San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 32 by San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

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& 20-somethings

& disability

& holocaust & wwII

& personal documentaries

Ben Lee: Catch My Disease The Best of Tel Aviv University A Bottle in the Gaza Sea The Day I Saw Your Heart Hello I Must Be Going Kaddish for a Friend My Dad Is Baryshnikov Off White Lies Y-Love

A.K.A. Doc Pomus

55 Socks Besa: The Promise The Flat Harbour of Hope Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto Six Million and One

The Flat Papirosen Six Million and One White: A Memoir in Color

& animation

55 Socks Catherine the Great Joann Sfar Draws from Memory Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto & anti-semitism

55 Socks Besa: The Promise Broken The Flat Glickman Harbour of Hope Kaddish for a Friend The Moon is Jewish Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto Six Million and One

& drama

Audition Barbie Blues A Bottle in the Gaza Sea Invisible Just 45 Minutes from Broadway Kaddish for a Friend My Dad Is Baryshnikov Naomi Off White Lies The Other Son Panta Rhei Restoration Sharqiya Stitches Tasnim Tiger Eyes & dysfunctional families

Joann Sfar Draws from Memory

Arab Labor: Season 3 The Day I Saw Your Heart Dorfman The Exchange Hello I Must Be Going In Case I Never Win the Golden Palm Life in Stills My Dad Is Baryshnikov Off White Lies Restoration

& bay area interest

& former soviet union/russia

Gypsy Davy Kingdom of Survival

How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire My Dad Is Baryshnikov

& comedy

& french

Arab Labor: Season 3 The Day I Saw Your Heart Dorfman The Exchange Hello I Must Be Going In Case I Never Win the Golden Palm Man Without a Cell Phone Woody Before Allen

Broken A Bottle in the Gaza Sea The Day I Saw Your Heart In Case I Never Win the Golden Palm Joann Sfar Draws from Memory The Other Son

& art

& photography

Life in Stills Studio Varouj

& immigration

400 Miles to Freedom Broken Kaddish for a Friend & israelis & arabs

Ameer Got His Gun Arab Labor: Season 3 A Bottle in the Gaza Sea Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story Invisible The Law in These Parts Man Without a Cell Phone My Neighbourhood One Day After Peace The Other Son Sharqiya

& relationships/romance

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea The Day I Saw Your Heart Dorfman Hello I Must Be Going Kings Point The Pencil Stitches Tiger Eyes & religion & spirituality

400 Miles to Freedom Ben Lee: Catch My Disease The Moon is Jewish Y-Love & social justice & human rights

& latin america

Papirosen & literature & adaptations

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea Just 45 Minutes from Broadway Naomi Tiger Eyes

Kingdom of Survival The Law in These Parts One Day After Peace The Rabbi and Cesar Chavez Under African Skies & sports

Glickman Sivan

& music & performance

& coming of age

Barbie Blues A Bottle in the Gaza Sea My Dad Is Baryshnikov Off White Lies Tiger Eyes

& gay & lesbian

Life in Stills Stitches Y-Love & history

The Flat How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire Kingdom of Survival Life in Stills

A.K.A. Doc Pomus B-Boy Ben Lee: Catch My Disease God’s Fiddler Gypsy Davy Hava Nagila (The Movie) Music Man Murray My Dad Is Baryshnikov Under African Skies Y-Love

& women

Dorfman Gypsy Davy Hello I Must Be Going Invisible Kings Point & yiddishkeit

Hava Nagila (The Movie) Just 45 Minutes from Broadway The Pencil

& people of color

400 Miles to Freedom White: A Memoir in Color Under African Skies Y-Love

keepin' it reel: Our special offer for patrons 30 years old or under! The new Millennials Pass ($25) gets you into all regularly-priced screenings! If you're 25 years old or under, the Reel Pass ($75) gets you into every film & event in the Festival! See ticket details on page 48.

& sponsors. presenting sponsor

business & community sponsors

www.sfjff.org

media sponsors

415.621.0523

major foundation & government support

COMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION

& sponsors.

east bay highlights

in-kind sponsors

Attention Bay Area! In addition to nonstop film screenings at The Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, this year SFJFF is excited to offer you an exciting blend of new opportunities at four buzzing East Bay locations. Friday Night Out at Oakland’s Art Murmur (free to the public) Friday, August 3, 8:00-11:00pm

SFJFF is incredibly excited to join forces this year with The Great Wall of Oakland, a highlight feature of Art Murmur–a free monthly First Friday Art Walk evening event in Downtown Oakland where you can enjoy an evening of outdoor screenings of some of our favorite shorts. See more details on this event on page 33. Now Playing at The Piedmont Theatre Monday, August 6, 2:25-8:25 pm The Piedmont Theatre, Oakland

see page 33 for details. Bringing our 32nd season to a close in style, visit Oakland’s Piedmont Theatre on Monday, August 6 for a one-day opportunity to enjoy four films at a new SFJFF East Bay venue. Brunch at UC Berkeley's Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life Saturday, August 4, 10:30am-12:30pm The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, Berkeley 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA

In honor of the vibrant history between SFJFF and The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, join us for a late morning brunch, screening and discussion on Saturday, August 4 at The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library. For more information on this event, see page 33. Revelry at The Berkeley Rep Berkeley Opening Night’s film Gypsy Davy will leave you wanting even more gypsy splendor. Stick around for a live performance featuring Kerensa DeMars Cuadro with Special Guests followed by a courtyard and lobby reception. See page 33 for more information on the post-screening events. One-Time Only: Hello I Must Be Going

See page 10 for details on this exclusive one-time only screening at the Roda Theatre in Berkeley.

Art Direction & Design MendeDesign, www.mendedesign.com

hava nagila (the movie) opening night world premiere United States, 2012, 74 min., English Director: Roberta Grossman

Editor: Christian Callister Cinematographers: Dyanna Taylor, Michael Chin

opening night bash

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

Thursday, July 19, 9:00pm Swedish American Hall 2174 Market Street, San Francisco (between Church and Sanchez)

The launch of the Film Festival always calls for a special celebration and this year is no exception. Join us at the Opening Night Bash for a fantastic array of savory and sweet treats and hosted bars by some of the Bay Area’s best purveyors of food and drink. Schmooze with filmmakers and special guests and dance to San Francisco's own La Pêche Quintet. Don’t forget to bring your sweet tooth downstairs to The Backroom with drinks, desserts, photo booth by Snap Fiesta, espresso cart by Espresso Subito and did we say desserts? It’s all happening at the Swedish American Hall, located upstairs from the Café du Nord. Featuring: Fork & Spoon Catering, La Bonne Cuisine, Melons Catering, Savoy Events, Wise Sons, Hagafen Cellars of Napa Valley, Yelp, Espresso Subito and IZZE Beverage Co. The Backroom at the Bash is ADA accessible.

Opening Night is sponsored by a generous grant from Wells Fargo Additional support for the Opening Night Film Bash is generously provided by Bunny and Steven Fayne, Amy and Mort Friedkin, Nancy and Stephen Grand, Barbara and Richard Rosenberg, Lydia and Doug Shorenstein, Roselyne C. Swig, Carol and Norman Traeger What do we really know about a song that started as a prayer and just might be considered one of the world’s best-known pieces of music? Played at bar mitzvahs and Jewish weddings around the world, it can also be heard late at night in the bars of Reykjavik and on the streets of Managua. “Hava Nagila” is an earworm (a song you can’t get out of your head) the world over, and what a response it inspires! For some, “Hava Nagila” is all about joy, and, of course, there are those who love to hate the song. Director Roberta Grossman, who brought us Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (SFJFF 2008), captures it all. With humor and wit, Hava Nagila (The Movie) is a foot-tapping celebration of 100 years of Jewish culture and spirituality. It peels back the rich history, mystery and meaning of the song which is “kitschy, but oh so profound.” Together with a brilliant cast of characters that includes Connie Francis, Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy and even Glenn Campbell, we travel with “Hava” around the world. First, to Ukraine, where the “Hava Nagila” melody—originally a Hasidic wordless prayer— was sung, and from there to Jerusalem, where the song found its Hebrew lyrics. We learn to dance the hora and head back to the States where “Hava Nagila” became all the rage in suburban America. Campy Hollywood movie clips where “Hava” is the star of the show are at turns eye-opening, nostalgic, hysterically funny and thought-provoking. Our Opening Night journey will be a celebration with an edge, offering learning and laughter for all. —Lexi Leban Director Roberta Grossman in person at all screenings.

Castro (film only) Castro (film + bash) CineArts Roda

Rafael

Thu, Jul 19 Thu, Jul 19 Sun, Jul 29 Wed, Aug 1 Sat, Aug 4

7:00 pm $30/$25 members 7:00 pm (+ bash at 9:00 pm) $75/$65 members 6:45 pm $12/$10 members 6:25 pm $12/$10 members 4:20 pm $12/$10 members

a.k.a. doc pomus castro closing night world premiere United States, 2012, 99 min., English Directors: Peter Miller, Will Hechter

Editor: Amy Linton Cinematographer: Antonio Rossi

san francisco finale The Closing Night film at the Castro is followed by a live performance with an all-star lineup of local musicians including Vetiver’s Andy Cabic, Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats, Kelly Stoltz and Sonny Smith of Sonny and the Sunsets, sharing their renditions of American Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and iconic songwriter Doc Pomus songs.

See page 33 for details.

Closing Night is sponsored by a generous grant from the Bonnie and Marty Tenenbaum Foundation One of the guilty pleasures of watching a biographical film about a songwriter is that while pretending to gain new insight into pop culture, you can secretly revel in hearing terrific music straight from the source. Luckily, in the case of A.K.A. Doc Pomus, we get both a poignant biography and a truckload of performance clips as an homage to Doc Pomus (1925–1991), the legendary Brill Building songwriter. Among his more than 1,000 songs, he authored such enduring rock-and-roll hits of the 1950s and ’60s as “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “Teenager in Love,” “Viva Las Vegas” and dozens of others for artists as diverse as Dion, Elvis Presley, Dr. John, Andy Williams and B.B. King. Like so many of his R&B songwriting colleagues, Doc Pomus was a city-bred Jew. Born Jerome Felder in 1925 in Brooklyn, he was stricken with polio as a boy, which permanently disabled his legs and left him with a lifetime of both visible and private pain to overcome. Channeling that pain first into a career as a blues singer—certainly the only heavy-set, white, Jewish teenager on crutches to headline blues clubs in Greenwich Village—he later turned to songwriting and created the staggering string of hits that would land him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But as this spirited and honest film reveals, real life for Jerome Felder was also a struggle with disability, gambling and loss. The burly man whom Bob Dylan himself turned to for lyric-writing assistance, comes across as an American original, whose soulful output even now makes you want to close your eyes and dance the night away. —Peter L. Stein Co-Director/Producer Will Hechter invited. Director Peter Miller and in person in San Francisco.

Castro CineArts Roda Rafael

Thursday, July 26 Saturday, July 28 Saturday, August 4 Sunday, August 5

8:15 pm 3:55 pm 5:10 pm 2:35 pm

$25/$22 members $12/$10 members $12/$10 members $12/$10 members

the other son centerpiece film international premiere France, 2011, 105 min., French, Arabic, English, Hebrew w/English subtitles

www.sfjff.org

Director/Screenwriter: Lorraine Lévy Editor: Sylvie Gadmer

Cinematographer: Emmanuel Soyer Principal Cast: Emmanuelle Devos, Jules Sitruk, Pascal Elbé

Sponsored by the Lisa and John Pritzker Family Fund How would one go about approaching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a way that transcends the history and politics and delves deeper towards our shared humanity? Not an easy task, but one that writer-director Lorraine Lévy has achieved with great aplomb in the remarkable and profound The Other Son. The high concept premise is quite ingenious. When 18-year-old Joseph takes a blood test in preparation for military service, it reveals that he cannot be the biological son of his two parents, French physician Orith and Israeli army commander Alon. A subsequent visit to the Haifa hospital where he was born resolves the mystery: Joseph was switched at birth with Yassin, the child of a Palestinian family on the West Bank. The film examines how both families grapple with this bombshell and how they reconcile with having raised and loved the son of their adversary. Despite its melodramatic setup, the film avoids sentimentality and through a focus on familial relationships, shows the human cost of the conflict. You cannot watch this film without feeling deeply for both families as their most primal relationships are being upended.

415.621.0523

While nothing can dampen both mothers’ love for their children, it is the other family members, particularly the fathers that have the most trouble adapting to this new reality. Everyone is forced to reconsider their identities, values and beliefs. Restrained and nuanced performances from the entire multinational cast (led by Emmanuelle Davos as Orith) elevate this memorable and touching family drama into an unforgettable viewing experience. A must-see for parents and for grown children. In other words, for everyone. —Jay Rosenblatt Actors Pascal Elbé and Mahmoud Shalaby invited.

Castro

Tuesday, July 24

6:15 pm

gypsy davy berkeley opening night west coast premiere Israel, Spain, 2011, 96 min., English, Spanish w/ Eng subtitles Director: Rachel Leah Jones Editors: Erez Laufer, Rachel Leah Jones

Cinematographers: Philippe Bellaiche, Rachel Leah Jones

Opening Night at The Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Berkeley Opening Night’s film Gypsy Davy will leave you wanting even more gypsy splendor. Stick around for a live performance featuring Kerensa DeMars Cuadro with Special Guests followed by a courtyard and lobby reception.

See page 33 for more information on the post-screening festivities.

