San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 35

july 23–august 9, 2015 tix: 415.621.0523 sfjff.org july 23–august 2 san francisco

july 25–30 palo alto

july 31–august 6 berkeley

august 7–9 oakland

august 7–9 san rafael

the castro

cinéarts

california theatre

lakeside theater

christopher b. smith rafael film center

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

july 23–august 9, 2015

the 35th anniversary san francisco jewish film festival! board chair Gale Mondry vice chair Sandee Blechman secretary Dan Wohlfeiler treasurer Janet Schneider members Liki Abrams Shosh (Susan) Blachman Craig Broscow Adam Eilath Steven Fayne Julie Felner Meredith J. Goldsmith Diana Grand Spencer Jarrett Sasha Kovriga George Krevsky Adrienne Leder-Schriner Susan Mall David Meckler Jenni Olson Lloyd Sacks Marlene Saritzky Fern Tiger executive director Lexi Leban

The world of film and media has changed dramatically since 1980 when we invented the idea of the Jewish Film Festival. That idea has clearly caught on: there are now over 150 Jewish Film Festivals worldwide.

After 35 years and over 1,500 film screenings, we thought it was time for a little reinvention. We are proud to announce the Jewish Film Institute as the new name for the media arts organization presenting the world renowned SFJFF and all of our year-round programs. We have gone from celluloid to cell phones, and DVD to VOD. Throughout all the changes, we continue to offer innovative and thought-provoking content on the platform of the day. To learn more, visit our new website at www.jewishfilminstitute.org.

SFJFF35 honors depth and complexity over formula, celebrates the richness of Jewish identity, and promotes an expansive definition of Jewish film. Our lineup includes 70 films from 16 countries with 10 Big Night programs featuring music, history, food, art and love.

Our Opening and Closing Night films build connections within and beyond the Jewish community. We open with the British dramedy Dough, starring Jonathan Pryce as an aging kosher baker who relies on a young religious Muslim immigrant from Darfur to revive his dying business with an appetite-inducing ingredient!

Join us afterwards at the Contemporary Jewish Museum for our Opening Night Bash replete with baked goods.

Closing Night’s East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem offers a story of cross-cultural collaboration as David Broza, the Israeli singer-songwriter, enlists a multinational group of musicians, including Israelis and Palestinians, to record an album together. This is followed by our Closing Night reception on the Castro Theatre mezzanine.

Our Centerpiece films feature women in the director’s chair. In our Centerpiece Narrative, a very pregnant Karin Albou (The Wedding Song, SFJFF 2009) directs and stars in My Shortest Love Affair, a date night film to end all date nights. Our Centerpiece Documentary is Abigail Disney’s directorial debut, The Armor of Light which explores the two conversions of evangelical megachurch leader Rob Schenck as he questions the uncomfortable marriage between Evangelical Christians and guns. This year’s Freedom of Expression Award goes to actor/director Lee Grant, who will join us for an onstage interview followed by a 35th anniversary screening of Tell Me a Riddle and a book signing of her memoir, I Said Yes to Everything.

Have you ever sent in an entry to the New Yorker cartoon captions contest? Films about art inspire the artist in all of us. Come join Bruce Eric Kaplan aka BEK at Berkeley Big Night at the David Brower Center for a book signing following the screening of Very Semi-Serious about the fabulous artists that create the New Yorker cartoons. Are You Oaklandish? We are also proud to announce our new Oakland venue at the Lakeside Theater where we will host our first ever Oakland Opening Night on Friday, August 7 with Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict followed by a mezzanine reception overlooking beautiful Lake Merritt. Our new Local Spotlight features Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish produced by former SFJFF director Janis Plotkin and directed by William Farley. The film follows San Francisco’s famous bail bondsman and first business sponsor of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival as he becomes a filmmaker and artist.

And if you want to bust out of the four walls, join us for a musical tribute to DJ AM with celebrity DJ, Mix Master Mike of Beastie Boys fame at Public Works following the documentary As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM, our Next Wave Spotlight event, and dance your way into the future.

See you at the movies!

Gale Mondry

Jay Rosenblatt

Lexi Leban

C H A I R , B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

P R O G R A M D I R E C T O R

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

Opening Night Post-Film Bash

Thursday, July 23, from approximately 9:00PM–12:00AM Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission Street

Parking available for a fee at Jessie Street Garage, 223 Stevenson St., directly below the Museum (left off of 3rd St. onto Stevenson St.)

$65 Members | $75 General Public | 21+ older Kick off SFJFF35 at The Contemporary Jewish Museum.

Oakland Opening Night Film and Reception Friday, August 7 | Lakeside Theater

Immediately following Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, you’re invited to enjoy beautiful, expansive views of Lake Merritt from the foyer of the Lakeside Theater, and toast the final weekend of SFJFF35. Enjoy light refreshments and snacks, and celebrate this year’s Festival and our expanded offerings in Oakland. The Lakeside Theater offers free and convenient parking for all SFJFF moviegoers.

Local Spotlight

Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish Saturday, July 25, 4:30PM | Castro Theatre (see p. 9 for screenings)

Closing Night Film & Reception, San Francisco Sunday, August 2 $22 Members | $25 General Public Reception on the mezzanine, Castro Theatre

Wine, beer, and light refreshments Toast our filmmakers and guests on the mezzanine of the Castro following the screening of East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem. Our Closing Night reception is the perfect close to our extended Castro run, celebrating our 35th year.

Janis Plotkin was the director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival for 17 years!

She returns as a producer to celebrate our 35th anniversary with Plastic Man. This delightful documentary follows Jerry Ross Barrish, an unorthodox sculptor in his 70s, as he struggles to achieve commercial success.

Daylighting as a bail bondsman and formerly a pioneering independent filmmaker, Barrish now sculpts with found plastic— trash, essentially—which he assembles into works of Picassoesque humanity.

big nights | special events | spotlights

big nights | special events | spotlights

Berkeley Big Night

Saturday, August 1 immediately following Very Semi-Serious David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley $22 members | $25 general public

A Tribute to Judith Helfand

After watching Very Semi-Serious, you’ll want to test your latest witticisms over a nosh. Join us for a post-film reception in the lobby of the David Brower Center. There will be beer, wine, food and quippy remarks for all. New Yorker magazine cartoonist and film subject Bruce Eric Kaplan will be signing copies of his new book I Was a Child. You won’t want to miss what promises to be a very special Berkeley Big Night.

