The Borscht Belt Film Fest will return to Ellenville, New York, this November with a three-day lineup celebrating the films, performers and cultural history tied to the Catskills resort era. Running Nov. 6-8, the third annual festival will feature documentaries, narrative films, shorts and filmmaker conversations, with screenings taking place at the historic Shadowland Stages. The event is presented by the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum.
Among this year’s highlights are films examining comedy legends Mel Brooks, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, the history of Grossinger’s resort, the Catskills’ connection to championship boxing and pieces of New York culinary history including the Automat and egg cream.
The festival opens Friday, Nov. 6, with director Paula Eiselt’s 2025 documentary We Met at Grossinger’s. Produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment, the film looks back at the legendary Catskills resort and its place in Jewish American culture. Grossinger’s also served as an inspiration for the setting of the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.
Following the screening, producer Robert Friedman and members of the Grossinger family will participate in a discussion moderated by Isaac Zablocki, director of film programs at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. During the opening-night reception, the festival will also present its first Legacy Award in honor of the late Elaine Grossinger Etess. Her children and grandchildren will accept the award.
“This year’s lineup of films and conversations capture what makes the Borscht Belt so enduring—great stories, big personalities, comedy, nostalgia and a deep sense of community,” festival director Melody Gilbert said. “Our festival celebrates the past while showing why this culture still resonates today.”
Saturday’s programming begins with Lisa Hurwitz’s 2021 documentary The Automat, exploring the once-popular self-service restaurants that became a fixture of 20th-century New York. The film features an original song by Mel Brooks, while original Automat fixtures will be displayed in the Shadowland Stages lobby. The festival will then pair two short films: the 2018 documentary Egg Cream, directed by Nora Claire Miller and Peter Miller, and the rarely seen 1990 film Pair of Jokers. The latter stars Jerry Stiller as veteran comedian Scully Wexler and was filmed at The Pines resort in the Catskills.
Rachel Israel’s The Floaters follows Saturday afternoon. The 2026 film centers on a struggling musician who takes a job supervising a group of misfits at the Jewish summer camp she attended as a child. Producer Shai Korman will participate in a post-screening conversation.
Ben Stiller’s Stiller and Meara: Nothing is Lost will screen later Saturday. Released in 2025, the documentary offers Stiller’s personal examination of the lives and careers of his parents, comedy partners Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, while also exploring their family life and influence on their children. Saturday concludes with Daniel Robbins’ Bad Shabbos, starring Kyra Sedgwick. The comedy follows a Jewish family preparing to meet their son’s fiancée’s Catholic parents during a Shabbat dinner when an unexpected death throws the evening into chaos. The film won the Audience Award for Best Narrative at the Tribeca Film Festival. Co-star Josh Mostel will take part in a discussion following the screening.
Sunday’s program includes another screening of We Met at Grossinger’s, this time followed by a conversation with director Paula Eiselt.
The festival will also explore an often overlooked chapter of Catskills history with Evan Haiman’s Ringside in the Mountains. The documentary examines how resorts including Grossinger’s, Kutsher’s and the Concord became training destinations for some of boxing’s biggest names. Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were among the fighters who trained in the region, sometimes holding public sparring sessions for resort guests.
Haiman will join boxing historian and Untouchables Boxing owner Jose Toledo for a post-screening discussion. Closing out the festival will be Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio. The 2026 documentary explores Brooks’ life and career and his influence as a writer, filmmaker and comedian. Bonfiglio will participate in a conversation following the screening.
Beyond the film lineup, the festival will host additional conversations at The Common Good Bookstore in Ellenville. Josh Mostel will discuss his acting career, comedy and the legacy of his father, Zero Mostel, on Saturday morning. Eiselt will take part in a Sunday morning discussion about preserving the history of Grossinger’s and the broader Borscht Belt.
The Borscht Belt Film Fest runs Nov. 6-8 in Ellenville, New York. Individual screening and discussion tickets, along with all-access festival passes, are available through the festival’s official website.