Sponsored by Deborah Blank, dedicated in loving memory of my great grandfather, Jack Blank, who, as a Jewish immigrant from Vienna, Austria, made the brave, wonderful—and wild—decision to relocate all the way to Oakland, California in the 1920s. Many generations later, and we are still proud residents of the San Francisco East Bay Additional support provided by the Consulate General of Israel, Pacific Northwest Region You’ll be riveted by the driving staccato rhythms of Rachel Leah Jones’ fascinating documentary Gypsy Davy. The Berkeley-born filmmaker grew up in Tel Aviv but comes home to the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival with a passionate, personal film. Wielding her camera, she seeks to understand the celebrated flamenco guitarist David Serva, one of the foremost interpreters of traditional Gypsy flamenco. But Serva is also her father, who left her mother (a stunning flamenco dancer herself) and Rachel when she was just a year old. Serva wasn‘t always Serva. At Berkeley High, he was David Jones, a white American with Alabama roots attracted to Jewish women (three of his five major liaisons). In the ’70s, their hippie neighbors called Serva and Rachel’s mother the King and Queen of Spain, but Rachel thought of them as the bohemian version of Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand. The opening scene is an intimate gathering with the incomparable cantaoras Inés Bacán, Pepa de Benito and bailaora Concha Vargas, who roar out a bulería that mirrors the filmmaker’s quest, “I asked God to give me permission to love you again.” Gyspy Davy demonstrates Serva’s artistry and the impact of his choices on the women and children who tried to love him. Without sentimentality, Rachel faces her father, her siblings and the five mothers, many of whom are still haunted by the legacy that Serva left behind. With searing honesty and wry humor, Rachel unravels a series of tangled lives and forges new possibilities. And if you’ve ever wondered about the real story behind the Counting Crow’s hit “Mr. Jones,” Gypsy Davy provides the definitive answer. —Lexi Leban Official Selection, 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Director Rachel Leah Jones in person in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Palo Alto.

Castro Roda CineArts

Monday, July 23 4:05 pm Saturday, July 28 7:00 pm Sunday, July 29 2:15 pm

$12/$10 members $25/$22 members $12/$10 members

elliott gould

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

2012 freedom of expression award In the past half-decade there has been a major re-emergence of Elliott Gould. Maybe re-emergence is the wrong word since film fanatics have kept a votive candle lit for the 73-year-old actor who successively personified the radicalism of his time by portraying a free-love swinger, a campus radical, and a cheeky battlefront army medic in Robert Altman’s 1970 anti-war classic M*A*S*H. Gould was still in his early thirties when he achieved astonishing success in the wake of M*A*S*H and received an Oscar nomination in Paul Mazursky’s counterculture comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). Sporting a Zapata mustache, he proceeded to make the cover of Time magazine and was proclaimed the “Urban Don Quixote” and “A Star for An Uptight Age”. He was hailed along with Dustin Hoffman, George Segal and Woody Allen as a member of the anxiety-ridden "Jew Wave", the singular talents who heralded the 1970’s golden age of Hollywood. What Gould achieved was revolutionary. Coming after a decade of chiseled features and vapid star vehicles, he not only countered existing stereotypes but also chose distinctly unorthodox roles that were perfectly in sync with the unconventional values of the period. During this time, the former Elliott Goldstein from Brooklyn was the youngest star to make the box office top ten since Elvis, firmly cementing his status as the hip, reckless and decidedly Jewish anti-hero of the Nixon era. When asked if he were the “Jewish Richard Burton” or the “Jewish Jimmy Stewart”, he simply stated that he was "the Jewish Elliott Gould."

Gould walked away from stardom in the 1980’s but eventually returned to big screen glory after Steven Soderbergh, a fan of the actor’s work with Altman, cast him in the Ocean’s Eleven franchise. Gould received critical praise for his role in Warren Beatty's 1991 gangster epic film Bugsy and appeared with Edward Norton in American History X. Since then, an entire critical re-awakening has coalesced around Gould, highlighted by retrospectives and several museum screenings of Ingmar Bergman’s sorely misunderstood The Touch (1971). Gould considers it to be his very finest moment. For anyone lucky enough to catch Elliott Gould’s lengthy conversation at last year’s fundraiser for the LA rep theater, Cinefamily, it was a chance to see this brilliant raconteur vividly recall moments from his extraordinary life -everything from his Jewish childhood in Brooklyn to changing a light bulb for an ailing Groucho Marx ("That’s the best acting I‘ve ever seen you do," cracked Groucho.). What was truly remarkable were the votive candles held now by a gaggle of 20 and 30-somethings who applauded wildly at the mere mention of two Gould obscurities: his turn as a Vietnam vet and college radical in Getting Straight (1970) and the Canadian caper The Silent Partner (1978). —Thomas Logoreci

On-stage interview precedes the screening of Dorfman.

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award honors the unfettered imagination, which is the cornerstone of a free, just and open society. The bronze sculpture given with the award was created and donated to the 32nd Festival by San Francisco-based, Russian-born sculptor Mischa Frid and symbolizes the never extinguished flame of Jewish daring and creativity.

For many cineastes, it was the pair of performances Gould gave for Altman after M*A*S*H—the broken-nosed gambler in California Split (1974) and the noir detective Philip Marlowe lost amid the boulevards and beaches of modern-day LA in The Long Goodbye (1973)—that are the definitive contributions Elliott Gould gave to the movies. Barbara Streisand, his ex-wife called him the American Jean Paul Belmondo and The Long Goodbye is the closest Hollywood ever came to making its Breathless.

Elliott Gould will accept his award prior to the screening of Dorfman on Sunday, July 22.

Castro

Sun, Jul. 22

8:30 pm

jews & tunes: spotlight on music Considered by many to be the most sublime of the art forms, music can unite, excite and inspire. From Ukraine to Graceland, we are proud to highlight eight films about music and musicians. Each of these films explores a unique genre while tracking the influence of an entire career, a quintessential song, a seminal album or the turbulent lives of the artists and performers. We’ve added several live elements to some of these screenings to add to the celebratory nature of this spotlight. So come with us as we journey to South Africa, Spain, Israel, Russia, New York, LA and Berkeley…

hava nagila (the movie): A foot-tapping celebration of 100 years of Jewish culture and spirituality, Hava Nagila (The Movie) peels back the rich history, mystery and meaning of the song which is “kitschy, but oh so profound.” a.k.a. doc pomus: A spirited and musically rich biography of legendary songwriter Doc Pomus, a disabled Brooklyn-born R&B phenomenon, whose 1,000+ titles included classic rock-and-roll hits for Dion, Elvis Presley, Dr. John and B.B. King. gypsy davy: Wielding her camera, Rachel Leah Jones seeks to understand the celebrated flamenco guitarist David Serva, one of the foremost interpreters of traditional Gypsy flamenco, who also happens to be her father. under african skies: For the 25th anniversary of the seminal album Graceland, Paul Simon returns to South Africa for a reunion concert that not only relates the album’s tumultuous beginnings but also revels in the artistic collaborations so integral to its creation. god’s fiddler: An entertaining and music-filled documentary brings alive the Russian Jewish wunderkind, Jascha Heifetz, who captivated America as a teenager and came to define the modern virtuoso. ben lee: catch my disease: A nice Jewish boy from Sydney, Australia became an international pop star at 16. His name is Ben Lee, and like his music, he’s still evolving. y-love: A poignant portrait of a struggling African American , gay, Orthodox Jewish hip-hop artist who seems most at ease spouting rhymes on a Jerusalem stage, surrounded by adoring, religious fans. Plus the short films Music Man Murray (preceding Life in Stills) and B-Boy (preceding Off White Lies).

one–time–only screenings Don’t miss out on these exclusive one-time-only screenings with special guests including renowned author Judy Blume, director Henry Jaglom, actor Judd Nelson, and the Opening Night film from this year’s Sundance Film Festival!

the other son (sfjff centerpiece screening) Tuesday, July 24, 6:15 pm / Castro Theatre

An Israeli and a Palestinian family realize that their 18-year-old sons were switched at birth, and they are forced to reconsider their identities, values and beliefs. Principal cast invited tiger eyes Sunday, July 22, 3:55 pm / Castro Theatre

The first of Judy Blume’s books to be translated to film, Tiger Eyes is directed by Lawrence Blume (Judy Blume’s son) and stars Willa Holland (Gossip Girl, The O.C. ) as a teenager grappling with the sudden loss of her Jewish father. www.sfjff.org

In Person: Judy Blume and director Lawrence Blume.

just 45 minutes from broadway Wednesday, July 25, 8:50 pm / Castro Theatre

This highly dramatic comedy is legendary independent filmmaker Henry Jaglom’s tribute to actors and the families who endure them. In Person: Henry Jaglom, Tanna Frederick, and Judd Nelson

hello i must be going

415.621.0523

Sunday, July 29, 8:50 pm / Roda Theatre, Berkeley

Celebrated character actress Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, television’s Two and Half Men ) gives a breakout performance as Amy Minsky, a 30-something divorcee, living back under her parent’s roof in suburban Connecticut. Sundance 2012 Opening Night Film

quick picks for young adults Check out a variety of films that resonate across borders and cultures with the reality of Generation Y (a.k.a the Millennials) in the 21st century (more information available online at www.sfjff.org)

ameer got his gun: There is nothing simple about Ameer’s story. In line with controversial family tradition, 18-year-old Arab Israeli Ameer enlists in the Israeli military. man without a cell phone: Yes to Olives. No to Radiation! A bittersweet comedy about Israeli-Palestinian relations and the introduction of cell phone reception into an Arab village north of Nazareth. dorfman: Deb Dorfman , a quirky 28-year-old accountant, transforms from homely to hip in the comical story of her move from San Fernando Valley to LA. broken: Anna, a young Jewish teacher just starting out in Paris, struggles to challenge society’s expectations of her immigrant students. arab labor: season 3: This wickedly funny Israeli sitcom is known for taking adroit equal-opportunity jabs at Israeli and Palestinian stereotypes alike. the best of tel aviv university: From the next wave of Israeli filmmakers in this impressive lineup of narrative and documentary shorts: Tasnim, Barbie Blues, Studio Varouj, Audition, and Stitches. tiger eyes: From author Judy Blume, Tiger Eyes is the tale of a young girl (played by O.C. and Gossip Girl’s Willa Holland) grappling with the loss of her father. the day i saw your heart: Justine’s father starts befriending her exboyfriends when he fails to get through to his aloof daughter. ben lee: catch my disease: A nice Jewish boy from Sydney, Australia, Ben Lee became an international pop star at 16. y-love: The incredible true story of an African-American orphan who remakes himself as an Orthodox Jewish hip-hop artist. a bottle in the gaza sea: This modern-day Romeo-and-Juliet tale takes place in Israel and Gaza during the conflicts of 2007 and 2008. off white lies: Set during the Second Lebanon War of 2006, this coming-ofage story highlights the offbeat charm of the father-daughter relationship. 11

400 miles to freedom

ameer got his gun

west coast premiere

north american premiere

United States, Israel, 2012, 60 min., English, Hebrew, Arabic w/ Eng. subtitles

Directors/Screenwriters: Avishai Mekonen, Shari Rothfarb Mekonen Cinematographer: Yahel Herzog

Avishai Mekonen’s fascinating documentary celebrates the diversity of the Jewish diaspora as the director comes to terms with his own extraordinary story. Born into a 2,500-year-old community of Ethiopian Jews, in 1984 the filmmaker and his family were forced to flee to Jerusalem via Sudan (on a 400-mile walk which gives the movie its title). Before flying to Israel as part of Operation Moses, Mekonen was kidnapped and tortured. He miraculously escaped, and was able to grow up in Israel. But there he encountered persistent skepticism about his faith, even pressure to convert, though he considers himself a Jew from birth. Now a New Yorker and married with a son, Mekonen feels emboldened to tell his story. Traveling across Africa, Israel and the United States, he talks to rabbis of Ugandan, Korean, and Latin American descent, all on a similar quest for acceptance. The filmmaker’s open curiosity safeguards the film from mawkishness, making for a refreshing meditation on identity and religion. —Emily Kaiser Thelin

www.sfjff.org

preceded by

What to make of Ameer Abu Ria, an 18-year-old Arab-Israeli who volunteers to enlist in the Israeli military? Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Ameer believes it’s his duty to serve his homeland. At the same time, he is waking up to the fact that he will always be viewed as an outsider or worse by the young men he will serve with. At home in Sakhnin, Ameer and his family—who fly an Israeli flag on their roof—are viewed as traitors. One of the most heartbreaking scenes in this gripping documentary is Ameer’s pre-induction party; the family spends all day preparing, but hardly any guests show up. Filmmaker Naomi Levari gained unprecedented access, following Ameer through his basic training and assignment in Hebron, and tells his story with unflinching candor. “There’s one thing Jews and Arabs must know,” says Ameer. “We’re cousins.” Unfortunately, nothing about Ameer’s story is that simple. —Hagar Scher

my neighbourhood

Director: Amos Holzman

United States, 2012, 25 min., English

415.621.0523

Written and directed by Amos Holzman, this short feels realistic enough to pass as documentary. Depicted with understated humor and pathos, an affable Israeli youth copes with the typical challenges of teenage life (girlfriend, sex, drugs) as he slowly but inexorably buckles under the stress of his military exam. —Emily Kaiser Thelin

Directors: Julia Bacha, Rebekah Wingert-Jabi

Mohammed El Kurd aspires to become a lawyer, inspired by his family’s experience of being driven from its home by Jewish settlers armed with court orders. From the makers of Budrus (SFJFF 2010), My Neighbourhood shines a light on the injustices committed against the Arabs of East Jerusalem and the young Jewish activists who have joined their Palestinian neighbors in protest. —Hagar Scher Co-producer Nadav Greenberg in person in San Francisco.

Roda

Co-sponsored by Carol and Terry Winograd

preceded by

panta rhei Israel, 2010, 20 min., Hebrew w/ Eng. subtitles

Director: Naomi Levari Editor: Tali Halter Shenkar Cinematographer: Naomi Levari

Israel, 2011, 58 min., Arabic, Hebrew w/ Eng. subtitles

CineArts

Wednesday, August 1 Thursday, August 2

12:00 pm 12:00 pm

Castro RODA

Wednesday, July 25 Wednesday, August 1

1:35 pm 4:25 pm

arab labor: season 3 international premiere Israel, 2012, 80 min., Arabic, Hebrew w/ Eng. subtitles

ben lee: catch my disease west coast premiere

Director: Shai Capon Screenwriter: Sayed Kashua Principal Cast: Clara Khoury, Mariano Idelman, Norman Issa

Australia, 2012, 86 min., English

Co-sponsored by Orli and Zack Rinat This wickedly funny Israeli sitcom is known for taking adroit equal-opportunity jabs at Israeli and Palestinian stereotypes alike. Now it lampoons itself! In brand-new episodes from the third season, Palestinian-Israeli protagonist Amjad is incensed to learn that his family’s mere presence in their new Jewish neighborhood is driving down property values. Hell bent on proving to the world that Arabs and Jews can coexist under the same roof, Amjad joins the cast of the reality TV series, Big Brother. What starts as a plan to endear Jewish Israelis to a “model Palestinian” quickly backfires when producers challenge him to pass as a Jew among his fellow competitors. Amjad hides his identity, and ugly prejudices bubble to the surface. As he is catapulted into fame of paparazzi-dodging proportions, Amjad transforms into a tetherball, punted between extremes of pedantic stiff-necked nationalism and nebbish Zionism. Meanwhile, Amjad’s interfaith friends Meir and Amal welcome their first child into the world. But is the world ready? Writer Sayed Kashua (SFJFF 2010 Freedom of Expression Award recipient) is accustomed to breaking new ground. With Arab Labor, he launched the first-ever Israeli sitcom centered around a Palestinian-Israeli family. Now in Season 3, he challenges us to embrace heartier laughs and more painful truths.

