Celebrating its 20th anniversary in November, the 2009 Festival of Jewish Cinema will bring Melbourne filmgoers a new array of hilarious, moving, challenging and informative films and documentaries from around the world, as well as a special 'retrospective' of Festival favourites from the past 20 years.

Opening the festival on Thursday 12 November is comical Israeli film A Matter of Size, which skirts the serious issues of Middle Eastern politics with the story of four heavily overweight friends who finally find their generous girths valued in the world of Israeli sumo wrestling. Other highlights include local documentary Wrong Side of the Bus, French romantic comedy Hello Goodbye and the remarkable story of an unsung WWII hero in American film Killing Kasztner.