35th SF Jewish Film Festival related stories:
- FULL SFJFF SCHEDULE
- Two buns up: ‘Famous Nathan’ is a real wiener
- “Rosenwald”: The philanthropist who educated generations of Black Americans
- A filmmaker who helps other women tell their stories
- Art vs. money: Bail bondsman chooses plastic over paper
- Love, sex and family values all a tangle in ‘My Shortest Love Affair’
- ‘Raise the Roof’ brings lost history, and art, back to life
- The rise and fall of Israel’s ‘B’-movie moguls
Death, sex and taxes.
These broad and always relevant topics are among the themes tackled in films being shown at this year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, which opens Thursday, July 23.
The 35th annual festival includes 70 films from 17 countries and offers an expansive view of the Jewish experience. Included in the mix are comedies, dramas and documentaries about love, art, politics, history and religion.
“It’s a huge Bay Area cultural community event,” said Lexi Leban, executive director of the festival.
With venues in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Berkeley, Oakland and San Rafael screening films through Aug. 9, the 35,000 expected theatergoers will have plenty of appealing choices.
The opening-night film, “Dough,” directed by John Goldschmidt, features British actor Jonathan Pryce as an aging kosher baker who hires a young Muslim refugee as his apprentice. The new hire deals pot on the side, and some of his product makes its way into the challah.
“Suddenly, business is booming,” said Jay Rosenblatt, festival program director.
The festival also will include 10 “big nights,” screenings with parties and special guests. The opening-night bash in San Francisco at the Contemporary Jewish Museum will follow the screening of “Dough” at the Castro Theatre.
The West Coast premiere of “Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict,” directed by Lisa Vreeland, will open the festival in Oakland on July 26. The documentary tells the story of the Jewish heiress and voracious art collector who shaped tastes and supported the budding careers of paradigm-changing artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Jackson Pollock.
Rosenblatt points out one especially frank aspect of the film. “She slept with many people in her time and is very upfront about it in the movie,” he said.
The “Guggenheim” screening and reception that follows will be held at the 400-seat Lakeside Theater, within the Kaiser Center by Lake Merritt in Oakland, a new location for the festival. Other venues are CinéArts in Palo Alto, the California Theatre in Berkeley and the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.
This year’s festival includes several themed programs, including “Take Action Day,” a daylong program of five documentaries about social justice topics, followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers. Purchase of a special pass is required for this July 31 event at the Castro.
In addition, eight documentaries being shown over the course of the festival address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from different perspectives. On Aug. 1, Janine Zacharia, former Jerusalem bureau chief for the Washington Post, will host a panel discussion with some of the filmmakers on “Bridges and Barriers: Israeli and Palestinian Filmmakers Frame the Conflict.”
Another documentary will anchor the festival’s special program for young adults, “Next Wave.” The 11 films grouped under this umbrella are oriented to festivalgoers 35 and younger. “As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM,” directed by Kevin Kerslake, follows the artistic development of the famed club DJ, who was born Adam Goldstein and died of a drug overdose a year after surviving severe burns in a plane crash. The documentary will have its West Coast premiere July 30 at the Castro. A late-night party deejayed by Mix Master Mike will follow at the Public Works SF.
Addressing a completely different theme, “German Concentration Camps Factual Survey” promises to be a compelling historical artifact from the close of World War II. The film, made in 1945 by Allied forces, was intended to show German POWs the horrors of the Nazi regime. The July 26 screening at the Castro will be followed by an extended discussion at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, moderated by Morgan Blum Schneider, director of education for Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ Holocaust Center.
“It’s the first time it’s being shown on the West Coast,” Rosenblatt said. “It’s a harrowing film.”
A more contemporary offering, “Love and Taxes,” stars local writer and performer Josh Kornbluth, who wrote the screenplay while his brother Jacob directed. The comedic film, which will have its world premiere on July 29 at the Castro, is based on Kornbluth’s one-man stage show. It chronicles his decision to make things right with the IRS after failing to file his taxes for years.
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Screenings for July 23-31
thursday/ 23
“Dough,” 6:15 p.m. At Castro Theatre. (Opening night, with post-film bash at Contemporary Jewish Museum, 9 p.m.)
friday/24
“In Silence,” 12 p.m. “Projections of America” with “Autobiography of a Jeep,” 2 p.m. “The Zionist Idea,” 4:10 p.m. “The Art Dealer,” 7:15 p.m. “Once in a Lifetime,” 9:20 p.m. At Castro Theatre.
saturday/25
“Famous Nathan,” 12 p.m. “Autism in Love,” 2:10 p.m. “Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish,” 4:30 p.m. “The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films,” 6:50 p.m. “When I Live My Life Over Again,” 8:50 p.m. At Castro Theatre.
