By Reporter staff

The Binghamton Jewish Film Fest will hold a virtual showing of the film “Running on Sand.” Dora E. Polachek, visiting associate professor of Romance languages and literatures at Binghamton University, will moderate a Zoom discussion of the film on Sunday, November 23, at 7 pm. People will be able to register for links to the film and discussion here. Registration is due by Wednesday, November 19. The link will be sent out on Thursday, November 20. The film will be available for viewing from Thursday-Sunday, November 20-23. The film is in Hebrew with English subtitles.
“Running on Sand” tells the story of Aumari, a young Eritrean refugee being deported from Israel who runs away and is then mistaken for the new foreign player on a struggling soccer team. He seizes the opportunity to change his identity as the new key acquisition for the team of Maccabi Netanya, even though he has no talent for soccer. 
The film has won several film festival awards, including the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film at the Seattle Jewish Film Festival, the Spokane Jewish Film Festival, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and the Boca International Jewish Film Festival. Hannah Brown wrote in The Jerusalem Post that “the movie hits the sweet spot between a truly light-hearted comedy and a real drama, with engaging characters you care about and funny situations, but with a strong narrative and a heartfelt message about treating people with respect, no matter where they are from.”
“Join us for our first film of the season,” said Shelley Hubal, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton, which sponsors the film fest. “This feel-good film is the perfect way to begin a season of interesting and exciting films.”