The Mandel Jewish Community Center will celebrate two decades of Jewish storytelling at the 20th annual Cleveland Jewish FilmFest which began on Oct. 8 and continues through Oct. 18.

Among this year’s visiting filmmakers are Simon Mendes, director and producer of “The Darkest Light,” and Abby Ginzberg, director of “Labors of Love.” Mendes will attend two screenings of his film Oct. 13 at Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights, while Ginzberg will attend the Oct. 18 screening of her film at the same theater.

“The Darkest Light,” Mendes’ feature-film debut, explores the complicated legacy of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, an influential Jewish musician and spiritual leader who was posthumously accused of sexual misconduct.

The film premiered at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival in July and won the inaugural Best First Feature Award. Cleveland will mark its first screening since the premiere.

“I’m just excited for more people to see it and to engage with it and talk about Shlomo’s legacy and also the complicated aspects of his legacy,” Mendes said.

Mendes, who grew up Modern Orthodox on New York City’s Upper West Side, said he developed a strong connection to Carlebach’s music while growing up.

“I was really, really drawn to Shlomo’s music and just have amazing memories singing his music at summer camp,” he said.

But learning about the allegations against Carlebach complicated that connection and inspired Mendes to examine how people reconcile the different parts of a person’s legacy.

“I was trying to reconcile these two realities, like how somebody who has such an immense spiritual gift and so much to offer could also be accused of doing these really vile things,” Mendes said.

“The Darkest Light” will screen at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Oct. 13 at Cedar Lee Theatre. Mendes will participate in a Q&A with Carlebach’s daughter, singer Neshama Carlebach. Following the 7 p.m. screening, Carlebach will also perform original music with her two sons.

Ginzberg will bring “Labors of Love” to Cedar Lee Theatre for a 4 p.m. screening on Oct. 18. The documentary tells the story of Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, and her contributions to health care and Jewish life.

Ginzberg has a personal connection to the story. She is distantly related to Szold on her mother’s side and is also related to Louis Ginzberg, a Jewish scholar with whom Szold had a relationship.

Through making the film, Ginzberg said she learned more about Szold’s efforts to establish health care in Palestine and her work with Youth Aliyah, which helped rescue thousands of Jewish youth from Europe.

“Here’s a woman who sort of defied stereotypes and was able to get stuff done just because she was so dogged in her approach to everything that she did,” Ginzberg said.

The film also has a Cleveland connection. Rae Landy, one of two nurses Szold arranged to send to Palestine as part of her early health care efforts, was a relative of Cleveland resident Debbie Perkul.

Perkul, who is interviewed in the documentary, helped Ginzberg tell Landy’s story. She will join Ginzberg for a Q&A following the Oct. 18 screening.

“I’m really looking forward to bringing this film to Cleveland, where one of my main interviewees is based,” Ginzberg said.