The Jewish Film Festival of the Jewish Community Center of Sonoma County begins its 18th annual edition with screenings of seven films, taking place between Thursday, Oct. 3 and Nov. 21 at the Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol.
Films in the lineup hail from Israel, France, Germany and the United States. Touted as the festival’s signature event is the Oct. 31 screening of “Orchestra of Exiles,” a documentary about the formation of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. A quartet of musicians from the orchestra will perform prior to the screening.
Also included in the lineup are documentaries such as “Joe Papp in Five Acts” (the story of one of America’s greatest theater impresarios), dramas such as “The Ballad of the Weeping Spring” (the Israeli take-off on the spaghetti Western) and comedies such as “The World Is Funny,” an Israeli film set in Tiberias.
Rialto Cinemas is located at 6868 McKinley St., Sebastopol. For tickets and information about the festival, go to www.jccsoco.org.