Blue Vinyl Friday, July 31, 2:30PM | Castro Theatre In Conversation: Saturday, August 1, 2:10PM | California Theatre, Berkeley

The powerhouse documentary filmmaker, Peabody Award winner and Rockefeller Fellow Judith Helfand will be in attendance in support of her seminal environmental work Blue Vinyl, as well as participate on the Take Action Panel immediately following the film. Hear Helfand and other Take Action filmmakers in conversation with Debra Chasnoff about the role of filmmaking in addressing social justice issues. In Berkeley, Helfand will also show shorts and clips (including her upcoming film, Cooked ) as part of a conversation about her career.

Originally appeared in the July 2012 issue of The New Yorker

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

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take action day | one-time-only screenings | film pairings

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Take Action Day: Repairing the World, One Film at a Time: July 31, Castro Theatre

Sponsored by the Alexander M. and June L. Maisin Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund SFJFF celebrates social justice filmmaking plus the filmmakers and film subjects who are making a difference with their actions. These films are not simply to be viewed in the dark. They bring to light the important issues of our times and inspire us to take action. From health care to reproductive and civil rights, these films move us out of our seats and into the streets.

All-Day Take Action Pass This all-day special pass ($30 members, $36 nonmembers) gets you into all of the films plus the panel discussion, followed by a mezzanine reception.

11:00AM | The Singing Abortionist (p. 16)

Henry Morgentaler survived Auschwitz and Dachau only to receive death threats decades later when he established abortion clinics across Canada in defiance of the law. The Singing Abortionist captures the doctor’s public persona and his private life.

12:30PM | Zemene (p. 17)

This moving documentary recounts the brave struggle of Zemene Tiget, a young Ethiopian girl with a life-threatening spinal condition and the Jewish doctor who makes it his personal challenge to keep her alive.

2:30PM | Blue Vinyl Revival Screening SFJFF (p.10) Activist filmmaker Judith Helfand does not look the other way when a potential toxin gets too close to home. When her Jewish parents affix vinyl siding to their suburban abode, she gets suspicious. You will never look at plastic the same way again.

5:00PM |

9:10PM | Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw

(p. 13) In this powerful documentary, an iconic figure in women’s basketball, Chamique Holdsclaw, exemplifies the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, repairing the world through her actions, as she confronts mental illness and seeks to help others at risk.

Panel Discussion: Taking A Stand

Rick Goldsmith, Judith Helfand, Aviva Kempner and Melissa Donovan discuss their filmmaking careers, Jewish identity, activist filmmaking, empowerment and community engagement.

Panel discussion facilitated by Academy Award– winning documentarian and President/Senior Producer of Groundspark, Debra Chasnoff.

SFJFF35 Film Pairings

One-Time-Only Screenings

Like a fine wine paired with a main course, this year we have several offerings that couple a narrative film with a documentary on a similar subject. We encourage you to see how filmmakers are dealing in different ways with these powerful subjects. It doesn’t really matter in which order you see them but to have a more fulfilling cinematic meal, see them both.

Legalization of Abortion: The Singing Abortionist (p. 16) The Law (p. 13)

1X Don’t miss these SFJFF selections, which will only show once!

When I Live My Life Over Again (p. 17) 8:50PM, Saturday, July 25 | Castro Theatre German Concentration Camps Factual Survey (p. 12) 12:00 noon, Sunday, July 26 | Castro Theatre Jews in Shorts: Faith and Spirituality (p. 13) 1:00PM, Wednesday, July 29 | Castro Theatre Zemene (p. 17) 12:30PM, Friday, July 31 | Castro Theatre

Immigration in Israel: Mussa (p. 14) Manpower (p. 13) Representations of the Holocaust: German Concentration Camps Factual Survey (p. 12) In Silence (p. 12 ) Nazi-Seized Art: Dealing with the Devil (p. 11) The Art Dealer (p. 10) #sfjff

6:30PM | Rosenwald (p. 10) The son of German Jewish immigrants, Julius Rosenwald rose from door-to-door salesman to become one of the wealthiest men of early 20th century America. His little-known legacy is only now coming to light as one of the greatest philanthropists of all time, and an inspiring leader in Jewish and African American partnerships.

Blue Vinyl (p. 10) 2:30PM, Friday, July 31 | Castro Theatre Rosenwald (p. 16) 6:30PM, Friday, July 31 | Castro Theatre Very Semi-Serious (p. 8) 6:30PM, Saturday August 1 | California Theatre Tell Me a Riddle (p. 16) 2:35PM, Sunday, August 2 | Castro Theatre Mussa (with Greenland) (p. 14) 2:40PM, Friday, August 7 | Lakeside Theater

#sfjff35

Dealing with the Devil (with 70 Hester Street) (p. 11) 4:35PM, Friday, August 7 | Lakeside Theater /SFJewishFilm

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www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

/SFJewishFilm

Hot Sugar’s Cold World (p. 12) 8:50PM, Saturday, August 8 | Lakeside Theater

Sponsored by the Laszlo N. Tauber Philanthropic Fund Sunday, July 26, 12:00PM | Castro Theatre followed by an extended discussion at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, 290 Dolores St., San Francisco 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Join SFJFF for the screening of German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, a profoundly important and disturbing work, an officially ordered document of Nazi atrocities by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in 1945, intended to be shown to German prisoners of war following the fall of the Nazi regime. The film was shelved in the interest of repairing post-war relations, and has never been shown until now. Please join us for a post-film discussion at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav with Morgan Blum Schneider, Director of Education, Jewish Family and Children’s Services Holocaust Center.

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Sidney Bernstein, head of the Liberated Territories Section, Films Division of the British Ministry of Information, (l), Lt Cdr Anthony Kimmons, Admiralty Public Relations, (m), and Major Hugh Stewart, Commander of the British Army Film and Photographic Units (r), who was responsible for ordering AFPU camerman to provide full coverage of the Bergen-Belson concentration camp after its liberation. © Imperial War Museums

holocaust | bridges and barriers

Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

Bridges and Barriers: Israeli and Palestinian Filmmakers Frame the Conflict

Through the lenses of eight talented documentarians, this group of films represents multiple approaches to nonfiction filmmaking that bring into focus divergent points of view about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Utilizing different filmmaking styles—observational, expositional, poetic, self-reflexive—these filmmakers pose questions, promote understanding and shed light on different aspects of one of the most complicated long-term conflicts in contemporary world affairs. Featuring stories from Haifa, East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza and Sderot, the films challenge our assumptions, whatever they might be. (Films screen throughout the Festival and in multiple venues.)

