(TEANECK, NJ) -- Renowned filmmaker Michael Moore, who believes in combining activism with wit, would no doubt give a five-star review to the feature Voy! Voy! Voy!, the Teaneck International Film Festival's Centerpiece selection which will be shown following the TIFF gala,  Saturday evening, November 9, 2024 at Temple Emeth, 1666 Windsor Rd., Teaneck.  The screening is set for 7:00pm. 

The subject – immigration - is a serious one but the film is “a rousing, fast-paced comedy based on a true story.” A box-office hit in Egypt, the feature asks pertinent social and moral questions while allowing the audience to enjoy and laugh at political incorrectness.  We watch the outrageous behavior of three friends who feign blindness in order to join a “visually impaired” team bound for an international football competition in the hope that they will exchange poverty and hardship for success in a European country.

Filmmaker Omar Hilal has spent a decade perfecting his visual storytelling craft in commercials and this, his debut feature film, was a box office hit in Egypt.  Hilal is coming to Teaneck for the New Jersey premiere of his film and will be present at the screening.

The story of how it all came to pass is as interesting as the movie.  TIFF Executive Director Jeremy Lentz was in Los Angeles, having breakfast at Mel’s Diner in West Hollywood, when he struck up a conversation with someone at the counter.  That someone was Hilal, who was in LA to present his film to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, where it was shortlisted as Egypt’s entry for the 2024 Best Foreign Film competition.  Lentz talked about TIFF, the connection was made, and the result is that both the film and its director will be here for the 19^th annual Teaneck International Film Festival.

Information about the TIFF Gala / Centerpiece (food, wine, the film, and talkback) is on the TIFF website - www.teaneckfilmfestival.org – with a link to Eventbrite.  Tickets are $40, and advance registration is required.  Visit the website for details about all the films (live and virtual, November 7-14, 2024): descriptions, tickets, venues, schedule, guests, and sponsors, as well as the history of “the film festival with a social conscience.”