The Washington Jewish Film Festival opens tonight with two showings of Avi Nesher’s The Wonders. No, it bears no connection to The Wonders in That Thing You Do, but Nesher’s modern-day film noir still seems captivating: It follows a Jerusalem bartender who finds himself entangled in a mystery in his apartment building that lands him deep in the city’s criminal underbelly. The festival continues with lectures from prominent Jewish thinkers, a pajama-clad Academy Awards viewing party, and the D.C. premiere of John Turturro’s Fading Gigolo, starring Woody Allen and Turturro as a New York bookseller and florist who begins working in “the world’s oldest profession.” Because no one can resist an older, more hirsute take on the Pretty Woman story. The festival runs Feb. 27 to March 9 at venues around D.C. $12–$125. (202) 777-3247. See wjff.org for a complete schedule.

Image courtesy Washington Jewish Film Festival