The Zionist Idea (p. 17) Written and directed by Joseph Dorman

The Wanted 18 (p. 17) This well-crafted, hybrid animated

Partner with the Enemy (p. 15) This character-driven observational

Open Bethlehem (p. 14) Leila Sansour left Bethlehem at 17. She

Women in Sink (screens with Partner with the Enemy, p. 15) Israeli

Censored Voices (p. 11) Oral histories recorded by writer Amos Oz

and Oren Rudavsky, The Zionist Idea is a startlingly fresh documentary about the history of Israel viewed through the evolution of its ideological and philosophical foundation. documentary follows Anat and Rola, two spirited women from Kibbutz Mizra and Ramallah who join forces to start a logistics company transporting Palestinian cargo from Israeli ports into Gaza. But a hostile environment threatens to destroy the women’s partnership. filmmaker Iris Zaki takes a job as the shampoo girl in an Arab-owned hair salon in Wadi NisNas, Haifa’s lively Christian Arab neighborhood.

Zaki elicits stories about life in Haifa as she massages her clients’ scalps and reveals perspectives on coexistence in this intimate short documentary.

Rock in the Red Zone (p. 16) Drawn by its rock music culture,

filmmaker Laura Bialis left Los Angeles for the Israeli city of Sderot.

Despite frequent falling Qassam rockets, she remained and found love. She narrates her own journey and reveals the challenges of living close to the Gaza border and the debate and discussion within her community.

documentary explores the strange mixture of political complexities and bovine hijinks that were manifested by a Palestinian town’s efforts to take dairy production—and fiscal resistance—into their own hands.

returns to make a first personal voice over documentary chronicling how the history of Israeli settlements, the building of the wall and the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces affect the political and cultural landscape of this ancient city.

and other young kibbutzniks in the weeks immediately following the Six-Day War were recently made available to the Israeli public after many years of censorship. They were teenagers then, and now they listen to their own words and reflect.

East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem (p.5) With determined optimism, legendary Israeli singer/songwriter David Broza pierces the divide with a new music album East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem. Broza’s vision brings him to a divided Jerusalem where his musicians play their dreams of peace.

Free Panel Discussion

5:05PM, Saturday, August 1 at the Castro Theatre Moderated by Janine Zacharia, Middle East Analyst Janine Zacharia has reported on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and broader Middle East issues for two decades, including serving as Jerusalem bureau chief for the Washington Post, chief diplomatic correspondent for Bloomberg News, Washington bureau chief for the Jerusalem Post and Jerusalem correspondent for Reuters.

She appears regularly on cable news shows and radio programs as a Middle East analyst and is currently a visiting lecturer in the department of communication at Stanford University.

With filmmakers Mor Loushy (Censored Voices), Leila Sansour (Open Bethlehem), Laura Bialis (Rock in the Red Zone) and Erez Miller (East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem)

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

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jfi next wave

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Next Wave Quick Picks

JFI Next Wave is generously supported by grants from the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund and the Young Funders Impact Grant Initiative of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund.

The Jewish Film Institute’s Next Wave programs feature stories and perspectives that signal the next evolutionary step in the history of independent, Jewishthemed filmmaking. With more ways than ever to express yourself through film and media, Next Wave is the home of all JFI content that looks toward the future, while providing Bay Area Next Wavers with the opportunity to; receive all-inclusive Festival passes (at an incredible discount!) attend private VIP receptions and parties with filmmakers, actors, and artists; experience programs and events that step outside the boundaries of film; enjoy live music, stand-up comedy, and other special events; and, (of course), drink, eat, socialize, and network with other young leaders and supporters of the independent arts community.

Music. Education. Relationships. Family dramas. Rich kids. Action flicks. These are just some of the themes and subjects of Next Wave programming at SFJFF35. Take a musical trip with Hot Sugar’s Cold World, When I Live My Life Over Again and Danny Says. Be sure to check out Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone, Once in a Lifetime, Raise the Roof, and Those People. Join SFJFF for the Next Wave Spotlight Film and Party, featuring As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM , followed by a hip-hop bash with Mix Master Mike at Public Works.

Members ages 35 and under enjoy special programs and events PLUS all the privileges of a JFI membership for just $35 a year.

Our Next Wave Festival Pass gives you access to unlimited, regularly priced films at all Festival locations (including the Next Wave Spotlight). Visit sfjff.org or download the iPhone app for more information.

As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM (p. 7) A shattering doc

portrait of DJ AM (born Adam Goldstein), the superstar club DJ who survived a fiery plane crash only to die a short time later of a drug overdose at the age of 36.

Finsterworld (p. 12) Decades removed from the Holocaust,

Finsterworld ’s contemporary Germany is still darkened by history’s

shadow. Absurdist and allegorical, this film asks how we can relate to those around us when our strongest bond is our detachment from the past.

Danny Says (p. 11) A dazzling trip through the entertaining life of Danny Fields, the little-known Jewish godfather of punk rock and provocative record “company freak” who discovered legendary underground music superstars the MC5, Iggy Pop and the Ramones.

Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone (p. 15) This honest narrative set in

France follows Stephanie, who grows up with an absent mother and a brutal stepfather. A film reminiscent of the seminal Flashdance, paths of escape and bonds of friendship are the uplifting themes that weave throughout the story.

Once in a Lifetime (p. 14) A moving drama based on the true story of a poor Paris suburban high school class whose determined teacher challenges her students, many of whom are Muslim, to enter a contest about the Shoah, with unexpected results.

Pump Up the JAMs: A Tribute to DJ AM with Mix Master Mike

After the Castro screening of As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM , join Next Wave at The Public Works SF for a hip-hop blowout blast featuring the legendary Mix Master Mike, whose work with the Beastie Boys has defined hip-hop sounds of the past three decades.