Director/Editor/Screenwriter: Amiel Courtin-Wilson

At the age of 14 a nice Jewish boy from Sydney, Australia became a rock star, and at 16, an international pop star. His name is Ben Lee, and, like his music, he’s still evolving. The transition into stardom began with a self-produced fourtrack demo recorded in Lee’s bedroom that brought his band Noise Addict to the attention of Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and the Beastie Boys’ Mike D. After his band broke up, Ben, only 16 at the time, moved to Los Angeles and embarked on a solo career, belting out spunky indie pop hits like “Something to Remember Me By” and “Catch My Disease.” He dated actress Claire Danes, and the young lovers were soon inseparable as fame continued to bombard them. Their breakup a few years later left Ben in a fragile state, which led to a reexamination of his life and what was truly important to him. Featuring interviews with friends Winona Ryder, Jason Schwartzman and Michelle Williams, candid home videos of pre-stardom life in the Sydney suburbs and intimate footage of Lee’s marriage to actress Ione Skye in India, Ben Lee: Catch My Disease goes beyond the typical biodoc and becomes a profoundly moving portrait of an artist’s evolution. —Joshua Moore Subject Ben Lee in person in San Francisco.

—Shira Zucker

CineArts Castro Roda Rafael

Monday, July 30 Sunday, July 22 Tuesday, July 31 Sunday, August 5

6:35 pm 6:45 pm 6:25 pm 4:50 pm

Castro Roda

Tuesday, July 24 Saturday, August 4

9:05 pm 9:25 pm

besa: the promise world premiere United States, 2012, 86 min., English, Albanian, w/ Eng. subtitles

the best of tel aviv university Director: Rachel Goslins Editor: Christine S. Romero Cinematographer: Neil Barrett

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Tel Aviv University’s film school, the oldest and largest in Israel with distinguished alumni such as Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir) and Eytan Fox (Yossi and Jagger), comes the next wave of Israeli filmmakers in this impressive lineup of narrative and documentary shorts.

www.sfjff.org

Co-sponsored by Craig Harrison's Expressions of Excellence!™ 1939. War looms on the horizon. Many German Jews were looking for refuge from the desperate situation at home. While the rest of Europe turned its back, Albania offered unconditional asylum. King Zog announced that all Jews residing in Albania could obtain citizenship. The next day fascist troops invaded, sending the king into exile and putting the Jews in jeopardy. In response Albanian families, most of them Muslim, gave their sacred oath, the ancient besa, to protect the refugees. In 2002, Norman Gershman journeyed to Albania to photograph Jews and the families who rescued them. There he met Rexhep Hoxha, the son of a pastry chef who had hidden a family of Bulgarian Jews, the Abadjens, in his home. The refugees had been forced to leave behind their sacred prayer books, and Hoxha’s father pledged to keep them till the Abadjens could someday return to Albania. Bringing the circle to a close, Gershman takes Hoxha to Israel, allowing him to fulfill the 66-year-old promise to the Jewish family he sheltered. Besa: The Promise is a powerful look at a historic example of basic human solidarity. —Thomas Logoreci

tasnim 2010, 12 min. Director: Elite Zexer

A feisty Bedouin girl confronts the conservative traditions of the family tribe while bringing coffee to her visiting father and the village elders. barbie blues 2011, 18 min. Director: Adi Kutner

When a suburban teenage girl finds a disturbing creature in her swimming pool, she asks her middle-aged neighbor for help in what turns into a dangerous game of sexual flirtations. Sundance Film Festival 2012 studio varouj 2010, 18 min. Director: Yakie Ayalon

Eighty-year-old Varouj, a member of the third generation of an Armenian family of photographers, faces the end of an era on the eve of his famed Jerusalem studio’s final days.

preceded by

55 socks Canada, 2011, 9 min., English

Co-sponsored by the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund

Director: Co Hoebeman

audition

415.621.0523

In the closing months of World War II in occupied Holland, some women unravel a beautiful bedspread in order to knit 55 socks to barter for food in this poetic silhouette-animated short. —Joshua Moore

2010, 15 min. Director: Eti Tsicko

A female Israeli director calls an Arab actor in for an audition that blurs the line between reality and fiction. stitches 2011, 16 min. Director: Adiya Imri Orr A lesbian couple facing motherhood for the first time discover they don’t meet eye to eye with this new addition to their family. Tribeca Film Festival 2012 —Joshua Moore

JCCSF CINEARTS

Piedmont

Sun, Jul. 29 Mon, Jul. 30 Mon, Aug. 6

12:00 pm 11:55 am 2:25 pm

Castro CineArts

Wed, Jul. 25 Wed, Aug. 1

11:40 am 2:35 pm

a bottle in the gaza sea california premiere France, Israel, Canada, 2011, 99 min., Hebrew, Arabic, French w/ Eng. subtitles Director: Thierry Binisti

broken

Screenwriters: Thierry Binisti, Valérie Zenatti Cinematographers: Jean-Paul Husson, Laurent Brunet Principal Cast: Agathe Bonitzer, Hiam Abbass, Mahmoud Shalaby

Co-sponsored by Carolyn Cavalier Rosenberg and Sanford Rosenberg

west coast premiere France, 2010, 113 min., French w/ Eng. subtitles

Director: Alain Tasma Screenwriter: Emmanuel Carrère Principal Cast: Anaïs Demoustier, Laurent Stocker, Sammy Seghir

Co-sponsored by Bill Falik and Diana Cohen

Inspired by the acclaimed young-adult novel by French writer Valérie Zenatti (who co-wrote the screenplay), this modern-day Romeo-and-Juliet tale is set in Israel and Gaza during the conflicts of 2007 and 2008. After witnessing a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, Tal, a 17-year-old French-Israeli girl, writes a letter to Gaza seeking understanding. She has her older brother throw the message in a bottle into the Mediterranean (he’s performing his military service nearby.) The bottle washes ashore at the feet of 20-year-old Gaza resident Naïm, who overcomes his initial repugnance and emails back as “Gazaman.” The two begin an exchange. Though they live less than 100 kilometers apart, they never see each other, communicating only through emails, texts and clandestine letters. While they often disagree, their relationship only deepens as the political situation around them worsens. The filmmakers also decline to take sides. As tensions mount, the film deftly cuts back and forth ever more rapidly between the two. Though Tal lives in relative comfort and Naïm in comparable poverty, the movie shows how they are both, in their own ways, trapped by circumstances. The growing sense of confinement only makes it that much more satisfying when they each find paths to freedom in this gripping drama.

By now, we’re all familiar with the tale of the hero-teacher who takes a classroom of indifferent students and transforms them into academic powerhouses. Broken, set in a school in the low-income suburbs of Paris, substantially diverges from that storyline. Instead of watching kids transformed by attention from a caring teacher, we’re taken on a poignant journey into the margins of French society. There we encounter teenage students descended from North and West African immigrants who see little point in completing their education because they expect upon graduation to either land in some menial position or jail. At the outset, we meet Anna, an idealistic young Jewish teacher just starting out, and Lakdar, a student in Anna’s class who has a gift for drawing. Early notes of optimism fade, however, as Anna fails to gain the respect of her students and eventually comes to resent them. In the meantime, Lakdar is forced to confront the fact that a bungled medical procedure for an injury to his drawing hand will deprive him of the career as a cartoonist that he had hoped would be his ticket out. While Anna contemplates the shame of admitting defeat and quitting, Lakdar strikes out at those he blames for his misfortune with tragic consequences for all involved.

—Emily Kaiser Thelin

—Mark Valentine

Actor Mahmoud Shalaby invited.

Castro Roda CineArts

Wednesday, July 25 Saturday, July 28 Tuesday, July 31

6:05 pm 4:35 pm 3:45 pm

JCCSF Roda CineArts

Sunday, July 29 Monday, July 30 Tuesday, July 31

6:20 pm 6:25 pm 6:10 pm

the day i saw your heart

dorfman

california premiere

United States, 2011, 92 min., English

France, 2011, 98 min., French w/ Eng. subtitles

Director/Screenwriter: Jennifer Devoldère Editor: Stéphanie Pereira Cinematographer: Laurent Tangy Principal Cast: Florence Loiret-Caille, Mélanie Laurent, Michel Blanc

If your father is closer to your ex-boyfriends than he is to you, you might not have the greatest father/daughter relationship. Such is the case with Justine, played by the always radiant Mélanie Laurent, (The Roundup, SFJFF 2011, Inglourious Basterds) whose hard-nosed father Eli can only learn more about his aloof daughter by befriending her ex-boyfriends. He soon discovers Justine uses her job as an X-ray technician to develop her burgeoning artistic endeavors: assembling life-size human skeletal collages from the patients she scans. Eli agrees to be her next art project in a feeble attempt to get closer to his daughter. His scans reveal he has a serious heart condition, which he keeps secret from the rest of the family. While a new romance with a hunky shoe salesman blossoms for Justine, Eli prepares to have a new baby with his much younger second wife, much to the chagrin of Justine and her sister. A stylish, quirky and honest depiction of a contemporary Jewish family in Paris, The Day I Saw Your Heart marks the impressive debut of filmmaker Jennifer Devoldère, who wrote the script with Mélanie Laurent in mind, and has crafted a film that ultimately celebrates what it means to love. —Joshua Moore

Deb Dorfman is a nice Jewish girl who never quite blossomed. The quirky 28-year-old accountant attends to everyone’s needs but her own and seeks solace in romance novels on tape. When Deb agrees to house-sit for her longtime crush, a dashing journalist on assignment in Afghanistan, she is uprooted from her sheltered San Fernando Valley home and thrust into the hub of newly revitalized downtown LA. An unlikely friendship with a smooth-talking Egyptian neighbor has Deb trying exotic food, braving the (gasp!) subway and overhauling her look from homely to hip. Who knows what all this will lead to? Maybe to a love that exists outside of her imagination. Sex in the City this is not. Dorfman is more like the Jewish answer to Muriel’s Wedding and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Deb is a refreshingly relatable heroine with a normal job, a normal closet and normal problems. Elliott Gould (SFJFF 2012 Freedom of Expression recipient) is perfect as Deb’s despondent widowed father who mopes around the house delivering uproariously deadpan one-liners. Writer Wendy Kout cut her teeth in sitcoms (Mork & Mindy, Anything But Love) and imbues this delightful indie romcom with just enough screwball humor to keep you chuckling as you root for Deb on her path to self-actualization. —Shira Zucker

Castro screening preceded by on-stage interview with Freedom of Expression recipient, Elliott Gould.

Actor Michel Blanc invited.

Producer Len Hill and Screenwriter Wendy Kout in person in San Francisco.

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

Co-sponsored by Moses and Susan Libitzky

Director: Bradley Leong Screenwriter: Wendy Kout Editor: Daniel Cahn Cinematographer: Rachel Morrison Principal Cast: Elliott Gould, Haaz Sleiman, Sara Rue

Castro CineArts Roda

Rafael

Saturday, July 21 Saturday, July 28 Thursday, August 2 Saturday, August 4

6:55 pm 6:10 pm 6:35 pm 6:35 pm

Castro Roda CineArts Rafael

Sunday, July 22 Tuesday, July 31 Wednesday, August 1 Sunday, August 5

8:30 pm 8:20 pm 8:30 pm 12:30 pm

the exchange Israel, Germany, 2011, 94 min., Hebrew w/ Eng. subtitles

the flat Director/Screenwriter: Eran Kolirin Editor: Arik Lahav-Leibovich Cinematographer: Shai Goldman Principal Cast: Dov Navon, Rotem Keinan, Sharon Tal

Co-sponsored by The Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund Erin Kolirin’s quirky black comedy The Exchange is a winning follow-up to his charming 2007 debut, The Band’s Visit. Doctoral student Oded teaches physics and seems to have a routine and simple life with his architect wife Tami. One day he forgets his orange binder at home and returns to their apartment. Inside he is surprised to find his wife napping, but stranger still is how unfamiliar his home appears to him at a time when he is not usually there. In that instant he becomes a sort of intruder in his own life, telling his wife that it was like coming home sick from school. Intrigued by this new perception, he begins to see everything around him with a sense of wonder and detachment, noticing details that he normally overlooked. Like a scientist conducting research, he begins to purposefully break his routines, even to the point of spying on his wife. His new behavior borders on the obsessive when he meets a neighbor who seems to share his predilections. Together they embark on a bizarre series of social experiments that verge on the ridiculous and end in quiet despair. Along the way, Oded questions his marriage, his job and his very existence. —Jay Rosenblatt

west coast premiere

Director/Screenwriter: Arnon Goldfinger Editor: Tali Halter Shenkar Cinematographers: Philippe Bellaiche, Talia Galon

Israel, 2011, 97 min., Hebrew w/ Eng. subtitles

Sponsored by Michael Ehrenzweig Winner of the Israeli award for Best Documentary, Arnon Goldfinger’s The Flat is that rare commodity: a documentary film as riveting as a suspense thriller. After the death of his 95-year-old grandmother, the filmmaker begins recording the mammoth task of clearing out her Tel Aviv apartment overflowing with a lifetime of accumulated possessions. Sifting through the dusty books and 40-year-old thank you notes, Goldfinger comes upon an odd find: faded copies of Der Angriff, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’ vociferously anti-Semitic newspaper. Flipping through the pages, Goldfinger reads of an unlikely prewar trip by a high-ranking German official, Leopold von Mildenstein, to Palestine when the Nazis were still exploring the possibility of deporting the Jews instead of annihilating them. What surprises Goldfinger most of all are the names of the couple who accompanied the man who was Adolf Eichmann’s predecessor in the SS: his grandfather Kurt Tuchler and recently deceased grandmother, Gerda. As Goldfinger makes a series of inquiring calls and trips overseas (always politely bearing flowers), he makes an astonishing discovery about the friendship between the powerful Nazi and his grandparents, who never seemed entirely willing to shake off their past. The Flat is a complex, penetrating look at a different kind of Holocaust denial altogether. —Thomas Logoreci Best Editing, Tribeca Film Festival.

