of people,” said Waller, who compiled this summer’s program of Jewish comedies herself.
She and Glick have gotten positive feedback from attendees, who say they consistently look forward to movie screenings.
Glick said she sets up the movie-viewing room in a way that’s a “little more upscale” than typical film screenings. Rather than theater-style rows, Glick arranges three chairs around individual card tables draped in white tablecloths “cinema cafe-style”; attendees can all see the screen and also have a place for their drinks and snacks.
“It can feel more comfortable,” Glick said. “We try to elevate the whole movie experience; it’s not just lines of chairs.”
This “elevated” movie experience, open to adult community members, draws far more attendees than in summers past. Glick said in 2022, she used to set up upholstered armchairs for the 10 to 15 attendees — “it felt like being in someone’s living room” — which she can no longer do as the turnout has tripled.
“Even now in the summer, when you would think attendance would be down, we’re poppin’,” Glick said.
She said that the summer tradition fosters community, bringing members together for a common experience. This community may even extend past Alexandria — a community member told Waller that he was planning to start up a similar program in Herndon.
“I think the biggest thing from my perspective is this inclusive community feel that I’m seeing in a lot of different areas of what we’re doing [at Beth El],” Glick said. “And I’m seeing it now in the movies as well. What I mean by that is we’ve added programs. … We’re not programming specifically for a certain age group, but more for an interest area and trying to create an environment where everybody feels welcome.”
The demographic of attendees has shifted from older adults to adults of all ages, Glick added.
“We’re the perfect size that, when people come in, they just click with people and they connect; they feel at home,” she said.