Hot Sugar’s Cold World (p. 12) Hot Sugar’s Cold World is a fly-on-the-wall

look into the life of a modern-day Mozart, Nick Koenig (Hot Sugar ) as he creates one-of-a-kind music made entirely out of sounds from the world around him. An awesome journey, this doc makes a case for music as the universal language.

Those People (p. 16) The lives, loves, scandals and fixations of a tight-

knit group of high society Manhattan youth are dissected with humor and compassion in this sexy drama from first-time feature director Joey Kuhn.

The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films (p. 12)

The larger-than-life true story of two Israeli cousins, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who founded and then lost a low-budget independent movie empire, Hollywood’s fabled Cannon Films. Featuring Director Eli Roth, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris.

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www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

When I Live My Life Over Again (p. 17) In this polished narrative and showbiz dramedy, an aging but successful crooner (Christopher Walken) and his daughter (Amber Heard) who has inherited his talent but not his ambition, are forced into living together again. The film becomes a meditation on the enduring bonds of family and love under tortured circumstances.

Jews in Shorts: Faith & Spirituality (p.13) This year’s collection of

shorts finds its subje cts grappling with their faith in the most unexpected ways, from sojourns in the American South, to note readings at the Wailing Wall, black market yarmulke trading, feelings of community rejection, and found inner peace in Jerusalem’s walled gardens.

Raise the Roof (p. 8) During WWII, the Nazis destroyed a series of

synagogues whose interiors captured the pulse and color of Jewish life in 18th-century Poland. Raise the Roof tracks how 300 eager artists and students reconstructed one such vanished synagogue.

Opening Night

Castro Closing Night East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

BAY AREA PREMIERE

UK, 2015, 94 mins, English Director: John Goldschmidt Editor: Michael Ellis Cinematographer: Peter Hannan Screenwriters: Jez Freedman, Jonathan Benson Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Malachi Kirby, Jerome Holder

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA SMITH RAFAEL

THURSDAY, JULY 23 SUNDAY, JULY 26 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

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opening night | closing night

Dough

Israel, 2014, 80 mins, Hebrew, English, Arabic w/ English subtitles Directors: Erez Miller, Henrique Cymerman Editor: Erez Miller Cinematographers: Issa Freij, Ohad Milstein

6:15PM 3:55PM 6:30PM 6:20PM

Sponsored by Steven and Bunny Fayne Food has always represented more than sustenance in Jewish culture, and its transformative power is on display in this delightful British dramedy which unites a widowed third generation kosher baker, Nat (a crusty yet compassionate Jonathan Pryce), and his new Muslim apprentice, Ayyash (Jerome Holder in a breakout performance). Dayan & Son Bakery is in a downward spiral. Nat’s customers are all moving or dying. To top it off, his adversarial competitor is moving in on his turf, and his son has no interest in carrying on the family business. When Nat’s apprentice quits, he reluctantly hires Ayyash, a smalltime pot dealer living with his mother, who has struggled to keep a crumbling roof over their heads since they immigrated to England from Darfur.

Working the dough at the sleepy bakery, Nat and Ayyash begin to understand each other’s personal histories and religious rituals; distrust becomes respect and eventually a heartwarming intergenerational friendship. But Dough really takes off when Ayyash’s two professions accidentally merge in a batch of very popular cannabis-infused challah. Then things begin to look up for both men. Led by the always impressive Pryce, Dough is reminiscent of the popular British comedy Saving Grace and perfect for film lovers of any age, race, religion or gender with an appetite for feel-good cinema. Alexis Whitham Director John Goldschmidt and actor Jerome Holder in person in San Francisco and Palo Alto

Opening Night Bash

CASTRO SMITH RAFAEL LAKESIDE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

7:45PM 2:30PM 8:30PM

Sponsored by Gale Mondry and Bruce Cohen In the spirit of determined optimism legendary Israeli singer/songwriter David Broza pierces the divide with a bold new music album East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem . In 1977, early in his career, Broza wrote what became the anthem of the peace process with his song “It Will Be Good/Yihye Tov” in collaboration with Israeli poet Yonatan Geffen.

Through all the turbulent years that have followed, the artist/activist Broza has made his music into a labor of peace. Broza’s vision brings him to the heart of the conflict, a divided Jerusalem where he and his musician friends, including Grammy-winning Steve Earle, Palestinian Israeli singer Mira Awad (Amal in Arab Labor ) and Iraqi Israeli Yair Dalal, among others, take a remarkable musical journey outside the political walls. Director Ezra Miller follows the artists over an eight-day period where they converge in a one-take mash-up of American, Israeli and Palestinian sounds that slowly breaks through the cynicism and fear of the region. Knowing that it could all fall to pieces, they build musical bridges with Broza’s charismatic and energetic performances and his will to have a political impact by the simple act of bringing together artists from opposing sides. Recorded in an East Jerusalem studio, the film is rich with musical improvisation and performance. Janis Plotkin Director Erez Miller in person in San Francisco

Closing Night Reception

| Castro Theatre

Toast our filmmakers and guests on the mezzanine of the Castro following the Bay Area Premiere of East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem. This festive reception is the perfect close to our extended Castro run.

Thursday, July 23, 2015 | 9:00PM Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103 Event parking available for a fee at Jessie Street Garage | 223 Stevenson St. Opening Night at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is always great but this year will be very special. Film and art come together at the bold and elegant Contemporary Jewish Museum, where party goers can explore the newly opened Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait exhibit, sip Hagafen wine and Lagunitas beer, and taste featured dishes from Savoy, Wise Sons, L’Chaim Sushi, and many more.