Castro Roda Rafael

Monday, July 23 Monday, July 30 Saturday, August 4

8:55 pm 8:55 pm 8:55 pm

Castro Roda CineArts

Thursday, July 26 Sunday, July 29 Thursday, August 2

3:50 pm 4:25 pm 4:20 pm

follow me: the yoni netanyahu story

glickman

bay area premiere

United States, 2012, 87 min., English

Directors: Ari Daniel Pinchot, Jonathan Gruber Screenwriter: David Grossbach Cinematographers: David Goulding, Marc Miller

www.sfjff.org

Take an intimate and riveting journey into one of the most intrepid exploits in Israeli history, the story of the leader and only casualty of Operation Entebbe. Born in 1946 in the United States, Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu always felt committed to serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. For that reason he discontinued his studies at Harvard and returned to Israel to rejoin the army, where he eventually was appointed commander in chief of the top commando unit in the Israeli military (and where his two younger brothers, Benjamin—Israel’s current prime minister—and Ido, also served). On July 4, 1976, 30-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Netanyahu led the operation that rescued 103 Israeli hostages from Palestinian terrorists and Ugandan dictator Idi Amin at Entebbe Airport. Commander Netanyahu, who insisted on personally leading his force, was shot dead in the operation that turned him into a historic figure. In this emotional documentary utilizing Netanyahu’s own writings and news reports of the daring raid on Entebbe, filmmakers Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot delicately weave the epic with the intimate in this personal story of a young man who dedicated his life to the service of his people. —Donny Inbar

United States, 2012, 84 min., English

Director: James Freedman Editors: Frank Laughlin, Keith Robinson, Josh Trank Cinematographer: Lon Magdich, Zvonimir Vidusin, Marc Miller

Co-sponsored by the George Krevsky Gallery Marty Glickman was an inspiration to millions. He made the Jewish community of New York incredibly proud when he was chosen as a member of the U.S. track and field team alongside Jesse Owens for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He was dropped at the last minute, likely at the behest of the president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, who was looking to curry favor with Hitler. Despite this disappointment, Glickman went on to be named a football All-American at Syracuse University. Too small to play professionally, he channeled his passion for sports into broadcasting. Millions of New Yorkers depended on Glickman, the voice of the Knicks and Giants, to bring them as close to the game as if they were there in person. He coined the term “swish” and made “top of the key” and “baseline” part of the basketball lexicon. As Larry King put it, “He was television on the radio.” Featuring interviews with Bob Costas, Bill Bradley and Marv Albert, this documentary brilliantly captures Glickman’s life as an athlete, a pioneering sports broadcaster and as a passionate advocate of sports as a means of transcending divisions created by race class and religion. If you loved The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, this movie is for you. —Mark Valentine

415.621.0523

Director James Freedman in person in San Francisco, Berkeley and Palo Alto.

Castro CineArts JCCSF

CineArts

Saturday, July 28 Sunday, July 29

12:00 pm 4:45 pm

Roda Rafael

Sunday, July 22 Saturday, July 28 Sunday, July 29 Mon, Aug. 6

1:35 pm 1:40 pm 2:10 pm 4:30 pm

god’s fiddler west coast premiere United States, 2011, 88 min., English

harbour of hope Director/Editor/Cinematographer: Peter Rosen Editor: Josh Waletzky

Co-sponsored by Vera and Harold Stein

It seems that at some point in the 20th century, becoming a violin prodigy—or even better, siring one—came to symbolize the definitive source of Jewish family pride, surpassing Talmud scholarship, financial acumen or athletic prowess as the certifiable indicator of God-given genius. How did this happen? Two words: Jascha Heifetz. In this entertaining and music-filled documentary, we meet the Russian wunderkind who took America by storm as a teenager in 1917 and who over a long and astonishing career redefined the modern virtuoso, his name entering popular culture as shorthand for artistic perfection. “When I spoke with him,” Itzhak Perlman says on camera, ”I thought, ‘I can’t believe it—I’m talking with God!’” The documentary gives ample evidence that reverence for Heifetz’s playing is not misplaced even today; his expressive tone was matched by breathtaking technical precision, drilled into him early by a taskmaster father—a relationship that played no small part in making Heifetz a difficult adult. Luckily he was also a self-described “camera fiend,” and the film is rich with home movies from his earliest days in Vilna through his famously idiosyncratic later years in Beverly Hills. Like any good biography, the film is peppered with anecdotes from colleagues and students, if not friends— he seems not to have had many. Genius has its price. —Peter L. Stein

Roda CineArts

Tuesday, July 24 Tuesday, July 31 Wednesday, August 1

Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Poland, 2011, 76 min., English, Swedish w/ Eng. subtitles

Director/Screenwriter: Magnus Gertten Editor: Jesper Osmund Cinematographer: Jon Rudberg

Generous support for this program provided by the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation

Free Matinees are generously supported by the Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation

Castro

west coast premiere

2:10 pm 12:00 pm 12:30 pm

(Free) (Free) (Free)

In the spring of 1945, Irene, Ewa and Joe were among the nearly 30,000 survivors liberated from German concentration camps by the Red Cross and sent to the peaceful harbour town of Malmö, Sweden. Here they started life again. Shown in unique archival footage, 10-year-old Irene takes her first shaky steps toward freedom at the harbor. Newborn Ewa’s mother, who had veiled her eyes from the horrors of the camps, carries her infant, who was born in the Ravensbrück camp, from the boat. Joe arrives in Malmö as a lonely orphan, having lost his entire family. Together with Red Cross volunteer Stig Kinnhagen and Malmö resident Bo Fröberg, the survivors tell their amazing stories from the moment of liberation until today, when unsolved mysteries still affect their lives. Director Magnus Gertten dramatically depicts how the city of Malmö mobilized to take care of the survivors, ultimately helping to save thousands of lives. Their heartbreaking, yet life-affirming personal life journeys are documented in this emotionally powerful film about dealing with repressed wartime memories and the importance of a helping hand; of finding a “harbour of hope.” — J.T. Greenstein Director Magnus Gertten and subject Joe Rozenberg in person at all screenings.

Castro Roda CineArts

Thursday, July 26 Monday, July 30 Tuesday, July 31

11:10 am 12:00 pm 1:30 pm

hello i must be going

how to re-establish a vodka empire

west coast premiere

united states premiere

United States Premiere

Director: Todd Louiso Screenwriter: Sarah Koskoff Editor: Tom McArdle Cinematographer: Julie Kirkwood Principal Cast: Blythe Danner, Christopher Abbott, Melanie Lynskey

United States, 2012, 95 min., English

www.sfjff.org

Celebrated character actress Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, television’s Two and Half Men) gives a breakout performance as Amy Minsky, a thirtysomething divorcee, back under the suburban Connecticut roof of her parents (wonderful supporting turns by Blythe Danner and John Rubenstein). Spending her days in sweatpants watching old Marx Brothers movies (a favorite pastime shared with her father), Amy has put her life on hold, waiting for something or someone to ignite the spark lacking in her life. She meets a handsome 19-year-old actor on his summer break from school. Before long the two misfits become embroiled in a passionate affair. Unbeknownst to her overbearing mother, Amy sneaks out of the house late at night like a lovestruck teen. More alive than ever, she discovers a new independence and purpose in her life that her mother had always sought but could never find. With a sharply written script and hilariously uncomfortable moments of Jewish family dysfunction, Hello I Must Be Going maintains an endearing respect for its characters. Debut screenwriter Sarah Koskoff and director Todd Louiso (Love Liza) have crafted a pitch-perfect neurotic comedy/romance about learning to like yourself, warts and all. —Joshua Moore Sundance 2012, Opening Night Film.

United Kingdom, 2011, 76 min., English

Director/Screenwriter: Daniel Edelstyn Editor: John Mister Cinematographer: Hilary Powell

“When peace is restored, you must go to Russia and find my people.” In a London attic, director Daniel Edelstyn comes upon these words written in a tattered journal by the exiled grandmother he never knew, the flamboyant dancer Maroussia Zorokovich. Now, nearly 70 years after her final note goodbye, the curious Edelstyn sets off to Ukraine, to seek out the sugar factory once owned by his prosperous Jewish ancestors before they fled the Russian Revolution. Arriving in the snowbound hamlet, the filmmaker finds the sugar factory and discovers a functioning vodka distillery also built by his great-grandfather. Edelstyn returns to London with the intention of importing his family brand into the UK. Real life interrupts Edelstyn’s comic misadventures as he finds his bank account rapidly shrinking and his girlfriend/ cinematographer finds herself pregnant. Ultimately this is a touching tribute from the filmmaker to his grandmother, the woman he never met but whose nearly forgotten words forever altered the direction of his life. —Thomas Logoreci preceded by

woody before allen Russia, United States, France 2011, 14 min., English

Director: Masha Vasyukova

415.621.0523

An adventurous meditation on past and present, on two former Konigsbergs—a man and a city that no longer use the same name: one a Russian city which was renamed Kaliningrad, another a renowned film director who changed his name to Woody Allen. —Joshua Moore

JCCSF

Roda

Sunday, July 29

8:50 pm

Roda

Sunday, July 29 Thursday, August 2

2:10 pm 2:10 pm

in case i never win the golden palm

invisible

north american premiere

west coast premiere

France, 2010, 82 min., French w/ Eng. subtitles

Director/Screenwriter: Renaud Cohen Editors: Marine Benveniste, Pauline Casalis Cinematographer: Marc Tevanian Principal Cast: Julie Gayet, Maurice Bénichou, Renaud Cohen

Taking the adage, “Write what you know,” to absurd extremes, French Jewish writer-director Renaud Cohen (whose last feature film, Once We Grow Up, opened the 21st SFJFF in 2001) has made a self-referential comedy about— get ready—a French Jewish film director who hasn’t made a film in more than a decade. When we first meet the hapless, underemployed Simon Cohen— played by (who else?) the director himself—he has started attending a support group for ex-filmmakers, struggling to kick their addiction to moviemaking. After losing a bet to a friend, he shaves his head, only to discover a strange cranial lump that may or may not mean his life is ending. On the way to an existential crisis—Can he ever make another film? Will he never win the top prize at Cannes?—he bucks the advice of skeptical collaborators and goes into production on the only film he knows he can make: the one about the life he is living. This gentle satire, featuring actors as their real-life counterparts, has a self-effacing indie-film whimsy, playing like a nebbish cousin of Truffaut’s Day for Night. —Peter L. Stein Director's family/cast members in person in San Francisco.

Israel, Germany, 2010, 90 min., Hebrew w/ Eng. subtitles

Director: Michal Aviad Screenwriters: Michal Aviad, Tal Omer Editor: Era Lapid Cinematographer: Guy Raz Principal Cast: Evgenia Dodina, Ronit Elkabetz

Co-sponsored by Linda and Frank Kurtz and Roselyne C. Swig Two of Israel’s strongest actresses, Ronit Elkabetz and Evgenia Dodina, play two women who share a terrible bond. The film begins with their chance encounter during an altercation between settlers and IDF soliders and a group of Palestinian villagers harvesting olives. Leftist activist Lily (Elkabetz) stands her ground, chastising the young men for their brutish behavior. Nira (Dodina), a film editor involved in making a documentary about the conflict, looks on with admiration and realizes she has met this regal woman once before during a police lineup 20 years earlier when they both testified against a serial rapist. Despite their dramatic differences, the two troubled mothers begin to forge an uneasy but ultimately cathartic friendship. Based on real-life events, Invisible builds slowly, like a crackling bonfire. Veteran documentary filmmaker and San Francisco State University alumna Michal Aviad makes innovative use of historical news footage in her first fiction film and incorporates taped interviews with two of the women attacked by the so-called Polite Rapist, a married father of three who assaulted 16 victims on the outskirts of Tel Aviv in the mid-1970s. Fueled by the smoldering performances of its two stars, the film explores the aftershocks of sexual violence with surprising restraint. —Hagar Scher

Best Feature, Haifa Film Festival. Director Michal Aviad in person in San Francisco.

Castro JCCSF CineArts Piedmont

Sunday, July 29 Tuesday, July 31 Monday, August 6

8:45 pm 8:40 pm 8:50 pm

Roda CineArts Rafael

Saturday, July 21 Sunday, July 29 Monday, July 30 Sunday, August 5

4:25 pm 6:45 pm 8:30 pm 6:45 pm

joann sfar draws from memory west coast premiere United States, 2012, 56 min., French w/ Eng. subtitles

just 45 minutes from broadway west coast premiere

Director: Sam Ball Editors: Kate Stilley Steiner, Catherine Zins Cinematographer: Sophie Constantinou

United States, 2012, 119 min., English

At just 39 years of age, the prolific Joann Sfar has published 150 graphic novels, including the French best-seller The Rabbi’s Cat and the New York Times best-seller Little Vampire, and in 2010 crossed over into feature films with the biopic Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life and the adaptation of The Rabbi’s Cat. Joann Sfar Draws from Memory, director Sam Ball’s documentary portrait of the French comics artist and filmmaker, tracks his odyssey through the Algerian and Eastern European Jewish heritage that serves as the wellspring of his work. The film follows Sfar to his favorite haunts in Paris as he muses about his artistic process. Wherever he goes, he draws. We watch him in a neighborhood café as he creates characters and dialogue from what he observes around him, moment by moment. The immediacy of Joann Sfar Draws from Memory is captivating. You feel like you have entered the world of The Rabbi’s Cat yourself. —Erica Marcus Director Sam Ball in person in San Francisco and Palo Alto.

www.sfjff.org

preceded by

The art form of the actor is ephemeral. It’s not like a painting that can be revisited time and again after its creation. Once the play is over, an actor’s performance is gone forever. It’s partly why actors are so often insecure. They need reassurance from their audience, from their peers and from their family, that their art form actually exists, that they themselves exist. And so legendary independent filmmaker Henry Jaglom (Sitting Ducks, Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?, Eating) has created a film, a lasting tribute to actors and the families who endure them. In this highly dramatic comedy, members of a theatrical family collide with one another with melodramatic flair. Grisha, the patriarch of the family and former star of Yiddish theatre, says he’s writing a book for the public “so they will know we were here.” When one daughter, the only member of the family to reject a life in show business, brings home her “civilian” fiancé (Judd Nelson) after a year of estrangement, all hell breaks loose, complete with major histrionics. What ensues is a day and night fraught with drama as a family of actors, pitched high with emotion, self-consciously and with great gusto play the parts in the drama of their own lives. —Aaron Davidman

people of the graphic novel United States, 2012, 5 min., English

Director/Screenwriter: Henry Jaglom Editor: Ron Vignone Cinematographer: Hanania Baer Principal Cast: Tanna Frederick, Judd Nelson, Julie Davis,

Director Henry Jaglom and actors Tanna Frederick and Judd Nelson in person.

