JULY 24 & 26-31 28th SAN FRANCISCO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
From Jewish heavy metal rockers to lovers star-crossed by the Middle East conflict to Italians under fascism, the 28th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival proudly brings you the world in all its complexities via more than 60 films. Meet a British Bar Mitzvah boy with a penchant for party planning, enjoy Isaac Bashevis Singer stories on the big screen, and explore Israel’s diverse culture through Ethiopian singers, Bedouin filmmakers, gay furriers and much more. Explore the best of modern Jewish cinema from a culture 5768 years in the making.
Tickets, all-festival passes and full schedule available starting June 24, 2008 at www.sfjff.org or 925-275-9490. Join the Jewish Film Forum for ticket discounts and special benefits. Buy a discount 10-Flix Card, good for 10 tickets and save $20!
Thursday, July 24 Opening Night
8p: Strangers
Handsome Eyal and knockout Rana meet by chance on a subway in Berlin. But he’s Israeli and she’s Palestinian—setting in motion a passionate story exploring the boundaries of nationality, culture and the heart.
Opening Night Pre-Film Bash 6-7:30p @ Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market – includes reserved theatre seat!
Saturday, July 26
11:45a: Max Minsky and Me
A fun, family-oriented comedy about a bookish 12-year-old girl in modern Berlin who neglects her bat mitzvah studies in order to become a basketball player.
1:45p: Saved By Deportation: An Unknown Odyssey of Polish Jews
With wit and charm, this documentary follows two lively eighty-somethings back to the scene where, by a fluke of history, they survived the Holocaust: in Stalin’s Siberian gulag. Preceded by Der Soldat
4:30p: Black Over White
Black Over White chronicles the Ethiopian concert tour by Israeli-Ethiopian-Yemenite world-beat band The Idan Raichel Project. Followed by Bridge Over the Wadi, a documentary on the life of an Arab-Jewish primary school.
7:30p: Sixty Six
A London boy’s bar mitzvah party is threatened by a coinciding soccer match in this charming nostalgic comedy. Helena Bonham Carter and Stephen Rea co-star.
10p: Anvil! The Story of Anvil
This wonderful and often hilarious documentary follows a once famous Canadian heavy metal band, founded in the 1970s by two nice Jewish boys, and still rocking on.
Sunday, July 27
11:30a: Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
Roberta Grossman’s first-rate documentary Blessed Is the Match, narrated by three-time Academy Award nominee Joan Allen, is a paean to Hungarian resistance fighter and poet Hannah Senesh.
2p: Out of Focus
Out of Focus captures the creativity of Ohad Naharin, Israel’s “rock star” choreographer and director of Batsheva Dance Company. With Dancing Alfonso, a pitch-perfect portrait of a Flamenco dancer.
4:45p: Volevo Solo Vivere (I Only Wanted to Live)
A unique window into the Italian Jewish Holocaust experience, this documentary features testimonies of nine Italians who survived Auschwitz, including Liliana Segre, who will be present for an onstage interview after the screening.
7:45p: Centerpiece Film: Love Comes Lately
Three intertwined stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer. At the center is the elderly writer Max (Otto Tausig), whose vivid imagination merges life with fiction. Co-starring Rhea Perlman & Tovah Feldshuh.
10:15p: Two Lives Plus One
In this comedic drama, a Parisian schoolteacher’s newfound independence puts a strain on her conventional family when an attractive publisher takes an interest in her writing.
Monday, July 28
1:30p: Three Times Divorced
Two fascinating documentaries set in the Moslem Bedouin city of Rahat, Israel, look at the legacy of black slavery and an abused wife’s struggle for justice. Followed by The Film Class.
4:30p: At Home in Utopia
“The Coops,” cooperative Bronx apartments, symbolized an experiment in justice and equality. Blending political gravity with affection, this documentary portrays the workers who embraced communist, socialist and union movements. Preceded by My Olympic Summer.
7p: Miss Universe 1929—Lisl Goldarbeiter, A Queen in Wien
The dramatic life of a Jewish Viennese beauty queen as recorded in home movies by the man who loved her from a distance—her cousin.
9:30p: The Secrets
Naomi and Michelle come to Safed to study in an orthodox women’s seminary. While seeking spiritual knowledge, they embark upon a secret journey of rituals and forbidden love.
Tuesday, July 29
1:15p: The Maelstrom: A Family Chronicle
A cache of home movies shot in the Netherlands before and during World War II tells the devastating story of the Peereboom family. Screening with The Danube Exodus.
4:30p: Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story
An inspiring portrait of South Africa’s outrageous, controversial and brilliant political satirist (and occasional drag entertainer) Pieter-Dirk Uys, who now uses humor and rage to combat HIV/AIDS. Followed by Stefan Braun.
7p: Jerusalem Is Proud to Present
Captures 2006 World Pride in Jerusalem, and the passions of gay rights activists and religious Jews, Muslims and Christians who oppose them. Followed by panel on LGBT rights.
9:45p: Bilin My Love
An important documentation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seen through one village’s struggle, using stunning guerilla aesthetics that capture unique moments of desperation, courage and fear.
Wednesday, July 30
2p: Tulip Time—The Rise and Fall of The Trio Lescano
The popular Trio Lescano—three Dutch Jewish sisters—were the 1930s Italian equivalent of the Andrews Sisters in the 30s, until fascism forced them into silence. Preceded by Everyday the Impossible.
4p: To See If I’m Smiling
The stories of six Israeli women soldiers who served in the occupied territories. With Facing the Wind, about 13-year-old Oran, who lost his eyesight and five members of his family in a terrorist attack.
6:30p: Facing Windows
Two love stories: one from the 1940s between two Italian Jews and one contemporary story of neighbors who watch each other furtively from facing windows across a street.
9:30p: Arab Labor
Whether it leaves you in stitches or up in arms, this irreverent Israeli Arab sitcom will bring you the Middle East conflict as you’ve never seen it before.
Thursday, July 31
12:30p: Perlasca, an Italian Hero
What makes a man risk his life for people he doesn’t know? Perlasca is a taut drama about one Italian man’s remarkable courage in saving 5,200 Hungarian Jews.
3:15p: Praying in Her Own Voice
An excellent documentary about the contentious struggle of Women of the Wall for the right to wear prayer shawls and read Torah scrolls aloud at the Western Wall. Preceded by Four Questions For a Rabbi.
6p: Tehilim
A father’s mysterious disappearance throws his family into a personal and spiritual crisis in this engrossing, beautifully acted drama set in modern Jerusalem.
8:30p: Closing Night: Emotional Arithmetic
A surprise visitor (Gabriel Byrne) triggers turbulent childhood memories of love and loss among war survivors (Susan Sarandon, Max von Sydow) in this achingly beautiful story set in modern Quebec. Co-starring Christopher Plummer.
AUGUST 22-28