The 2026 Ajijic Jewish Film Festival continues in week five with “A Bag of Marbles,” showing at the Cinema +Lago in Plaza Bougamvilas on Sunday, February 1, 1.30 p.m.
This film, based on an autobiographical novel, is the story of two young Jewish brothers, Joseph and Maurice, in German-occupied France in 1941. Their escapades as they precariously try to escape the Nazi occupation and make their way south from Paris through occupied France to Vichy, then the unoccupied and supposedly neutral Free French enclave, are the crux of the film.
Notwithstanding, collaboration and rampant antisemitism were official policies in the supposedly free Vichy zone, leading to additional challenges for youngsters Joseph and Maurice as they try to meet up with their two older brothers, thus uniting the family.
Their story is a mix of courage, ingenuity and cunning, coupled with delightful mischievousness, all necessitated by the circumstances of life in occupied France during the war years.
And the film’s title, “A Bag of Marbles”? Come and see ...
Come and see this film offering and learn how a simple child’s bag of marbles plays a compelling role in the telling of this heart-warming true story.
And when the film concludes, stay and join your fellow movie-goers in another lively discussion during Rosalie’s Talk-Back.
Directed by Christian Duguay, France, 2017, runtime 1:50.