Director: Sam Ball

415.621.0523

Like jazz, the comics are a truly American art form, chock-full of the dreams of Jewish kids. Sam Ball provides a look at the birth of the comics, and you may be surprised at who gave birth to Clark Kent and how the funnies went from thrilling pulp to respected graphic novel. —Erica Marcus

Castro

CineArts

Saturday, July 21 Sunday, July 29

10:15 am 10:30 am

Castro

Wednesday, July 25

8:50 pm

kaddish for a friend Germany, 2011, 94 min., Arabic, German, Russian w/ Eng. subtitles

the kingdom of survival Director/Screenwriter: Leo Khasin Editor: Horst Reiter Screenwriter: Mathias Schöningh Principal Cast: Neil Belakhdar, Ryszard Ronczewski, Sanam Afrashteh

Co-sponsored by Sinai Memorial Chapel Chevra Kadisha and the Goethe-Institut What would you do if you believed your greatest enemy was living in the apartment above you? That’s the situation 14-year-old Ari Messalem finds himself in when his parents move their family away from the fighting in Lebanon to the heart of Berlin. Alexander, a Russian Jew and World War II veteran, lives alone in the cluttered apartment above Ari, surrounded by memories from his past. As Ari struggles to fit in, he falls in with a group of young Arab troublemakers with no sympathy for anyone Jewish. In an attempt to impress his new friends, Ari gets caught up in an act of racial hatred that lands him in a serious predicament. What happens next is a surprise to everyone, but no one more than Alexander and Ari. In Kaddish for a Friend, writer-director Leo Kashin’s debut feature, we meet two very different men from opposite sides of a conflict who discover that not only do they have something to learn from each other, but that friendship can be found in the most unlikely of places. —Rachel Aloy preceded by

northern california premiere United States, Germany, 2011, 94 min., English

Director/Screenwriter: M.A. Littler Cinematographer: Philip Koepsell

M.A. Littler’s film is one part travelogue and one part paean to eight radical thinkers who have tried to make the world a better place. If you are uncomfortable with questioning capitalism, then stay home and check your investments online. If you are interested in questioning authority as a form of tikkun olam, then this beautifully shot and well-crafted exploration of religion, academia, alternative media, utopianism, anarchism and globalized capitalism is for you. Littler, dressed like Johnny Cash, jumps in his car and turns his headlights and his intellect towards radical alternative perspectives on the 21st century and the state of democracy in America. A strength of the film is the diversity of thought and geographical location of his subjects, who include linguist and MIT professor Noam Chomsky; Virginia-based Joe Bageant, a child and scholar of the white working class; Idaho-based Mike Oehler, a pioneering architect of “underground housing”; Nebraskan Bob Meisenbach, a leader of the 1960 student protests in San Francisco against the House Un-American Activities Committee; and Berkeley-based British journalist Sasha Lilley, host of KPFA’s Against the Grain . Thoughtfully chosen and carefully researched archival footage of union marches and the war in Vietnam provide political insights into the rich history of political struggles in the United States. —Nancy K. Fishman

the pencil Poland, 2012, 8 min., Polish, Yiddish w/ Eng. subtitles

Director: Tomasz Wisniewski

In a pre-1939 courtyard when Jews and Poles lived next to each other, a Jewish boy shares fleeting glances with a Gentile girl while he’s supposed to be studying. —Joshua Moore

JCCSF Roda CineArts

Sunday, July 29 Wendesday, August 1 Thursday, August 2

4:10 pm 2:05 pm 6:45 pm

Castro Roda

Monday, July 23 Saturday, August 4

12:00 pm 3:05 pm 23

the law in these parts Director: Ra'anan Alexandrowicz Editor: Neta Dvorkis Cinematographer: Shark De Mayo

Israel, 2011, 101 min., Hebrew, Arabic w/ Eng. subtitles

www.sfjff.org

life in stills united states premiere

Director/Screenwriter: Tamar Tal Editor: Tal Shefi Cinematographers: Daniel Kedem, Tamar Tal

Israel, 2011, 58 min., Hebrew, German, w/ Eng. subtitles

Sponsored by Denis Bouvier

Co-sponsored by Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow

Roman Polanski is as famous for his dramatic private life as he is for his extraordinary work as a director. Friend and producer Andrew Braunsberg (The Tenant, Macbeth) says as much, and the filmmaker himself grudgingly admits it, in this intimate, fascinating conversation—the majority shot while Polanski was under house arrest in Switzerland in 2010, fighting extradition to the US in connection with a 1977 statutory rape charge. That moment, which calls forth a contrite recounting from Polanski that nevertheless sets a sensationalized record straight, is also a catalyst for a wide-ranging discussion of his life and career. This includes formative experiences as a Polish Jew in the Kraków Ghetto and continues through a series of remarkable reversals of fortune, most disastrously the murder of pregnant wife Sharon Tate in the 1969 killing spree orchestrated by Charles Manson. Polanski relates these episodes with honesty, visible pain and an unguarded wonder at the vicissitudes of fate. Director Laurent Bouzereau peppers this searching encounter with personal images and clips from Polanski’s oeuvre, tracing an utterly distinctive life deeply resonant with its turbulent age. —Robert Avila

Kamel, a Bedouin who lives in an unrecognized village near Be’er Sheva, walks determinedly every morning to the bus that takes him to his job as a security guard at the central bus station. He has a good relationship with his boss, but is relegated to guarding the back gate of the station. A dignified man, Kamel served in the army and is a self-taught electrician. He’s often on the outside, observing, whether it’s when he scrutinizes less vigilant co-workers guarding the front gate or when he watches his angry brother Khaled and sister-in-law, Nadia from afar. The tension and love between the three of them is evident, as they attempt to live quietly on the desert land that—as Kamel tells an officious government worker—their grandfather lived on before there was a state of Israel. When Khaled receives a demolition order, Kamel and his sister-in-law Nadia wonder what decision Khaled will make. Adnan Abu Wadi’s performance as Kamel is absolutely exquisite. The pain of the ambiguous belonging and not belonging of Bedouins in Israeli society is written subtly in Ami Livne’s excellent debut feature and in the eyes and face of Kamel. Longing to be heroic, Kamel makes strategic choices to try to save his family’s home from demolition. —Nancy K. Fishman

Official Selection, 2012 Cannes Film Festival. preceded by

seven minutes in the warsaw ghetto Poland, 2011, 7 min., Polish w/ Eng. subtitles

Director: Johan Oettinger

A young boy struggles to pull a piece of food through a hole in the ghetto wall, unaware of the two SS men on the other side following his every move. —Joshua Moore

Screenwriter Richard Raskin in person in San Francisco.

Castro Castro CineArts Roda

Wednesday, July 25 Monday, July 30 Thursday, August 2

3:45 pm 4:25 pm 4:20 pm

CineArts Roda Rafael

Thursday, July 26 Wednesday, August 1 Saturday, August 4 Sunday, August 5

6:10 pm 6:30 pm 7:25 pm 8:50 pm 29

six million and one california premiere Israel, Germany, Austria, 2011, 93 min., English, German, Hebrew w/ Eng. subtitles

tiger eyes Director/Screenwriter: David Fisher Editor: Hadas Ayalon Cinematographers: Claudio Steinberg, Ronen Mayo, Ronen Schechner

Following the death of his father, Israeli documentary filmmaker David Fisher (Love Inventory, SFJFF 2001) discovered the diary that his father Joseph kept during the harrowing times he spent in a labor camp during World War II. Joseph’s words are a guide to David’s initial winter tour of Gusen, Austria where the camp was located. The diary reveals a story that David never knew. His father seemed determined to record the horror around him, but even though he survived, he was never able to reveal his experiences to his children. David’s siblings refused to read their father’s diary, so David initiates a road trip that becomes an extraordinary family psychodrama for them all at the very site of the concentration camp where their father was forced into slave labor as a young boy. Traveling in a van they laugh at themselves and question their own willingness to go deeper into their family legacy. Stunningly beautiful forests and meadows silently conceal the reality of their father’s experiences. As the Fisher family takes it all in, it becomes evident that the preservation of history and memory require active discussion among subsequent generations. And for the inheritors, victim and perpetrator, some are working hard to preserve memory while others choose to live only in the present. —Janis Plotkin

Director: Lawrence Blume

Everyone has a story about their first Judy Blume book. Whether it was borrowed from a friend or taken from the “behind the desk” library checkout, generations have devoured her coming-of-age fiction for its humor, drama and searing true-to-life quality. But until now, none of Blume’s work has been translated to film. Now her son Lawrence Blume has directed a movie you will want to bring your tween daughter or your middle-aged BFF to. Tiger Eyes will make you want to read Blume’s entire oeuvre all over again. Much of Blume’s fiction centers on initiation rites—a first period, the loss of virginity, divorcing parents. In this story, Davey, a teenage girl from Atlantic City, grapples with the sudden loss of her father. Crippled by grief, her mom moves with Davey and her younger brother to New Mexico to stay with her uptight sister who is freaked out about being childless. Shell-shocked and cultureshocked, Davey eventually befriends a wise, sexy Native American young man who helps her through this difficult time. The cinematography is stunning, and the heroine, Davey, played by Willa Holland (Gossip Girl, The O.C.) is beautiful to watch as well as a talented actress. Judy Blume will be in attendance at the screening! —Kristen McClusky Screening followed by an on-stage interview with director Lawrence Blume and author/co-screenwriter Judy Blume.

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

Sponsored by the Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation

Screenwriters: Judy Blume, Lawrence Blume Editor: Jay Freund Cinematographer: Seamus Tierney Principal Cast: Amy Jo Johnson, Tatanka Means, Willa Holland

United States, 2012, 92 min., English

Castro CineArts Roda

Rafael

Saturday, July 21 Saturday, July 28 Sunday, July 29 Saturday, August 4

12:00 pm 11:30 am 12:00 pm 12:00 pm

Castro

Sunday, July 22

3:55 pm

under african skies United States, South Africa, 2012, 102 min., English

white: a memoir in color Director: Joe Berlinger Editor: Joshua Pearson Cinematographer: Bob Richman

Co-sponsored by The David R. Stern Fund of the Common Counsel Foundation and Carl and Gay Grunfeld Considered by many to be one of the greatest albums ever produced and certainly among the most influential, Paul Simon’s Graceland is in a category unto itself. What many might not know or remember is just how controversial the album was at the time it was made. In spite of its groundbreaking success in the melding of American and South African musical styles, Graceland generated intense political debate. Before going to South Africa, Simon was warned by Harry Belafonte to clear his visit with the African National Congress but chose not to listen. A price was paid when he came under fire from antiapartheid activists, who accused him of violating the United Nations’ cultural boycott of South Africa. For the 25th anniversary of Graceland’s release, Simon returns to South Africa for a reunion concert that not only relates the album’s tumultuous beginnings, but also revels in the artistic collaborations so integral to its creation. It is absolutely thrilling to watch how these songs were assembled and the studio footage makes it clear how much he drew upon his hired musicians’ creativity. Veteran documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger’s Under African Skies is a celebratory account of a great artistic achievement as well as an insightful reflection on the boundaries of art and politics.

california premiere United States, 2012, 60 min., English

Director/Editor: Joel Katz Cinematographers: Brian Timmons, Joel Katz, John Miglietta

Joel Katz’s (Strange Fruit, SFJFF 2002) insightful personal essay ponders what it means to be white in America. The quest to understand the difficult notion of identity starts when he and his wife are asked to select a race preference for the child they wish to adopt. When the Jewish couple checks the “All” box on their application, Katz begins a journey to comprehend his own family’s often contradictory life experiences within the American melting pot. The son of liberal immigrants, Joel’s father went on to became the first Jewish professor at Howard University, the nation’s preeminent African American college. During the 1960s his father’s tolerance was severely tested to the point of admiring the racist writings of William Shockley. When Joel’s halfBlack, half-white adopted daughter is born, the filmmaker and his wife grapple with bringing her up in a largely white community. Intelligent and stylish, this thought-provoking documentary is enhanced by a memorable jazz score by instrumentalist Don Byron.—Thomas Logoreci preceded by

kings point United States, 2011, 30 min., English

Director: Sari Gilman

A sweet and telling vérité portrait of five Jewish seniors living in an eternally sunny Florida retirement community. Documentary editor-turned-filmmaker Sari Gilman focuses on a group of retirees seeking love and friendship—long suffering Bea, noncommittal Frank and carefree Jane—then returns to catch up with them two years later. —Thomas Logoreci

—Jay Rosenblatt

SXSW Audience Award. Official Selection, 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Director Sari Gilman in person.

Castro Roda CineArts Rafael

Saturday, July 21 Saturday, July 28 Monday, July 30 Saturday, August 4

2:05 pm 12:00 pm 2:05 pm 2:05 pm

Castro CineArts Roda

Thursday, July 26 Thursday, August 2 Saturday, August 4

1:30 pm 2:05 pm 12:50 pm

& sfjff thanks our co–presenters. Each year SFJFF invites community organizations to help spread the word about the Festival and films of interest to a wide range of audiences.