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Take Action

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1 Time NW Next Only Wave

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Bridges & Barriers

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

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Centerpiece Narrative

Centerpiece Documentary

centerpiece narrative | centerpiece documentary

My Shortest Love Affair

The Armor of Light

SNEAK PREVIEW

BAY AREA PREMIERE

France, 2015, 78 mins, French w/ English subtitles Director: Karin Albou Editor: Gwen Hubert Cinematographer: Nicolas Berteyac Screenwriter: Karin Albou Cast: Karin Albou, Patrick Mimoun, Mazarine Pingeot

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA SMITH RAFAEL

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 THURSDAY, JULY 30 MONDAY, AUGUST, 3 SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

USA, 2015, 87 mins, English Director: Abigail Disney Editor: Andrew Fredericks Cinematographer: Jeff Hutchens

6:30PM 6:15PM 6:15PM 8:30PM

Twenty years ago, Louisa and Charles were lovers. Now middle-aged, the two cross paths at an arts festival in Paris. Charles, a novelist and Columbia professor, has returned to France for his mother’s funeral, and, after spotting Louisa, follows her home. After a night of alcohol and author-quoting, Louisa winds up pregnant. Written and directed by star Karin Albou (whose The Wedding Song closed the Festival in 2009), My Shortest Love Affair tracks nine months in the lives of these two fortysomethings. Obsessed with the idea of getting things right the second time, Charles leaves New York and moves into Louisa’s apartment, which sits across the street from the always revolving windmills of the Moulin Rouge. We watch as the couple commits to compromise. Should they remain silent or talk dirty? Should the cat stay or go? Yet as Louisa’s belly rounds, the only routine the two establish is arguing. Almost every night, one of them storms off in his or her pajamas to the hotel across the street, passing the 18th arrondissement’s string of sex shops along the way. My Shortest Love Affair is not a traditional ode to Paris as the City of Light and love.

Rather, it is a darkly comic tribute to trying. Zoe Pollak Note: For mature audiences; contains nudity Actor/Director Karin Albou in person in San Francisco and Palo Alto

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TA 1X NW BB Action Only | 415.621.0523 Wave Barriers www.sfjff.org

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA SMITH RAFAEL

TUESDAY, JULY 28 WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 TUESDAY, AUGUST 4 FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

6:30PM 6:20PM 6:30PM 4:20PM

Sponsored by Nancy Blachman and David des Jardins It’s not easy to bring fresh light to the polarized debate on guns. But in her breathtaking directorial debut, Abigail Disney takes viewers far above the talking points of the NRA. Disney has serious film pedigree: Her grandfather Roy co-founded Disney Studios with his brother Walt. Her documentary is so riveting, some scenes feel straight out of a fiction film. Evangelical minister Rob Schenck is familiar with challenging the status quo: He was raised Jewish, then became an evangelist as a teenager. He rose to prominence in the 1990s as a militant pro-life activist. But troubling encounters with gun violence forced him to ask whether a pro-life position could be consistent with pro-gun. Disney follows him as he explores these questions at gun shows and ministers with stand-your-ground opponents. He eventually teams with Lucy McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis, an unarmed teenager murdered in Florida whose case has become a landmark in the fight against stand-your-ground laws. His new supporters surprise him as much as the vitriol of his old friends. It isn’t an overreach when Schenck notes parallels between increasing pro-gun extremism, rising gun violence and the Holocaust. As his father once told him, pointing to pictures of the camps, “This is what happens when good people say nothing.” Emily Kaiser Thelin Director Abigail Disney and subject Lucy McBath in person in San Francisco and Palo Alto

Freedom of Expression

Next Wave Spotlight 1X

Presentation and Discussion, 60 mins Followed by a screening of Tell Me A Riddle, 90 mins

CASTRO

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

WEST COAST PREMIERE 2:35PM

Sponsored by Lela and Gerry Sarnat At the age of 25, Queens native Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal) had it all. After studying at the prestigious Actors Studio, she became an acclaimed Broadway star, then quickly catapulted into international fame with both a Cannes Best Actress win and an Oscar nomination for her screen debut in William Wyler’s 1951 Detective Story. But in an instant it was over. After passionately accusing the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of driving a blacklisted screenwriter friend to his death, Grant opened the notorious anticommunist rag Red Channels one day to discover that she had been branded a Communist subversive. Yet in the 1960s the actress beat the blacklist, first with the popular prime-time soap Peyton Place, followed by her second Oscar nomination in Norman Jewison’s 1967 Best Picture–winning In the Heat of the Night. Grant’s creative rebirth continued through the 1970s with another Oscar nomination for Hal Ashby’s The Landlord and her 1975 Best Supporting Actress win for Ashby and Warren Beatty’s celebrated LA comedy of manners Shampoo. In 1980, she directed her first feature Tell Me a Riddle based on Tillie Olsen’s novella. Grant holds nothing back in her live-to-tell memoir, I Said Yes to Everything, yet another achievement for this actress, director, producer and this year’s recipient of the SFJFF Freedom of Expression Award. Thomas Logoreci Lee Grant appears in person to accept her award and participate in an onstage discussion of her career in conjunction with a 35th anniversary screening of Tell Me a Riddle.

Following the screening of Tell Me A Riddle, join Lee Grant on the Mezzanine of the Castro. She will be signing copies of her memoir I Said Yes to Everything.

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USA, 2015, 102 mins, English Director: Kevin Kerslake Editor: Joel Marcus Cinematographer: Kevin Kerslake

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

THURSDAY, JULY 30 FRIDAY, JULY 31

freedom of expression award | next wave

Lee Grant

As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM

6:25PM 8:55PM

Next Wave programs are generously provided by the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund and the Young Funders Impact Grant Initiative of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund Forget whatever you’ve heard about the life and death of Philadelphiaborn DJ AM (born Adam Goldstein), the superstar hip-hop deejay who survived a fiery plane crash only to die a short time later from a drug overdose at the age of 36. Director Kevin Kerslake has crafted a shattering doc experience, hurling the viewer into the story of the troubled mixmaster who in his early teens was as obsessed with scouring record bins for vinyl treasures as he was with crack cocaine.

The 1990s found Goldstein building his musical reputation spinning records in the LA underground club scene, living on peanut butter and doughnut sandwiches and contemplating suicide. After getting sober, DJ AM attained rock star status by brilliantly fusing differing music samples together, an enormously successful phenomenon that brought him celebrity girlfriends and million-dollar Vegas club gigs.

Relying on interviews with family and friends as well as Goldstein’s searing Alcoholics Anonymous confessions, Kerslake charts the downward spiral of an addict who was always willing to help others but took little time to confront his own demons. As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM is a haunting and heartbreaking portrait that conveys the brief life of an obsessive sonic genius for whom music, fame and love were tragically not enough. Thomas Logoreci Director Kevin Kerslake and subject Mix Master Mike in person

A Tribute to DJ AM: Live with Mix Master Mike Join us for an after-hours celebration of DJ AM’s life and musical legacy at the Public Works SF, featuring the rare and soulful turntable skills of the extraordinary Mix Master Mike. Best known for his work with the Beastie Boys. Mix Master Mike will be spinning from 10:30PM, with local act DJ Cyclofunk opening and closing the night.

