Mondays at 7:30 P.M.

The Kaplen JCC on the Palisades is beginning its fall film series, where each screening will be introduced with pointers and followed by an optional discussion. Participants are given tools to identify plot lines, design elements, character development, thematic nuances and how they contribute to a well-crafted film. Coffee and light snacks are included. The five-session series is scheduled as follows:

Oct 19: Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem

Viviane desperately wants to be free of her upright husband, Elisha, who refuses to let her go. In a gripping trial before a rabbinic court, she pleads her case to obtain a religious bill of divorce known as a gett. Witnesses testify about her marriage in what is actually a debate about love, marriage and human rights.

Nov 2: Sullivan’s Travels

A satirical comedy about a popular and very successful young film director (Joel McCrea) who persuades the studio to let him make a socially relevant drama, only to discover that comedies are his most valuable contribution.

Nov 23: Burnt By The Sun

Nikita Mikhailov directed and starred in this film which won most of the Best Foreign Film Awards in the mid-nineties. The plot turns on a complex battle for a young woman’s love by two men: a hero of the new Soviet order, and a sensitive musician, a throwback to the old order.

Dec 7: LaStrada

Federico Fellini’s multiple award-winning circus/road film stars Anthony Quinn and Giulietta Masina. A humorous girl is sold for a few coins by her impoverished mother to a carnival strong man. She assists him in difficult circumstances and a surprising bond develops between them.

Dec 21: Leviathan

This Cannes film festival winner has been called the trial of Job combined with On the Waterfront. It is a daring critique of Vladimir Putin’s Russia set in a beautiful town on the Barents Sea. The crooked mayor, from Russia’s gangster class, tries to take over land belonging to a well-meaning young mechanic. But his old friend, now a slick Moscow lawyer, finds documents that incriminate the mayor.

Fee per film: $5 JCC members, $8 non-members

Register for all five movies and save: Series $20 JCC members, $32 nonmembers

For further information and registration, visit the JCC website at www.jccotp.org or call (201)408.1493.