We call these outreach partners “co-presenters.” SFJFF is solely responsible for programming our films and events.

2012 co–presenters

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

3rd i's San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival 11th San Francisco Documentary Festival Alliance Française de San Francisco The Alliance for Middle East Peace Anti-Defamation League, Central Pacific Region Arab Film Festival Arts & Ideas at the JCCSF Arts Ed Matters Bay Area Women in Film & Media- BAWIFM Be'chol Lashon BJE Jewish Community Library Building Jewish Bridges California Film Institute Cartoon Art Museum Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) Central Pacific Coast Region Hadassah Congregation Beth Am, Los Altos Hills Congregation Beth Israel Judea, San Francisco Congregation Beth Sholom, San Francisco

Congregation Kol Emeth, Palo Alto Congregation Kol Shofar, Tiburon Congregation Sherith Israel, San Francisco Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum Diablo Valley Hadassah Fair Trade Judaica Film Noir Foundation Frameline Freight & Salvage Coffee House Goethe-Institut San Francisco The Hub at JCCSF The JCCSF Adult Programs JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa) EcoJews of the Bay Idelsohn Society InterfaithFamily.com Israel Center Jewish Community Center of the Greater East Bay

The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco JCC Maccabi Experience, San Francisco JCCSF Recreations Programs The Jerusalem Grill Jewish Family & Children's Services of the East Bay Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay Jewish Music Festival Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation Keshet KlezCalifornia KQED The Kritzer/Ross Émigré Program of the JCCSF Lehrhaus Judaica Marin Chapter of Hadassah The Mechanics' Institute Moishe House

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, San Francisco/ Northern California Chapter New Israel Fund New Israel Fund's New Generations Oakland Underground Film Festival Peninsula Temple Beth El, San Mateo Reboot San Francisco Cinematheque San Francisco Film Society Shalom Bayit Stanforn University Hillel Temple Isaiah, Lafayette Temple Sinai of Oakland UC Berkeley Hillel United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) A Wider Bridge Women's Film Festival YAD of the Federations The Young Adult Community at Congregation Emanu-El

& parties and special events. the law in these parts: an extended discussion SUNDAY, JULY 22 CONGREGATION SHA’AR ZAHAV 290 DOLORES STREET, SAN FRANCISCO

The discussion will begin at 1:30pm; free of charge for screening tickets holders.

Following the 11:00am screening of The Law in These Parts join invited guest Ra'anan Alexandrowicz for an extended discussion at Congregation Sha’ar Zahov about The Law in These Parts, winner of the Sundance World Cinema Jury Prize 2012 and Best Documentary at the Jerusalem Film Festival 2011. Sha’ar Zahov is a progressive reform synagogue led by Rabbi Camille Shira Angel for people of all sexual identities and welcoming friends and family from all cultural backgrounds.

opening night post-film bash

free outdoor screening at oakland’s art murmur

THURSDAY, JULY 19, 9:00PM

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 8-11:00PM THE GREAT WALL OF OAKLAND WEST GRAND AVE BETWEEN BROADWAY AND VALLEY STREET, OAKLAND

The launch of the Film Festival always calls for a special celebration and this year is no exception. Hosting our Opening Night Bash at the Swedish American Hall has become a treasured SFJFF tradition. The venue will be the same but the event will be different! Join us at our Opening Night Bash for a fantastic array of savory and sweet treats and hosted bars by some of the Bay Area’s best purveyors of food and drink. Schmooze with filmmakers and special guests and dance to San Francisco's own La Pêche Quintet. Don’t forget to bring your sweet tooth downstairs to The Backroom with drinks, desserts, photo booth by Snap Fiesta, espresso cart by Espresso Subito and did we say desserts? It’s all happening at the Swedish American Hall, located upstairs from the Café du Nord.

SFJFF is pleased to present a collection of some of the Festival’s best short films including the newest film from Bay Area filmmaker Tiffany Schlain (Connected 2011) as a part of August’s Art Murmur. After enjoying your fill of various art galleries, food trucks and live performances on the evening of Friday, August 3, meet us for an outdoor shorts screening at the Great Wall of Oakland, located at the corner of West Grand and Valley Street. For more information on Art Murmur, please visit www.oaklandartmurmur.org.

brunch with sfjff and the magnes collection of jewish art and life at uc berkeley’s bancroft library SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 10:30AM-12: 30PM

Additional support for the Opening Night Film Bash is generously provided by Bunny and Steven Fayne, Amy and Mort Friedkin, Nancy and Stephen Grand, Barbara and Richard Rosenberg, Lydia and Doug Shorenstein, Roselyne C. Swig, Carol and Norman Traeger. Featuring: Fork & Spoon Catering, La Bonne Cuisine, Melons Catering, Savoy Events, Wise Sons, Hagafen Cellars of Napa Valley, Yelp, Espresso Subito and IZZE Beverage Co. The Backroom at the Bash is ADA accessible.

closing night at the castro THURSDAY, JULY 26, 8:15PM

Revealing documentary A.K.A Doc Pomus, the story of the iconic JewishAmerican songwriter’s captivating life, is followed by a live performance by Andy Cabic of Vetiver, Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats, Kelley Stoltz and Sonny Smith of Sonny and the Sunsets with their own take on Doc Pomus’ greatest tracks.

In true Jewish style, we will feed not only your tummies, but also your minds. Founded in Berkeley in 1962, the Judah L. Magnes Museum and its founder Seymour Fromer were the first sponsors of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Share a toast to the important history between the two organizations. We will screen “Seymour” a tribute to Seymour Fromer by Emmy nominee Bill Chayes and “Hundred and Two Mature: The Art of Harry Lieberman” by Irving Saraf and Allie Light, one of the first films exhibited at the Jewish Film festival. After brunch, make your way over to the Roda Theatre for a full day of SFJFF films. For more information on The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, please visit www.magnes.org.

revelry at the berkeley rep SATURDAY, JULY 28, 7:00 PM

You’re in luck if you happen to prefer your movies to be followed by flamenco dancing. Stick around after Gypsy Davy for a distinguished opening night performance by Kerensa DeMars Cuadro with Special Guests. The evening doesn’t end there- cool down with Yelp in the courtyard and lobby of the Roda after the sizzling flamenco piece with spritzers from the Seltzer Sisters, fine chocolates by Coco Délice Fine Chocolates and catering by Bistro Liaison, a Berkeley Gourmet Ghetto favorite.

Check www.sfjff.org, Facebook and the SFJFF app for updated information and additional events, including Date Night with JDate.

& support sfjff: join the jewish film forum today. Joining the Jewish Film Forum can save you money on year-round and Festival screenings while also supporting the mission and programs of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the world’s premier advocate for independent Jewish cinema.

membership level & benefits $50 supporter • Exclusive discounts on Festival tickets and passes (some limits may apply) • Advanced notice of year-round screenings and early ticket-buying privileges • SFJFF catalog mailed early to your home • Discounts at select partner screenings/events

$100 associate All benefits at the Supporter level PLUS: • Acknowledgment in the Festival catalog • Invitations to donors-only sneak previews • Invitations to post-screening Festival party

$300 family

www.sfjff.org

All benefits at the Associate level PLUS: • Two Reel Passes for youth 25 years of age or younger • One 4-Flix card for four free Festival admissions • DVD of SFJFF's New Jewish Filmmaking Project

$500 patron All benefits at the Associate level PLUS: • One premier All-Festival Pass • Two admissions to SF Opening Night and Closing Night • Invitation to private VIP Festival Preview • DVD of SFJFF’s New Jewish Filmmaking Project

$2,500 executive producer All benefits at the Associate level PLUS: • Three premier All-Festival Passes • Three admissions to SF Opening Night and Closing Night • Invitations to private VIP Festival Preview, Filmmaker Dinner and Shabbat Dinner • Opportunity for a shared personal film dedication in the Festival catalog • Two seats to your dedicated film in all venues • DVD of SFJFF’s New Jewish Filmmaking Project and SFJFF’s Curator’s Choice DVD

$5,000 director All benefits at the Associate level PLUS: • Four premier All-Festival Passes • Four admissions to SF Opening Night and Closing Night • Invitations to private VIP Festival Preview, Filmmaker Dinner and Shabbat Dinner • Recognition in the Visionary Circle • Opportunity for an exclusive personal film dedication in the Festival catalog • Four seats to your dedicated film in all venues • Opportunity to host private party in SFJFF screening room • DVD of SFJFF’s New Jewish Filmmaking Project and SFJFF’s Curator’s Choice DVD • Onsite access to SFJFF film archive

415.621.0523

$1,000 producer All benefits at the Associate level PLUS: • Two premier All-Festival Passes • Two admissions to SF Opening Night and Closing Night • Invitations to private VIP Festival Preview and Filmmaker Dinner • DVD of SFJFF’s New Jewish Filmmaking Project and SFJFF’s Curator’s Choice DVD

YOUR SUPPORT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

75% YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS

25% TICKET SALES

& year round events. Join SFJFF all year round for screenings, special events, lectures and educational and online programs for teens, young adults, working professionals, Bubbe and Zayde, and everyone in between. (visit www.sfjff.org for updated information.) sfjff@cjm Starting this Fall, SFJFF presents year-round screenings and events featuring works from world renowned Jewish artists at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Partnering with local organizations as well as SFJFF’s own New Jewish Filmmaking Project (NJFP, see njfp.wordpress.com for more info), this interactive series will appeal to the full spectrum of Bay Area audiences.

join us for our kickoff event: east and west—a silent yiddish film with live score September 20, 5:30-8:30PM @ CJM

SFJFF- often referred to as the Bay Area’s favorite Jewish holiday- brings you another way to reflect between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Join us for a screening of East and West (1923), a silent Yiddish classic starring Molly Picon and presented with a newly composed contemporary soundtrack.

sfjff movie night at the magnes September–may

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC Berkeley has teamed up with SFJFF in an effort to cultivate a diverse collection of film and discussion. Various films will be screened on the first Thursday of the month at 7 pm from countries all over the globe, many of which deal with Jewish identity in non-traditional environments. In addition to the screenings, lectures and discussions will be led by noted scholars.

watch sfjff films online Enjoy a diverse online collection of contemporary Jewish cinema presented by SFJFF. With over 1.3 million views and counting, these festival favorites are right at your finger tips. Log onto www.sfjff.org where you will find a link to the monthly shorts. The site also offers a wealth of online resources including an archive of all the films shown in the past 32 years.

jewish community center of san francisco october–december

SFJFF and the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco are proud to present the short film series: A New Lens on Israel. The featured films include: From Tel Aviv a documentary from Naruna Kaplan de Macedo, The Fifth Heaven a fictional narrative directed by Dina Zvi Riklis and By Summer’s End, also a fictional narrative by Noa Haroni. Join us for the screenings of these three films, all of which present a first-person perspective on personal identity.

castro theatre

jccsf

415.621.6120

415.292.1233

429 Castro Street (at Market Street), San Francisco

3200 California (at Presidio), San Francisco

san francisco / july 19–26

time

title

san francisco / july 28–29

page #

Thursday, July 19

time

title

7:00 pm

Hava Nagila (The Movie) (Opening Night) 4 12:00 pm

9:00 pm

Opening Night Bash (at Swedish American Hall) 4

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story

2:05 pm

Papirosen with The Rabbi and César Chávez

4:15 pm

Man Without a Cell Phone with Sivan

10:15 am

Joann Sfar Draws from Memory with People of 22 the Graphic Novel

6:25 pm

My Dad is Baryshnikov with Catherine the Great

8:45 pm

Off White Lies with B-Boy

12:00 pm

Six Million and One

2:05 pm

Under African Skies

Sunday, July 29

6:55 pm

31 12:00 pm Besa: The Promise with 55 Socks 14 Invisible 21 2:10 pm How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire with Woody 20 The Day I Saw Your Heart 16 Before Allen

9:40 pm

Naomi 26 4:10 pm Kaddish for a Friend with The Pencil

Sunday, July 22

Broken 15

8:45 pm

In Case I Never Win the Golden Palm

11:00 am

The Law in These Parts

1:35 pm

Glickman 18

3:55 pm

Tiger Eyes

6:45 pm

Arab Labor: Season 3

8:30 pm

Dorfman preceded by interview with Elliott Gould 16 (2012 Freedom of Expression recipient)

For public transportation and driving directions, please visit www.sfjff.org

www.sfjff.org

12:00 pm

Kingdom of Survival

2:05 pm

One Day After Peace

4:05 pm

Gypsy Davy

6:45 pm

Restoration 28

8:55 pm

The Exchange

Tuesday, July 24 11:40 am

The Moon is Jewish with Y-Love

2:10 pm

God's Fiddler (free) 19

4:10 pm

Life in Stills with Music Man Murray

6:15 pm

The Other Son (Centerpiece) 6

9:05 pm

Ben Lee: Catch My Disease

Wednesday, July 25 11:40 am

The Best of Tel Aviv University

14 12

1:35 pm

Ameer Got His Gun with My Neighborhood

3:45 pm

Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir with Seven 29 Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto

6:05 pm

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea

8:50 pm

Just 45 Minutes from Broadway

6:20 pm

Monday, July 23

415.621.0523

Saturday, July 21

4:25 pm

Thursday, July 26

page #

Saturday, July 28

11:10 am

Harbour of Hope

1:30 pm

White: A Memoir in Color with Kings Point

3:50 pm

The Flat

6:10 pm

Sharqiya 29

8:15 pm

A.K.A. Doc Pomus (Closing Night) 5

roda theatre

oakland art murmur

@ the berkeley repertory theatre

berkeley / july 28–august 4

oakland / august 3

510.647.2949

The Great Wall of Oakland

2015 Addison Street (between Shattuck Ave. & Milava St.), Berkeley

Broadway & W Grand Ave (between Broadway and Valley St), Oakland

time

title

page #

time

title

page #

Friday, August 3

Saturday, July 28 12:00 pm

Under African Skies

2:20 pm

The Law in These Parts

4:35 pm

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea

7:00 pm

Gypsy Davy (Berkeley Opening Night) 7

Sunday, July 29

8:00 pm

SFJFF Shorts

piedmont theatre oakland / august 6

12:00 pm

Six Million and One

2:10 pm

Glickman 18 4186 Piedmont Ave (between Linda Ave & Ridgeway Ave), Oakland

4:25 pm

The Flat

6:45 pm

Invisible 21 Monday, August 6

8:50 pm

Hello I Must Be Going

12:00 pm

Harbour of Hope

2:10 pm

Life in Stills with Music Man Murray

4:15 pm

Papirosen with The Rabbi and César Chávez

6:25 pm

Broken 15 For public transportation and driving directions, please visit www.sfjff.org

