Ed Koch to Participate in Q&A Following 1/13 Screening of KOCH

Koch (US, 2012, 95 min.) will receive its New York City premiere at the New York Jewish Film Festival at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater on Thursday, January 10 at 6 pm and Sunday, January 13 at 3:30 pm. Ed Koch will participate in the Q&A session following the January 13 screening. Neil Barsky, director of the film, will appear at the Q&A session after the January 10 screening. The 22nd annual New York Jewish Film Festival, presented by The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center from January 9 to 24, 2013, includes 45 features and shorts from 9 countries.

Ed Koch in the office of his campaign manager, David Garth, September 1977. Photo: The New York Post

While 88-year-old former Mayor Ed Koch has been called the "quintessential New Yorker" for his combative, funny, and blunt approach to public life, he is also an intensely private person. This documentary traces Koch's impact on public life in the city (he was New York City's mayor from 1978 to 1989) - covering issues at the center of his tenure that still resonate nationwide like race, homelessness, AIDS, and gay rights - and reveals the personal toll of being mayor of a wondrous city. Interviews with Carl McCall, Joyce Purnick, Charles Rangel, Henry Stern, and others are included.

The Walter Reade Theater is located at 165 West 65th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway. Single screening tickets for The New York Jewish Film Festival are $13; $9 for students and seniors (62+); and $8 for Film Society and Jewish Museum members. Tickets for New York Jewish Film Festival screenings are available at the Walter Reade Theater Box Office and online at www.FilmLinc.com. For complete film festival information, visit www.FilmLinc.com, www.TheJewishMuseum.org, or call 212.875.5601.