Our Rochester Jewish Film Festival enters its second decade this year with another presentation of the best Jewish cinema from all over the world. The rest of this space belongs to six of the movies, so visit rjff.org for a full schedule and more details.

A stirring documentary built around a dream subject, "Ahead of Time" recounts the singular 20th-century adventures of Ruth Gruber, who took her forward-thinking father's advice to find a career and became both an eyewitness to and maker of history. In the years following her 1931 doctorate (at age 20!), Gruber reported on the lives of Soviet women for the New York Herald Tribune, escorted concentration-camp survivors to America on a secret government mission, and chronicled, with pen as well as camera, British antagonism toward Jewish refugees bound for Israel on the ship Exodus 1947. The copious archival materials are a treasure and help bring to life the reminiscences of the razor-sharp nonagenarian, as feisty and humble as a hero should be. (Sunday, July 10, 2 p.m., Dryden Theatre)

"I don't give you what you want, but what you need," Yankele Bride assures his lonely clients in "The Matchmaker," a decent coming-of-age drama by Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher (RJFF 2008's "The Secrets"). "The Matchmaker" takes place in Haifa during the summer of 1968, as teenage Arik (Tuval Shafir) learns about life through his dealings with Bride, a transplanted Romanian Holocaust survivor who will serve as the bridge that connects Arik with silent history, the last generation still too scarred to recount what happened "there." The story is ostensibly Arik's, but Bride is the most compelling and nuanced character; he's played by the excellent Adir Miller, whose tough exterior belies his intense sensitivity, a la Vincent D'Onofrio. (Sunday, July 10, 7:30 p.m., Dryden Theatre)

The goals seemed so clear-cut that it's easy to overlook some of the Civil War's complexities, such as the paradox of a once-enslaved people working to deprive the similarly oppressed of their freedoms. Through rare photographs and insightful interviews with both historians and descendants, the enlightening "Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray" explores the role that roughly 10,000 Jewish men played in the War Between the States, from abolitionist rabbis in the North to eloquent Confederate statesman Judah P. Benjamin. The documentary also revisits Union General Ulysses S. Grant's infamous General Order No. 11, which tried to battle the illegal cotton trade by calling for the expulsion of Jews in his military district. Then the Great Emancipator stepped in. (Tuesday, July 12, 2 p.m., JCC Hart Theatre)

Using the 1953 London-to-Christchurch air race as its jumping-off point, the lavish Dutch melodrama "Bride Flight" takes wing with three Dutch women planning to begin anew as wives in New Zealand. Glamorous Esther (Anna Drijver) is eyeing a career in fashion, no-nonsense Marjorie (Elise Schaap) has her married life mapped out, and dreamy Ada (Karina Smulders) is already pregnant when she falls for her strapping seat-mate Frank (Waldemar Torenstra), who lost all he loved in the camps. The forgivably predictable tale unfolds in picturesque flashback from the present day, as they gather for a funeral (you will recognize twinkly-sexy Rutger Hauer as old Frank) and revisit long-held secrets. (Wednesday, July 13, 6 p.m., Little Theatre)

Oscar nominee Jesse Eisenberg ("The Social Network") puts his patented blend of naiveté and anxiety to perfect use in Kevin Asch's "Holy Rollers" as Sam, a young Hasid who becomes a drug smuggler. Inspired by an actual narcotics case from the late 90's, "Holy Rollers" observes Sam's insular Brooklyn life of work and study, until rejection by his intended bride leaves him ripe for temptation by Yosef (Justin Bartha, "The Hangover"), the live wire next door. Cue brushes with danger and disavowal by both family and community, an unsurprising trajectory made interesting by the potent performances of Eisenberg and Bartha. (Wednesday, July 13, 9 p.m., Little Theatre)

Barking attack sheep, angels on motorcycles, and a fast-talking guy in a cheap suit with a name tag that reads "God"; the first few minutes of "This Is Sodom" point to one of the all-out silliest comedies in recent memory. It recounts the Biblical tale of Lot (Dov Navon, "The Matchmaker"), a good man trying to avoid the notorious seductions in the city of Sodom. The King (Eli Finish, hilarious) has learned Lot will be saved when Sodom is destroyed, so he hatches plans for an intricate switcheroo. Think Mel Brooks at his most moronic; it's a lot of dumb fun. (Saturday, July 16, 10 p.m., Dryden Theatre)

11th Annual Rochester Jewish Film Festival

Sunday, July 10 through Monday, July 18

Various days, times, and venues

461-2000, rjff.org