8:55 pm

The Exchange

Monday, July 30

510.464.5980 time

title

page #

2:25 pm

Besa: The Promise with 55 Socks

4:25 pm

My Dad is Baryshnikov with Catherine the Great

6:35 pm

Off White Lies with B-Boy

8:50 pm

In Case I Never Win the Golden Palm

Tuesday, July 31 12:00 pm

God's Fiddler (free)

2:05 pm

One Day After Peace

4:05 pm

Naomi 26

6:25 pm

Arab Labor: Season 3

8:20 pm

Dorfman 16

WeDNesday, August 1 12:00 pm

400 Miles to Freedom with Panta Rhei

2:05 pm

Kaddish for a Friend with The Pencil

23 12

4:25 pm

Ameer Got His Gun with My Neighborhood

6:25 pm

Hava Nagila (The Movie)

8:40 pm

Man Without a Cell Phone with Sivan

4 25

Thursday, August 2 12:00 pm

The Moon is Jewish with Y-Love

2:10 pm

How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire with Woody 20 Before Allen

4:20 pm

Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir with Seven 29 Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto

6:35 pm

The Day I Saw your Heart

8:55 pm

Restoration 28

Saturday, August 4 12:50 pm

White: A Memoir in Color with Kings Point

3:05 pm

Kingdom of Survival

5:10 pm

A.K.A. Doc Pomus

7:25 pm

Sharqiya 29

9:25 pm

Ben Lee: Catch My Disease

cinearts

rafael film center

@ palo alto square

palo alto / july 28–august 2

san rafael / august 4–6

650.493.0218

415.454.1222

3000 El Camino Real Bldg. #6, Palo Alto

1118 4th Street, San Rafael

time

title

page #

Saturday, July 28 Six Million and One

1:40 pm

Glickman 18

12:00 PM

Six Million and One

2:05 PM

Under African Skies

3:55 pm

A.K.A. Doc Pomis

4:20 PM

Hava Nagila (The Movie)

The Day I Saw Your Heart

6:35 PM

The Day I Saw Your Heart

8:30 pm

Naomi 26

8:55 PM

The Exchange

Sunday, August 5

10:30 am

Joann Sfar Drawn from Memory with People of the Graphic Novel

12:15 pm

Life In Stills with Music Man Murray

2:15 pm

Gypsy Davy

4:45 pm

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyhu Story

6:45 pm

Hava Nagila (The Movie)

8:55 pm

Off White Lies with B-Boy

7 18 4 27

11:55 am

Besa: The Promise with 55 Socks

2:05 pm

Under African Skies

4:25 pm

Roman Polankski: A Film Memoir with Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto

6:35 pm

Arab Labor, Season 3

8:30 pm

Invisible 21

Tuesday, July 31

www.sfjff.org

page #

6:10 pm

Monday, July 30

415.621.0523

title

Saturday, August 4

11:30 am

Sunday, July 29

time

1:30 pm

Harbour of Hope

3:45 pm

Bottle in the Sea of Gaza

6:10 pm

Broken 15

8:40 pm

In Case I Never Win the Golden Palm

Wednesday, August 1 12:30 pm

God's Fiddler (free)

2:35 pm

The Best of Tel Aviv University

4:30 pm

One Day After Peace

6:30 pm

Sharqiya 29

8:30 pm

Dorfman 16

Thursday, August 2 12:00 pm

400 Miles to Freedom with Panta Rhei

2:05 pm

White: A Memoir with King's Point

4:20 pm

The Flat

6:45 pm

Kaddish for a Friend with The Pencil

8:55 pm

My Dad is Baryshnikov with Catherine the Great

12:30 PM

Dorfman 16

2:35 PM

A.K.A. Doc Pomus

4:50 PM

Arab Labor, Season 3

6:45 PM

Invisible 21

8:50 PM

Sharqiya 29

5 13

Monday, August 6 4:30 PM

Glickman 18

6:30 PM

My Dad is Baryshnikov with Catherine the Great

8:45 PM

Off White Lies with B-Boy 27

For public transportation and driving directions, please visit www.sfjff.org

& acknowledgments 2012. Liki Abrams Laura Callanan Rabbi Camille Angel Phyllis Cook Michael Amerikaner Armstrong & Armstrong: Todd Armstrong Art with Impact: Cary McQueen Morrow, Jennifer Tipton Moshe Arzt Axis Café & Gallery: Karina Paz Bistro Liaison: Todd Kneiss Jocelyn Berger Joe Berlinger Berkeley Repertory Theatre: Susie Medak, Amanda Williams O’Steen Susan Berrin Berlin International Film Festival: Wieland Speck Berlin Jewish Film Festival: Nicola Galliner Rachel Biale Mary Bitterman Sandee Blechman Boston Jewish Film Festival: Sara Rubin Heather Bradley California Film Institute: Zoë Elton, Mark Fishkin, Richard Peterson, Janis Plotkin, Dan Zastrow Lori Campbell Castro Theatre: The Nasser Family, Bill Longen, Mark Gantor, Gary Oliver, Brian Collette, Richard Blacklock Catch: Sanjay Gujral Center for Asian American Media: Stephen Gong, Kar Yin Tham Cinephil: Philippa Kowarsky, Ori Bader, Assaf Mor Citizen Film: Sam Ball, SophieConstantinou, Kate Stilley Steiner, Emma Bailey Cohen Media Group: Gary Rubin, Donna Dickman Susie Coliver Consulate General of Germany: Peter Rothen, Michael Ahrens Common Counsel Fund: Larisa Casillas Consulate General of Israel: Akiva Tor, Gideon Lustig, Neta Shacham Contemporary Jewish Museum: Dan Schifrin, James Leventhal, Stacey Silver, Daryl Carr, Gravity Goldberg Aaron Davidman Morgan Davis Ninfa Dawson Stephen Dobbs Be’chol Lashon: Erik Ludwig, Esther Fishman Dolby Labs: Ioan Allen, Tom Bruchs, Laura Duran, Julie Morgan

Julie Dorf and Jenni Olsen Dragoman Films: Ravit Turjeman Jeannette Etheredge Film Movement: Rachel Langus Films Transit International, Inc.: Diana Holtzberg Debbie Findling Nancy Fishman Foundation for Jewish Culture: Elise Bernhardt, Andrew Ingall Frameline: K.C. Price, Desiree Buford Frames Per Sound Alison Geballe Daven Gee Global Film Institute: Santhosh Daniel Go2 Films: Hedva Goldschmidt, Rena Sherbill Goethe-Institut: Sabine Erlenwein Sasha Goldberg Haifa Film Festival: Pnina Blayer Allyson Halpern Tim Hanlon HBO: Maryann Feierstein Robert Herman Frederick Hertz & Randolph Langenbach Heymann Brothers Films: Barak Heymann, Tomer Heymann, Michael Kaufman Len Hill Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation: Donny Inbar Israel Film Fund: Katriel Schory IsraeliFilms: Dov Gil-Har ITVS: Claire Aguilar, Cynthia Kane JCC Manhattan: Isaac Zablocki, Carole Zabar Jerusalem Cinematheque: Lia van Leer, Gilli Mendel, Avinoam Harpak Jewish Community Center of San Francisco: Barry Finestone, Lenore Naxon, Brett Metzger, Dan Wolf, Brian Garrick, Nathaniel Bergson-Michelson Jewish Community Center of the East Bay: Sally Flinchbaugh, Samantha Young Jewish Community Endowment Fund: Mark Reisbaum Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco: Jennifer Gorovitz, Julie Golde, David Katznelson Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay: Lisa Tabak Jewish Community Relations Council: Rabbi Doug Kahn, Abby Michelson Porth Jim Joseph Foundation: Chip Edelsberg, Adene Sacks, Josh Miller Rachel Eryn Kalish Beth Kanter David Katznelson Deborah Kaufman & Alan Snitow

Aviva Kempner Sasha Kovriga Krakow Film Foundation: Katarzyna Wilk Hannah Kranzberg Landmark Theatres: Steve Indig, Chris Hatfield Janet and Abbott Leban Adrienne Leder-Schriner LGBT Alliance: Lisa Finkelstein John Ley Wendy Levy Thomas Logoreci Tom Luddy Deanna MacLellan Michele Madansky & Travis Mowbray Erica Marcus Menemsha Entertainment: Neil Friedman, Heidi Bogin Oshi Gary Meyer Elizabeth Seja Min Greg Minshall Robert Mitas Gale Mondry Jennifer Morris NAMAC: Jack Walsh National Center for Jewish Film: Sharon P. Rivo, Lisa Rivo Mateo Natividad New Israel Fund: Daniel Sokatch New Israeli Foundation for Cinema & TV New York Jewish Film Festival: Aviva Weintraub, Richard Peña Sara Newman Bill Nichols Ninth Street Independent Film Center: Skye Christensen, Adam Ashworth, Brian Schulz, Thomas Gaard Norma Productions: Assaf Amir Oshman Family JCC: Alan Sataloff, Elina Kaplan, Boris Vladimirsky Matt Ozer Frances Phillips Philo TV: Lenny Lieberman, Evan Stewart, Rose Duignan Julie Pippert Pixar Animation Studios: M.T. Silvia Janis Plotkin Laura Poitras Cheryl Polk Poesia Italian Restaurant: Francesco d'Ippolito Stephanie Rapp Reel Café Bakery: Sharon Dinkin Righteous Persons Foundation: Rachel Levin, Tal Gozani Ella Rosenblatt Jessica Rosner Alan Rothenberg Ruth Diskin Films: Ruth Diskin, Tal Shanny, Hila Gersenfeld San Francisco Public Library: Joan Jasper, Everett Erlandson Lela Sarnat

Hagar Scher Kary Schulman Tiffany Schlain Harvey Schwartz Ellie Shapiro Helga Sigvaldadóttir & Sóla Helgudóttir Leban Kim Simon Chris Smith Stanford Humanities Center: Marie-Pierre Ulloa Stanford University, Jewish Studies Center: Vered Shemtov Donna Steger Peter Stein Gail Stern David Stoten Sundance Film Festival: John Cooper, Caroline Libresco, David Courier, John Nein Sinai Memorial Chapel Chevra Kadisha: Sam Salkin Martin Tannenbaum Tel Aviv University Film Department: Noa Chen, Rachel Wallach Roselyn Swig Lidia Szajko Karen Topakian Transfax: Marek Rozenbaum UK Jewish Film Festival: Judy Ironside, Daniela Boban Mark Valentine Marc Vogl Washington Jewish Film Festival: Susan H. Barocas Tim Watts Cara White Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan Dan Wohlfeiler Leo Wong Rebecca Gholdston Wright Chi-hui Yang Year of Civil Discourse Initiative: Randi Fields, Rachel Eryn Kalish Steven Zipperstein

& thank you. The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival extends a heartfelt thanks to all of our generous donors.

Gifts of $100 or more received between May 15, 2011 and May 15, 2012 are listed below. For information on how you can support SFJFF, please contact the development department at 415.621.0556, x205 or kerri@sfjff.org

presenting sponsors

Shmaltz Brewing Company That Takes the Cake Trader Joe's

opening night sponsor

Wells Fargo centerpiece film sponsor

The Lisa and John Pritzker Family Fund closing night sponsor

The Bonnie and Marty Tenenbaum Foundation

business & community sponsors

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

Berkeley FILM Foundation Consulate General of Israel, Pacific Northwest Region Craig Harrison's Expressions of Excellence!™ George Krevsky Gallery Goethe-Institut The Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation Osterweis Capital Management Rainbow Film Company Schoenberg Family Law Group Sinai Memorial Chapel Chevra Kadisha Sterling Bank & Trust / The Seligman Family Foundation Zaentz Media Center

media sponsors 7x7 Magazine ABC7/KGO-TV The Examiner East Bay Express JBUDDY.net KALW 91.7FM KDFC KQED Public Broadcasting Patch San Francisco Bay Guardian Yelp.com

in-kind sponsors Anita Bowen Photography The Art Institute of California– San Francisco Axis Cafe & Gallery Betty Zlatchin Catering Bisou Bistro Bistro Liaison Blackstar Beer Bolani East & West Gourmet Food Cafe Du Nord / Swedish American Hall Catch Delancey Street Delicate Productions, Inc. Dolby

Espresso Subito FedEx Fork & Spoon Catering and Events Frames Per Sound Galleria Park Hotel Grand Bakery Hagafen Cellars of Napa Valley Hartmann Studios Hotel Adagio Hotel Rex IZZE Beverage Company Infiniti Oakland Joie de Vivre Judy's Breadsticks Lovesticks La Bonne Cuisine Lagunitas Brewing Company Landmark Theaters Luna Marin French Cheese Company Melons Catering and Events Meyer Sound Oakland Auto Group Peet's Coffee & Tea Philo Television Poesia Italian Restaurant popchips Savoy Events Seltzer Sisters Sharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Snap Fiesta Susan Drell Creative Design Ted Boerner Wise Sons Deli

in-kind contributors Anthony's Cookies Arizmendi Bakery Bi-Rite Market Coco Délice Fine Chocolates Costco Crumb Dinkin Catering Doll's Kitchen Double Rainbow Gourmet Ice Creams Donsuemor Extreme Pizza Food Should Taste Good Galant Foods / Paramount Piroshki Galaxy Desserts Guittard Chocolate Company Have Your Cake House of Bagels, San Francisco Justin's Nut Butter La Boulange La Mediterranee Max's Market Miller's East Coast West Delicatessen Misha Frid Mission Minis Semifreddi's

individual donors visionary circle: benefactors

All Voices Welcome Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation Raymond Lifchez Gale Mondry and Bruce Cohen The Lisa and John Pritzker Family Fund Lela and Gerry Sarnat Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation The Bonnie and Marty Tenenbaum Foundation visionary circle: directors