9:00PM–1:00AM, Thursday, July 30 The Public Works SF, 161 Erie Street, San Francisco (street parking available) Public transportation: take Muni F train to Guerrero Street $15 members | $18 general public | Must be 21+ Free admission for Next Wave passholders

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

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Berkeley Big Night big nights

Very Semi-Serious

Palo Alto Opening Night 1X

USA, 2015, 83 mins, English Director: Leah Wolchok Editors: Scott Stevenson, Nels Bangerter Cinematographer: Kirsten Johnson

CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1

6:30PM

Why do cartoons feel like a quintessentially Jewish art form? From comic books to graphic novels, Jews have blazed a trail in illustrated storytelling. The single panel cartoon—a few squiggles and even fewer words—enlightens, maddens, confuses and delights. Like the shortest short story or lyrical haiku, it strips humor to its most bare.

And nowhere does that art form soar higher than in the New Yorker magazine. According to cartoon editor Bruce Mankoff, cartoons make the strange familiar and the familiar strange. Watching Very Semi-Serious is like getting together with someone else’s crazy relatives; we see ourselves in them, but we’re glad we don’t have to go home with them.

Famed and would-be cartoonists return week after week to vie for the approval of the acerbic, egotistical, wildly funny and deeply human Mankoff. From the inimitable neurosis of Roz Chast to the insane drawings of Farley Katz to the offbeat musings of BEK (Bruce Eric Kaplan), this cast of characters draws us into their eccentric views of what it’s like to be human. Filmmaker Leah Wolchok’s peek behind the curtain reveals the people and pain that makes the humor poignant.

Like binging on a year’s worth of New Yorker cartoons, Very Semi-Serious delights and leaves you wanting more. Stephanie Rapp Cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan in person

Berkeley Big Night Saturday, August 1 | The David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley immediately following Very Semi-Serious $22 members, $25 general public Stick around to celebrate with Bruce Eric Kaplan who will be signing his new book I Was a Child.

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TA 1X NW BB Action Only | 415.621.0523 Wave Barriers www.sfjff.org

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BAY AREA PREMIERE

Sponsored by Raymond Lifchez

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Raise the Roof

USA, 2014, 85 mins, English and Polish w/ English subtitles Directors: Yari Wolinsky, Cary Wolinsky Editor: Yari Wolinsky Cinematographers: Yari Wolinsky, Dan D’amore, Tadeusz Kieniewicz, Robert Mrozowski

CINEARTS CASTRO CALIFORNIA SMITH RAFAEL

SATURDAY, JULY 25 SUNDAY, JULY 26 THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

6:00PM 2:00PM 4:30PM 12:30PM

Sponsored by The Bonnie and Marty Tenenbaum Foundation “How often do you get a chance to reach deep into history and bring something back?” asks Rick Brown, a professor whose work encompasses both art and archaeology. For Brown, connecting with the past is a physical gesture that requires time and teamwork.

In the early 2000s, Brown and his wife were captivated by a series of now vanished but once resplendent synagogues whose painted interiors captured the pulse and color of Jewish life in 18th-century Poland. Each of these synagogues was ultimately destroyed by the Nazis; they are preserved only in photographs. Determined to restore the splendor of these wooden structures, the husband-andwife team recruited a group of 300 artists and students from around the world (many of whom are not Jewish) to reconstruct a life-sized model of one such synagogue. Raise the Roof chronicles this collective undertaking. To faithfully reproduce each Hebrew letter and stylized animal, the artisans learned how the synagogue’s art and architecture reflected the cultural and political contexts in which the building was constructed, like the Torah itself. Today, the reconstructed version stands in Warsaw, as part of the permanent collection of a museum dedicated to Poland’s Jewish heritage. This inspiring film tracks the labor and love that illuminate a glorious piece of that history. Zoe Pollak Directors Yari Wolinsky and Cary Wolinsky, subjects Rick and Laura Brown in person and additional guests in Palo Alto and San Francisco

Oakland Opening Night

Local Spotlight

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict

USA, 2014, 74 mins, English Director: Bill Farley Editor: Richard Levien Cinematographer: Bill Farley

WEST COAST PREMIERE

USA and Italy, 2015, 97 mins, English Director: Lisa Vreeland Editors: Bernadine Colish, Jed Parker Cinematographer: Peter Trilling

CASTRO LAKESIDE

SUNDAY, JULY 26 FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

big nights

Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish

4:30PM 8:15PM

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY, JULY 25 TUESDAY, JULY 28 SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

4:30PM 6:15PM 4:10PM

Born into great wealth and yet experiencing a series of traumas that left her emotionally at odds with the world, the rebellious American socialite Peggy Guggenheim spent a lifetime—and a fortune— breaking society’s rules to become one of the preeminent art collectors of the 20th century and a tireless champion of the avant-garde. This absorbing documentary charts her journey from Jewish heiress (her financier father died in the sinking of the Titanic) to bohemian tastemaker, as she helped discover, support and promote the early careers of such talents as Wassily Kandinsky, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, Louise Nevelson, Robert Motherwell and Jackson Pollock. In a hidebound, male-dominated art world, she was early on dismissed as a dilettante and a “shopper”; even the art foundation of her own uncle, Solomon Guggenheim (later of New York museum fame), accused her of “propagating mediocrity.” The film, richly illustrated with her collected artwork and containing rare, candid audio interviews with Peggy Guggenheim herself, makes a strong case that she was one of her generation’s truly liberated women, single-mindedly forging a groundbreaking career as an independent gallery owner and collector, while moving through an astonishing series of sexual liaisons (and the occasional marriage) with brilliant artists including Samuel Beckett, Constantin Brancusi, Paul Bowles and Max Ernst. Peter L. Stein

Co-Sponsored by Carl and Gay Grunfeld and Dan Wohlfeiler, in memory of Ronnie Gilbert, artist and activist.

