Two Jewish community organizations are sponsoring events accompanying WinterFest’s screening of “Oriented,” about Tel Aviv Palestinians who confront their sexuality and national identity during the Gaza War.
At the Feb. 27 festival, New Israel Fund’s New Generations program will co-present the film at 11:30 a.m. and sponsor a post-film discussion in the lounge at San Francisco’s Alamo Drafthouse.
Meanwhile at 1:30 p.m., Keshet’s Lesbian Lovers of Cinema will host a brunch and post-film discussion at the Vestry, a restaurant and performance space located a short walk from the theater. The new group at Keshet, which has purchased a small number of “Oriented” tickets for members, meets monthly to watch and discuss LGBT-themed films.
“Since we’ve become the Jewish Film Institute, we’ve had an increased number of requests for community collaborations in the Jewish community,” said Lexi Leban, the institute’s executive director.
The partnerships with the New Israel Fund and Keshet, a Jewish LGBT group, are new this year, Leban said. The Jewish Film Institute also co-hosted three environmentally themed screenings with Berkeley’s Urban Adamah, a Jewish farm and outdoor learning center, in 2015 and early 2016, including one showing on the farm.
But the most exciting new partnership, according to Leban, has brought the Jewish Film Institute behind bars.
A rabbi who works with San Quentin inmates invited the institute to present a film series this year. JFI program director Jay Rosenblatt and programmer Joshua Moore visited the prison in January for a showing and discussion of “The Zigzag Kid,” a Dutch film that screened during the 2013 festival.
“It was a pretty incredible experience, much more fulfilling and positive than I would have imagined,” Rosenblatt said. “It was one of the most responsive audiences that I’ve screened for.”
About 30 inmates attended the screening, and the film was also shown on the prison’s closed circuit TV network, Rosenblatt said. JFI will return for at least two more screenings in the spring.
“This population definitely can’t make it to the theater screening, so we’re bringing the best of the festival to them,” Leban said. “We’re really excited about this.” — drew himmelstein