Anonymous Deborah Blank Denis Bouvier Michael Ehrenzweig Frederick Hertz Victor and Lorraine Honig Sasha and Irina Kovriga Hannah Kranzberg executive producer

Sandee Blechman and Steven Goldberg Carolyn Cavalier Rosenberg and Sanford Rosenberg Bill Falik and Diana Cohen Susie Coliver and Bob Herman Steven and Bunny Fayne Amy and Mort Friedkin Linda and Sandy Gallanter Nancy and Stephen Grand Carl and Gay Grunfeld Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow Linda and Frank Kurtz Moses and Susan Libitzky Richard Nagler and Sheila Sosnow Orli and Zack Rinat Barbara and Richard Rosenberg Janet Schneider and Andrew Kahn Lydia & Doug Shorenstein Vera and Harold Stein Roselyne C. Swig Carol and Norman Traeger Carol and Terry Winograd producers

Anonymous (2) Ronald Abileah and Marlene Winograd Liki and Joe Abrams Judith and Robert Aptekar Orit Atzmon Michael Bien and Jane Kahn Mark Bernstein Shosh Blachman and Joel Biatch Nancy Blachman and David desJardins

William Dickey Concepcion S. and Irwin Federman Julie Fingersh and David Rudnick Anne Germanacos Valerie Joseph Dorit Hakim and Shlomo Kramer Virginia King Wendy and Howard Kleckner Stephen and Maribelle Leavitt Lexi Leban and Helga Sigvaldadottir Alvin and Rosanne Levitt Charles and Helene Linker Michele Madansky and Travis Mowbray Sanford and Dawn Margolin Sue Reinhold Mark Reisman and Rogelio Chaapa Paul Resnick and Joan Karlin Alan and Susan Rothenberg Scott Rubin Alice Russell-Shapiro, the Columbia Foundation Harry and Carol Saal Sam and Alix Salkin Joan Sarnat and David A. Hoffman Peter L. Stein Fern Tiger Barry and Marjorie Traub Marilyn and Murry Waldman Lonnie Weiss Dan Wohlfeiler patrons

Anonymous (3) Betty and Jacques Adler David and Rachel Biale Sharon and Theodore Block Larry Burgheimer Bonnie Burt and Mark Liss Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Caston Sanford and Jean Colen Susan and Lee David Myra and Jerry Feiger Hal Fischer Bruce Fodiman Jan Goodman and Maggie Riddle Sara Grunstein and Rob Waters Natalie Gubb and David Arpi Helen Harwood and Alvaro Garcia Howard Herman and Claudia Bernard Beth Harris Hoenninger Esther and Mark Hudes Adrienne Leder-Schriner and Kyle Schriner Owen Levin and Hagar Scher Andra Lichtenstein and William Glover Claire McConnell Miriam Mondry Dr. Raquel H. Newman Rabbi Stephen S. Pearce / Congregation Emanu-El

Roger Ritland Peter Samis and Mary Ratcliff Michelle Joy Schwartz Joelle and Edward Steefel Martin H. Tannenbaum Laura Tow The Sarah Wall Memorial Fund Robert T. Weston Diane Wexler and Bruce Beron The Wollner Family friends

Anonymous Fred Altshuler Clara Basile Amanda Berger Peter Bjorklund Robert Book Alan Burckin and Carol Olmert Emily Campbell Jennifer and Elay Cohen Dana Doron Judi Elman and Gordon Harris Helena and Martin Foster Shelley Friedman and Tania Lowenthal Jameson Goldner and Geri Rossen Meredith Goldsmith Susan Goldstein and Andy Kivel Dan Granoff William Hamilton Rebecca Bruck Harris Nancy Igdaloff Spencer Jarrett Alan Kates Liza Kramer Judi Kramer and Kim Belfor Randolph Langenbach David and Julie Levine Warren and Barbara Levinson Roger and Victoria Low Carrie and Ronald Ludwig David Malman Arlene Mayerson Barbara Meislin Susan Moldaw Sara Newman Doug Okun and Eric Ethington Laura Rice-Hall and Timothy Hall Emily Rosenberg Janet Schneider and Andrew Kahn Scott Seaman Naomi Seidman and John Schott Judy and Lee Shulman Gary Stein and Catherine Colcord Stein Sue and Richard Wollack associates

Anonymous (2) Marcia and Matthew Allen Gale Antokal Ann Gabor Arancio and Remo Arancio Polly Arenberg Boris and Irina Auerbach Charna Ball Dan Barki Rosyland and Bob Bauer

Murray and Shelia Baumgarten Susan and Michael Belling Ralph Beren Deanne Berger-Moudgil Steven Birnbaum Beth and Neil Blecherman Judith Bloom James Blume and Kathryn Frank Sheryl Blumenthal David and Eva Bradford Suzanne and David Broad Pamela Burdman Jerome and Gloria Burke Yvette Chalom and Paul Fogel Richard L. Caplin, M.D. Debra Chasnoff Helen Cohen and Mark Lipman Richard and Sandra Cohen Sheri Cohen and Charles Green Kate and Sol Coffino Max and Bonnie Cooperstein Susan David Glenn E. Davis and James H. Takagi Andrea de Yaquian Stuart Dick and Joseph Sieger Norman and Genevieve Dishotsky Sharon Dolev David Donner Eleanor Drey and Warren Saunders Richard and Robin Edwards Trish Elliott Judi Elman and Gordon Harris Netta Fedor Anita Feinstein Saul Fenster Richard Fikes and Barbara Blatner-Fikes Diane Filippi Nancy Fishman and Nina Haft Jerry and Sally Flanzer Helena and Martin Foster Michael Fox and Pam Troy Thomas and Sandra Friedland Jack Gardner and Candy Rupp Rosalie and Harold Gevertz Barry and Elaine Gilbert Jane Goldberg Sheldon and Judy Greene Ralph and Marsha Guggenheim Siva Heiman Barry Herstein Helen Hertz Eric and Sylvie Hertzberg Deborah and Craig Hoffman Stephanie and Rudolph Hoffman Frances Hornstein Lois and Jerry Jacobs Rose Malinowski Juan Alice and Morrie Kahn Richard and Susan Kaplan Susan Karp Sharon and Seth Kaufman Tobye and Dr. Ronald Kaye Matthew Kernkraut Toni King Felix Kramer and Rochelle Lefkowitz

Suzanne Kushner Elaine Leitner Mary and Andrew Lesser Beryl and Leonard Levine Milton and Shirley Liebhaber Lawrence Marshall and Michelle Oberman Dr. Isadore Mendel and Ruth Ann Marshall Meyer Suzanne Meyer Daniel Meyerson Leslie Miessner L. Lloyd Morgan Andrew Moss Albert Nahman and Marjorie Hammer James Newman and Jane Ivory Frank Olken Michael Peltz and Maggie Heredia-Peltz Terri Penn in memory of Ruth F. Penn Jodi Perelman and Brad Shapiro Ditsa and Alex Pines Janis Plotkin Joan and Russell Pratt Michael and Susan Rancer Joshua and Amy Rassen Lily Robinson Steve and Carrie Rosenberg Fred and Anne Rosenthal Maureen and Paul Roskoph Susan Rutberg Sylvia Sabel and Joel Rubinstein Marc Sapir Irving Saraf and Allie Light Dorothy Saxe Danny Scher Karen Schiller Rabbi SaraLeya Schley Denise Selleck Rita Semel Judy Shaper Paul and Joan Sher Heather and Norman Silverman Victor Silverman and Lorraine Mann Elly Simmons Barry and Terrie Sitkoff Sharman Spector-Angel and Gary Angel Steven Speier Lisa Spiegel Bert Steinberg and Lucia Brandon Donald Ungar and Susan Romer Irene Wapnir Raymond and Marilyn Weisberg Harriet and Franklyn Weiss Susan Wengraf and Mark Berger Alan Wernz Ruth and Robert White Jon Zimman

David R. Stern Fund of the Common Counsel Foundation Gaia Fund George Wasserman Family Foundation Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund Grossberg Abrams Foundation The Israel & Mollie Myers Foundation Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund The Nathan Cummings Foundation, Inc. National Endowment for the Arts Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund The San Francisco Foundation Tides Foundation Walter & Elise Haas Fund William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

future focus fund Anonymous Deborah Blank Susie Coliver Dana Doron Nancy K. Fishman Jack Gardner Craig Harrison's Expression of Excellence!â&#x201E;˘ Fredrick Hertz Nancy Igdaloff Spencer Jarrett Sasha Kovriga Lexi Leban Adrienne Leder-Schriner Gale Mondry and Bruce Cohen Sara J. Newman Doug Okun Janis Plotkin Peter Samis Janet Schneider and Andrew Kahn Peter L. Stein Dan Wohlfeiler

the future starts now One powerful way to express your values long into the future is to make a planned gift to SFJFF's Future Focus Fund. To discuss planned giving opportunities cofindentially, please contact the development department at 415.621.0556, x215 or tdevault@sfjff.org

foundation & government support Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation Bill Graham Foundation Blank Family Foundation

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

415.621.0523

www.sfjff.org

OAKLAND

& ticket information. TICKET PRICING

GENERAL TICKET INFO

REGULAR PROGRAMS

Jewish Film Forum (JFF) Members General Public Seniors (65 and older) / Students w/ ID

HOW CAN I BUY TICKETS?

$10.00 $12.00 $11.00

MATINEES (Mon–Thurs, through 4pm)

JFF Members General Public

$9.00 $10.00

Online: www.sfjff.org Phone: 415.621.0523 Monday–Friday, 10am–5pm Regular Box Office opens for JFF Members on June 19, 2012 Box Office opens to the general public June 22, 2012 Tickets are not required for free screenings.

For questions and/or information please e-mail boxoffice@sfjff.org. Due to high call volume, not every call can be answered. Please leave the BoxOffice a message and they will return your call shortly.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS SF Opening Night Film at Castro and Bash at Swedish American Hall

Cocktail reception

JFF Members General Public

TICKET DELIVERY

$65.00 $75.00

SF Opening Night Bash Only

JFF Members General Public

$45.00 $55.00

SF Opening Night Film Only

JFF Members General Public

$25.00 $30.00 $22.00 $25.00

Berkeley Opening Night & After-Film Party

JFF Members General Public

Members First!

Pre-sales for JFF Members start on May 21, 2012 RUSH LINE

SF Closing Night Celebration & Film

JFF Members General Public

Tickets can be mailed or picked up at Will Call. There is a $2 charge for mailing services. Orders received less than three weeks prior to the screening will be held at Will Call— valid ID required.

$22.00 $25.00

OPENING NIGHT FILM/BASH

Rush tickets will be available at the venue one hour prior to show time. Available rush tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Become a member of the Jewish Film Forum (JFF) with a contribution of $50 or more and receive special discounts and invitations to year-round events. Help shape the future of independent film. To join, go to jewishfilmforum.sfjff.org If you are a JFF Member, please have your name and membership code available when ordering. Limit two (2) discount tickets per screening.

www.sfjff.org

Opening Night 2012 will be held on Thursday, July 19, 2012. Festivities will begin with the Opening Night Film, followed by the Opening Night Bash. Please allow extra time for Will Call on Opening Night.

SPECIAL TICKET PACKAGES THE FINE PRINT ALL FESTIVAL PASS

JFF Members General Public

$245.00 $275.00

One pass is good for all shows at all theaters—including special programs and parties. Early-entrance line is reserved for pass holders. Pass holders MUST ARRIVE and be in line 20 minutes prior to show time. Passes do not guarantee seating. Please note: Opening Night is a ticketed event, pass holders will receive tickets for the film and must bring those tickets for admittance. 415.621.0523

MILENNIALS PASS $25.00

Our all new young adult pass is the best deal in town for those 30 and under—one pass good for all regularly priced shows at all theatres. Not valid for any special programs or parties. Proof of age required. REEL PASS $75.00

The Reel Pass is a reel deal if you’re 25 or younger! One pass is good for all shows at all theaters—including Opening and Closing Night films and special programs. Proof of age required. See “the fine print” for restrictions. DISCOUNT 10-FLIX VOUCHERS

JFF Members (limit 2 per member) General Public

$90.00 $100.00

The 10-Flix Voucher is good for 10 regular-priced tickets to any 10 programs of your choice (not good for special programs). Share with family and friends, fully transferable. Please note: 10-Flix Vouchers cannot guarantee tickets to sold-out shows. 48

WE ARE UNABLE TO REFUND, EXCHANGE OR SUBSTITUTE TICKETS, INCLUDING TICKETS REDEEMED FROM 10-FLIX VOUCHERS. All programs are subject to change. Sometimes for reasons beyond our control, screenings must be changed, substituted, rescheduled or canceled. If a screening is canceled, simply return your ticket to the box office within 48 hours of screening date to exchange for a different screening or for a refund. All processing fees are non-refundable. SFJFF is not responsible for lost, stolen, forgotten or damaged tickets, or tickets misdirected by the post office. If you experience delivery problems at your address, please choose Will Call. There are no refunds for tickets that are not picked up. If ordering in advance tickets will automatically be placed at Will Call for ID verification. All programs are general seating, except for Opening Night at the Castro Theatre. ALL TICKETS AND PASSES ARE SUBJECT TO A PROCESSING FEE. FOR TICKETS THE PROCESSING FEE IS $1.50/TICKET. FOR PASSES, THE FEE IS $6 PER PASS, AND $6 PER 10-FLIX PACK. THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL $6 PER ORDER FOR TELEPHONE ORDERS. PLEASE ARRIVE AND BE IN LINE 20 MINUTES PRIOR TO SHOWTIME. TICKET OR PASS DOES NOT GUARANTEE SEATING.

SECURITY POLICY – PLEASE READ Bags not permitted in theatres. Please arrive early for screenings to provide ample time for security checks. All purses and bags are subject to inspection prior to admittance to theatres. Large bags, briefcases, backpacks, shopping bags, etc., will not be permitted in theatres. PLEASE DO NOT BRING SUCH ITEMS WITH YOU.