Guest Introduction at Oakland Opening Night: SFMOMA Curator Janet Bishop

Producer Janis Plotkin, Director Bill Farley and subject Jerry Ross Barrish in person

Oakland Opening Night Film and Reception Friday, August 7 | Lakeside Theater, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland

Immediately following Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, you’re invited to enjoy beautiful, expansive views of Lake Merritt from the foyer of the Lakeside Theater, and toast the final weekend of SFJFF35. Enjoy light refreshments and snacks, and celebrate this year’s Festival and our expanded offerings in Oakland. The Lakeside Theater offers free and convenient parking for all SFJFF moviegoers.

“Michelangelo said the rocks speak to him. Well, this plastic stuff speaks to me,” says Jerry Ross Barrish in this inspiring documentary about the unorthodox San Francisco–based artist and former pioneering independent filmmaker. Working with found plastic—trash, essentially—since 1989, Barrish has created sculptures with the empathic whimsy of Alexander Calder or Pablo Picasso. Now in his 70s, he enjoys powerful friends in the art world, from curators to critics, many featured in the film. Yet he struggles for success. Evidently plastic is too cheap for the best galleries. Friends urge him to cast his work in bronze. But can Barrish make concessions for commercial success? As the movie reveals, sculpting is just one facet of his freespirited life. Barrish grew up the dyslexic son of a mob-connected Chicago boxer and worked for 40 years as a bail bondsman, becoming the bailout guy for many radical ’60s protestors. He jokes that his Jewish faith has made him a pessimist. But he’s enjoyed a successful run doing what felt right, and now he weighs whether to tackle his first bronze commission. Too often art documentaries treat their subjects with reverent distance, but Barrish’s infectious charm will make you want to pick up a pencil and start drawing. Emily Kaiser Thelin

Jerry Ross Barrish on View June 23–August 31 | STUDIO Gallery

Jerry Ross Barrish’s work can be viewed for the duration of the Festival’s Castro run at STUDIO Gallery, 1641 Pacific (between Polk & Van Ness), San Francisco, www.STUDIOGallerySF.com.

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

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The Art Dealer

Autism in Love

BAY AREA PREMIERE

France, 2014, 95 mins, French w/ English subtitles Director: François Margolin Editor: Xavier Sirven Cinematographers: Caroline Champetier, Olivier Guerbois Screenwriters: François Margolin, Sophie Seligmann, Jean-Claude Grumberg, Vincent Mariette Cast: Anna Sigalevitch, Michel Bouquet, Robert Hirsch

BAY AREA PREMIERE

films

A La Vie

France, 2014, 104 mins, French w/ English subtitles Director: Jean-Jacques Zilbermann Editor: Joëlle van Effenterre Cinematographer: Rémy Chevrin Screenwriters: Jean-Jacques Zilbermann, Odile Barski, Danièle D’Antoni Cast: Julie Depardieu, Johanna ter Steege, Suzanne Clément

CINEARTS CASTRO SMITH RAFAEL LAKESIDE

SATURDAY, JULY 25 THURSDAY, JULY 30 FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

8:30PM 9:10PM 8:30PM 6:30PM

Three women, Auschwitz survivors, are reunited 15 years after the war. They spend a holiday at a seaside resort in northern France.

Set at the start of the ’60s, the era’s bright colors and cheerful music mark the end of one period in their lives and the start of another.

Friendships forged in horror begin anew with tasty ice cream cones, stylish bikinis, a romantic adventure and basking in the sun.

Sara L. Rubin

CASTRO CINEARTS LAKESIDE SMITH RAFAEL

FRIDAY, JULY 24 7:15PM TUESDAY, JULY 28 8:35PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 6:10PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 6:20PM

Co-Sponsored by Sinai Memorial Chapel Chevra Kadisha A breathtaking 18th century painting on a crumbling wall ignites a noirish mystery and inspires one woman to delve into family secrets, long-buried memories, and perhaps even WWII-era government cover-ups.

Dashing around Paris in her trenchcoat and fedora, Esther whispers in dark rooms, forges signatures and draws long, thoughtful puffs on cigarettes (though this may be more French than noir) in her journey to recover family paintings presumably stolen by Nazis.

Alexis Whitham

Beyond the Fear

Blue Vinyl

US PREMIERE

USA, 2001, 98 mins, English Director: Daniel Gold, Judith Helfand Editor: Sari Gilman Cinematographer: Daniel Gold

Latvia, Russia, Israel, 2014, 80 mins, Russian, English and Hebrew w/ English subtitles Directors: Herz Frank, Maria Kravchenko Editor: Maria Kravchenko Cinematographers: Sergei Tsirkin, Israel Freedman, Alexander Gorev, Herz Frank, Maria Kravchenko

CINEARTS LAKESIDE

MONDAY, JULY 27 SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

4:40PM 4:35PM

In 2005, Israeli scholar and divorced mother of four Larisa Trembovler married Yigal Amir, the infamous assassin of much-loved Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In 2007, after a series of conjugal visits, she gave birth to her fifth child, Amir’s son. It’s their son that documentarians Herz Frank and Maria Kravchenko skillfully build the film around as they reexamine the years of moral complexities surrounding his parents’ union. Neha Talreja

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CASTRO

FRIDAY, JULY 31

TA 1X

USA, 2013, 75 mins, English Director: Matt Fuller Editor: Alex O’Flinn Cinematographer: Scott Uhlfelder

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY, JULY 25 SUNDAY, JULY 26 FRIDAY, JULY 31

2:10PM 2:10PM 12:25PM

Co-Sponsored by the John and Marcia Goldman Foundation This compassionate documentary follows four adults with autism spectrum disorders as they search for and manage romantic relationships. Lenny, a young man living with his single mom, is lonely and desperate for a girlfriend. Stephen is married, but his wife has been diagnosed with cancer. Lindsey and Dave have been together eight years and are contemplating marriage. Through all this, Matt Fuller’s sensitive direction pulls at the heartstrings in just the right places. Jay Rosenblatt Director Matt Fuller, Producer Carolina Groppa and Executive Producer Ira Heilveil in San Francisco and Palo Alto

Carvalho’s Journey

WORLD PREMIERE

2:30PM

Activist filmmaker Judith Helfand does not look the other way when a potential toxin gets too close to home. When her Jewish parents affix vinyl siding to their suburban abode, she gets suspicious. Taking a personal comedic approach, directors Helfand and Gold uncover the impact of vinyl manufacturing and disposal on the atmosphere, the food chain and humans, not a pretty picture. You will never look at plastic the same way again. Caroline Libresco Director Judith Helfand in person Don’t miss Judith Helfand: In Conversation on Saturday August 1, 2:10PM at the California Theatre in Berkeley. See page 13.