“Welcome to Leith,” 12 p.m. “The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer” with “Yidlife Crisis,” 1:50 p.m. “Once in a Lifetime,” 3:40 p.m. “Raise the Roof,” 6 p.m. “A La Vie (To Life),” 8:30 p.m. At CinéArts@Palo Alto Square.
sunday/26
“German Concentration Camps Factual Survey,” 12 p.m. “Raise the Roof,” 2 p.m. “Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict,” 4:30 p.m. “Villa Touma,” 6:40 p.m. “Those People,” 8:40 p.m. At Castro Theatre.
“Famous Nathan,” 12 p.m. “Autism in Love,” 2:10 p.m. “Dough,” 3:55 p.m. “Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone,” 6:30 p.m. “Red Leaves,” 8:45 p.m. At CinéArts@Palo Alto Square.
monday/27
“Probation Time,” 12:30 p.m. “Sacred Sperm,” 2:40 p.m. “Red Leaves,” 4:30 p.m. “Welcome to Leith,” 6:30 p.m. “Danny Says,” 8:30 p.m. At Castro Theatre.
“In Silence,” 2:40 p.m. “Beyond the Fear,” 4:40 p.m. “The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films,” 6:30 p.m. “Manpower,” 8:30 p.m. At CinéArts@Palo Alto Square.
tuesday/28
“Partner with the Enemy” with “Women in Sink,” 12 p.m. “Carvalho’s Journey,” 2 p.m. (free screening). “Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah” with “Ischler,” “Zement” and “German Shepherd,” 4:30 p.m. “The Armor of Light,” 6:30 p.m. “The Law,” 9 p.m. At Castro Theatre.
“Sacred Sperm,” 2:35 p.m. “The Polgár Variant,” 4:25 p.m. “Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish,” 6:15 p.m. “The Art Dealer,” 8:35 p.m. At CinéArts@Palo Alto Square.
wednesday/29
“Jews in Shorts: Faith and Spirituality,” 1 p.m. “Escaping Riga,” 2:45 p.m. “Manpower,” 4:30 p.m. “My Shortest Love Affair,” 6:30 p.m. “Love and Taxes,” 8:55 p.m. At Castro Theatre.
“Rock in the Red Zone,” 1:30 p.m. “Carvalho’s Journey,” 4 p.m. (free screening). “The Armor of Light,” 6:30 p.m. “The Law,” 8:50 p.m. At CinéArts@Palo Alto Square.
thursday/30
“Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did,” 12 p.m. “Rock in the Red Zone,” 2:05 p.m. “The Wanted 18,” 4:35 p.m. “As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM,” 6:25 p.m. “A La Vie (To Life),” 9:10 p.m. At Castro Theatre.
A Tribute to DJ AM. After-film, after-hours celebration with DJ Mix Master Mike. For 21 and older. 9 p.m. $15-$18. At Public Works SF, 161 Erie St., S.F. www.tinyurl.com/np7rf6q
“Projections of America” with “Autobiography of a Jeep,” 12 p.m. “Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah” with “Ischler,” “Zement” and “German Shepherd,” 1:50 p.m. “Every Face Has a Name,” 4 p.m. “My Shortest Love Affair,” 6:15 p.m. “Mr. Kaplan,” 8:35 p.m. At CinéArts@Palo Alto.
friday/31
“The Singing Abortionist,” 11 a.m. “Zemene,” 12:30 p.m. “Blue Vinyl” (followed by panel discussion with filmmaker Judith Helfand), 2:30 p.m. “Rosenwald,” 6:30 p.m. “Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw,” 8:55 p.m. At Castro Theatre.
“Autism in Love,” 12:25 p.m. “Every Face Has a Name,” 2:15 p.m. “The Wanted 18,” 4:35 p.m. “Open Bethlehem,” 6:25 p.m. “As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM,” 8:55 p.m. At California Theatre.
Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., San Francisco
CinéArts@Palo Alto Square, 3000 El Camino Real, Bldg. 6, Palo Alto
California Theatre, 2113 Kittredge St., Berkeley
Lakeside Theater, Kaiser Center, 300 Lakeside Drive, 2nd floor, Oakland
Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael
Festival runs July 23 through Aug. 9. For Aug. 1-9 listings and more information, visit www.sfjff.org.