“It’s my favorite” in the series, he adds. The 98-minute color film was a 1984 “Best Foreign Film” nominee for an Academy Award. In Hungarian with English subtitles, it also will run Thursday, Oct. 10.
The series will offer a range of films ranging from drama to satire, made in several different countries.
“Leon the Pig Farmer,” a 1992 comedy from Britain, is “a kind of a farce that families will like,” says Grossman, who serves on the executive board and helps select the offerings.
The movie tells of a successful young Jewish man in England who grows dissatisfied with his career. Further complicating his life is a surprising revelation about the circumstances of his birth.
The 90-minute color film will screen Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 16 and 17.
“Like a Bride,” following on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 23 and 24, addresses the Jewish experience in Mexico.
The drama focuses on two young Jewish women coming of age in the ’60s in Mexico City. One dreams of becoming an artist against the wishes of her Turkish immigrant family, who believe a woman’s goal ought to be marriage. The other, who is the daughter of intellectual European immigrants, introduces her friend to the Zionist socialist youth movement.
“It’s the mix between the Old-World Jewish culture and Mexico’s Latin culture, as opposed to American Western European influence,” says Grossman, a customer engineer for Hewlett Packard.
“Alan and Naomi,” made in the United States in 1992, will screen Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 30 and 31.
“It’s about a young Jewish boy breaking through to a young Jewish girl who escapes from the Holocaust but is traumatized by it,” says Grossman. “They communicate through puppets.”
The 95-minute color film is “good for teens,” he adds.
All of the above films will screen at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursdays, and 1 p.m. Thursdays.
The Series’ three Sunday matinees include the 1978 Israeli “Kazablan,” a “West Side Story”-type musical in which a white Ashkenazi girl tries to find happiness with a black Sephardic war hero.
The 90-minute color film will screen at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13.
The following Sunday, Oct. 20, will feature a 1968 Yiddish Western made in the United States. “The Cowboy,” an 11-minute black-and-white short, is a spoof of silent-era Hollywood Westerns.
It will appear on a double bill with “West of Hester Street,” a 1983 docudrama about the immigration of European Jews through the port of Galveston between 1907 and 1914.
The 60-minute color and black-and-white film reconstructs events with period costumes, archival material and an original musical score.
“Leon the Pig Farmer,” “Alan and Naomi,” “Kazablan” and “The Cowboy” have not appeared in the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, according to festival director Janis Plotkin.
“We’re not as avant-garde” as the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, says Grossman, who co-founded the South Bay series five years ago with Fagie Rosen and Burt Epstein. “We try to find selections of interesting films we think will appeal to South Bay Jewish families.
“We try to find overlooked films.”
Sponsors include Saratoga Congregation Beth David, Los Gatos Congregation Shir Hadash; and San Jose’s Congregation Sinai, Temple Emanu-El and Chai House; Hadassah Rena and Villages Group; Idle Hour Havurah; the San Jose-based Jewish Community Relations Council; Jewish Family Service of Santa Clara County; Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose and its Women’s Division; National Council of Christians and Jews; National Council of Jewish Women; Silicon Valley ORT; and Yavneh Day School in Los Gatos.
All films in the series will be shown in a 300-capacity screening room at the Town Theater, 1433 The Alameda, San Jose. Grossman says he expects to match last year’s crowd, which numbered around 2,000.
An opening-night reception for patrons who pay a $65 package price for the entire series will take place at Temple Emanu-El, 1010 University Ave., San Jose.
Tickets at the door for Wednesday and Thursday evening shows are $8 adults, $5.50 seniors and students; for Thursday matinees, $5.50 adults and $3.50 students and seniors, and for Sunday matinees, $4 adults and seniors and $2.50 for children.
Cost for the Wednesday- or Thursday-evening series is $25 for adults, $18 for seniors and students. For the Thursday matinees, cost is $18 for adults, $10 for seniors and students.
Individual advance tickets are available at $7.50 for evening performances, $5 for Thursday matinees, and $3.50 for Sunday matinees. For seniors and students the cost is $5 for evening shows, $3 for Thursday matinees and $3.50 for Sunday matinees. Children under 12 get in Sundays for $2.
“We’ve consciously tried to keep down ticket prices,” explains Grossman, “especially for seniors on a tight budget.”
Orders may be mailed to South Bay Jewish Film Series, c/o Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, 14855 Oka Road, Los Gatos, CA 95030. Phone (408) 236-2186.
Grossman says check out the Web site for more information: http://www.best.com/~sbjfs