After 19 days and 125 screenings, the 32nd annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival drew to a close Aug. 6 when the final credits rolled on the Israeli drama “Off White Lies” at the Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.
Minutes earlier, the French comedy “In Case I Never Win the Golden Palm” finished at the Piedmont Theatre, wrapping up the festival’s first foray to that Oakland venue. Four films showed there in one day, including two sellouts.
In all, there were 10 sellouts and a total attendance of more than 30,000, according to Lexi Leban, who wrapped up her first season as the festival’s executive director. Films were screened in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Rafael and Palo Alto from July 19 to Aug. 6.
While the attendance was just about the same as last year, new memberships to the Jewish Film Forum increased by 36 percent over 2011, and the festival sold three times as many young adult passes as it did in 2011, Leban said. The Jewish Film Forum is a program that supports the festival by offering members invitations to year-round events and VIP benefits during the festival.
Leban said some of the festival’s best moments were unscripted, such as Freedom of Expression Award recipient Elliott Gould breaking into song during a Q&A after a screening of “Dorfman.”
The festival expanded into new territory this year, with one day at the Piedmont Theatre and a night of shorts shown on the side of a building during Oakland’s monthly Art Murmur. There also was a brunch with two films at the U.C. Berkeley Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.
“I already have emails from people saying, ‘I hope you’ll do the Piedmont again next year,’ ” Leban said.
On the opening night of the festival, Leban’s announcement about the Art Murmur screening drew an angry shout from someone in the crowd for being scheduled on Shabbat, but Leban said the event was an experiment to reach a new, younger audience. She said nearly 100 people gathered in Uptown Oakland for the free screening. SFJFF interns handed out special Star of David holographic glasses to passers-by.
As the 63-film festival ended, Leban already was looking ahead to next year’s 33rd annual festival (dates will not be finalized until next month) and the ramping up of SFJFF’s year-round programming.
“SFJFF@CJM” will start with a silent film Sept. 20 at the Contem-porary Jewish Museum and continue with quarterly screenings of films from around the world as well as from the SFJFF’s own New Jewish Filmmaking Project. The first film will be “East and West,” a comedy classic starring Yiddish star Molly Picon; it will be paired with a lesson on pickling from co-sponsors Wilderness Torah. Reboot and Hazon are the other co-sponsors.
In addition, “SFJFF Movie Night at the Magnes” is on the calendar. The Magnes will show a SFJFF offering on the first Thursday of the month, starting with “The Best of SFJFF Online Shorts” at 7 p.m. Sept. 6.
Also, the JCC of San Francisco and the SFJFF are co-presenting a new film series titled “A New Lens on Israel.” It will kick off 7 p.m. Oct. 8 with “The Fifth Heaven,” a drama about an orphaned teenager in British-controlled pre-state Israel during World War II. The next two films are planned for Monday nights in November and December.
The film festival also offers a monthly short film on its website, along with a database and clips. For more information, visit www.sfjff.org.