The JCC Film Fest will celebrate the recent restoration of a movie house in Miamisburg dating to 1919 when it presents its opening-night film, Once in a Lifetime, at the Historic Plaza Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5.

One hour before the screening, the Film Fest will host a dessert reception next door, at The Mosaic Institute of Greater Dayton, featuring a concert with Sephardic/Ladino folk band Baladino. The Israeli group specializes in instrumental improvisations driven by “Mediterranean-Gypsy grooves, yet embracing rock and electronic influences.”

The Historic Plaza Theatre is located at 33 S. Main St. in Miamisburg; The Mosaic Institute is at 43 S. Main St.

Once In A Lifetime — the story of a teacher in France who connects with her rebellious teen students when she teaches them about the Holocaust — will also be screened with the Film Fest at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6 at the Little Art Theatre, 247 Xenia Ave. in Yellow Springs.

Following the Little Art screening, Dayton Holocaust Center Director Renate Frydman will discuss the importance of Holocaust education for today’s youths.

Celebrated local filmmakers Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert will present the local premiere of their 2015 documentary, Making Morning Star, at 5:20 p.m. on Sunday, April 17 at the Neon, 130 E. 5th St. in Dayton.

The 36-minute documentary explores the creative development of a new opera, Morning Star, for its premiere with Cincinnati Opera last June. Composed by Ricky Ian Gordon, Morning Star follows the struggles of a Jewish immigrant family in the first half of 20th-century America.

Bognar and Reichert will lead a panel discussion after the film.

— Marshall Weiss

To see the complete 2016 JCC Film Fest lineup and to buy tickets, click here.

To read the complete April 2016 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.