TORONTO — Some 400 people were on hand to celebrate two milestones at a film fundraiser recently at the Sheppard Grande Cinema.

Ahuva Ratner, left, and Irit Zoran. [Barbara Silverstein photo]

Indeed, it was an afternoon of firsts with the opening of the first Toronto Israeli Film Festival and the public debut of Women in Motion (WIM), a new Jewish women’s group.

The screening of Noodle on Oct. 26, the opening film of the festival, was a fundraiser held by WIM in support of the One Family Fund, an Israeli-based charity for victims of terror.

Irit Zoran of WIM, the producer of the fundraiser, told The CJN that when she got the green light to hold the event, she had no idea if the fledgling group of about three dozen members would be able to sell the 400 tickets to fill the theatre.

As it turned out, all the tickets sold so quickly for the first screening of Noodle, that there weren’t enough tickets to meet the demand, she recalled. “So many people were interested in attending the event, we directed them to the second screening the next day. That show also sold out.”

She said she is grateful to Eran Bester, organizer of the Israeli film festival, for giving WIM the opportunity to hold the fundraiser, even though the group did not have a track record of previous events.

WIM founder Ahuva Ratner thanked Bester for allowing the group “to be part of a new experience of bringing Israel’s rich cultural heritage to Toronto.”

 Ratner, who also serves as co-chair of the Israeli-Canadian division of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s 2009 campaign, established WIM to bring Canadian and Israeli Jewish women together. “One of our goals is to support causes in the Jewish community,” she said.

Bringing greetings to the film festival from the State of Israel, Consul General Amir Gissin praised WIM. “Women in Motion is not just another community organization. It’s an attempt within the Toronto Jewish community to bring together the established Jewish community and the Israeli community,” he said.

These women are showing the rest of the community “the right way,” he said. “The work of this wonderful group of devoted women is bearing fruit.”

Pam Albert, executive director of the One Family Fund, thanked WIM and Bester for their support. “It means a lot to the Israeli victims of violence to know that people in the Diaspora care,” she said.

Financial aid from One Family funds many projects, including sending children to camp in Canada and holding support groups and retreats for bereaved siblings and parents, Albert said.

For Ratner, the event was the culmination of a lot of hard work by WIM members, but she singled out Zoran for her dedication. “This event could not have happened without you,” Ratner said. “You were on call 24/7.”

She also thanked Ellis Jacob, CEO of Cineplex Entertainment, for providing the venue.

Ratner said she felt a strong affinity to the Israeli victims of terror, noting that the screening marked the 35th anniversary to the day of her brother’s death during the Yom Kippur War. “I feel especially connected to those people who have lost their loved ones to acts of terror,” she observed.