USA, 2015, 85 mins, English Director: Steve Rivo Editor: Kathryn Barnier Cinematographers: Antonio Rossi

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA

TUESDAY, JULY 28 2:00PM FREE WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 4:00PM FREE TUESDAY, AUGUST 4 2:40PM FREE

Free Matinees are generously provided by the Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund.

Few westward journeys were as exciting as that taken by American Jewish photographer and artist Solomon Carvalho in 1853–54 with explorer John C. Fremont’s ill-fated fifth expedition in search of a viable route for a transcontinental railroad. Hired to document the trip with daguerreotype images, Carvalho barely survived. Stunning photography, modern-day daguerreotypes and illustrations made from Carvalho’s originals and words from Carvalho’s diary, enliven this portrait of a remarkable man. Sara Rubin Director Steve Rivo in person in San Francisco and Palo Alto

Censored Voices

BB

Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah

Danny Says

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films

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

US PREMIERE

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA

Israel, 2015, 84 mins, English and Hebrew w/ English subtitles Director: Mor Loushy Editor: Daniel Sivan Cinematographer: Itai Raziel

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 2:45PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 1:30PM

Co-Sponsored by Hannah Kranzberg Oral histories recorded by Israeli writer Amos Oz and other young kibbutzniks in the weeks immediately following their experiences during the Six Day War are brought to life in this revealing documentary. The censored 1967 recordings, coupled with striking archival images, reveal the moment that Israel’s soldiers, in their own words, went from identifying with David to Goliath. The act of trying to remember is what gives this documentary its profound resonance.

Nancy K. Fishman

USA, 2015, 104 mins, English Director: Brendan Toller Editors: Ian Markiewicz, Tim Sternberg, Brendan Toller Cinematographer: Brendan Toller

UK, Canada, USA, 2015, 40 mins, English Director: Adam Benzine Editor: Daniel Sivan Cinematographer: Alex Ordanis

TUESDAY, JULY 28 THURSDAY, JULY 30 TUESDAY, AUGUST 4

4:30PM 1:50PM 4:40PM

Claude Lanzmann’s 1985 documentary Shoah is arguably one of the greatest documentaries of all time. Lanzmann discusses at length the making of his masterwork, including the secret filming of former Nazis, the lengthy process of convincing traumatized Holocaust survivors to open up on camera and the exhausting challenge of chronicling one of the greatest atrocities in history. Jay Rosenblatt Screening with the shorts Ischler, Zement and German Shepherd

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

MONDAY, JULY 27 8:30PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 8:30PM

Sponsored by Susan and Jay Mall A dazzling trip through the entertaining life of Danny Fields, the little-known Jewish godfather of punk rock and provocative record “company freak” who discovered legendary underground music pioneers the MC5, Iggy Pop and the Ramones. Drawn from a breathtaking trove of rare footage and audio recordings, this fascinating chronicle is capped by the wry and wistful reminiscence of Fields himself, the tastemaker who just may have been responsible for breaking up the Beatles. Thomas Logoreci

German Shepherd sponsored by Marsha and Ralph Guggenheim

Director Adam Benzine in person in San Francisco and Palo Alto

Preceded by The Arrest, sponsored by Fern Tiger and Michael Pyatok

Director Mor Loushy in person in San Francisco and Berkeley

Dealing with the Devil

1X

WORLD PREMIERE

France, 2015, 52 mins, French w/ English subtitles Director: Stéphane Bentura Editor:Frédéric Fournier Cinematographer: Pierre Chautard

LAKESIDE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

4:35PM

The bizarre case of Hildebrand Gurlitt, a Dresden art dealer of Jewish descent who was tasked by Joseph Goebbels with the job of seizing and selling off “degenerate” art is fascinatingly recounted. Director Stéphane Bentura investigates the complicity of major French auction houses in the marketing of paintings that were sold under duress or stolen outright from Jewish families and art dealers.

Seth Barron

Preceded by 70 Hester Street.

Escaping Riga

Every Face Has a Name

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

Latvia, 2014, 70 mins, Latvian w/ English subtitles Director: Davis Simanis Editors: Davis Simanis, Andra Dorss Cinematographers: Andrejs Rudzats

CASTRO LAKESIDE

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 2:45PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 2:40PM

Co-Sponsored by George and Doris Krevsky In the style of Guy Maddin, this playful and imaginative hybrid documentary finds unexpectedly clever parallels between the lives of Riga’s most famous offspring: the revolutionary Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein and historical philosopher Isaiah Berlin. An enchanting mediation on art, history and exile, director Davis Simanis’s handcrafted concoction reimagines the lives of two modern figures who managed to escape his own Baltic birthplace while he ponders the circumstances that have kept him there. Thomas Logoreci

Sweden, 2015, 75 mins, English, Swedish and Polish w/ English subtitles Director: Magnus Gertten Editor: Jesper Osmund Cinematographers: Arne D.S. Haldorsen, Sven Lindahl, Adam Makarenko, Tony Miller, Mattias Olsson, Magnus Rutberg, Jacek, Szymanski, Caroline Troedsson, Ita Zabroniec-Zajt

CINEARTS CALIFORNIA CASTRO SMITH RAFAEL

THURSDAY, JULY 30 4:00PM FRIDAY, JULY 31 2:15PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 10:45AM FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 2:30PM

Generous Support for this program provided

by The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation This beautiful film ponders identity and survival.

Concentration camp survivors watch film footage of their arrival into the port of Malmo, Sweden and relive the euphoria of liberation. Their stories are juxtaposed against the plight of refugees today fleeing violence in North Africa. In the process we’re reminded that war is still with us and that compassion demands we extend aid when we can. The question is, will we? Mark Valentine Expected Guest: Director Magnus Gertten

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

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Finsterworld

BAY AREA PREMIERE

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

NW

German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

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films

Famous Nathan

USA, 2014, 97 mins, English Director: Lloyd Handwerker Editor: Russell Greene Cinematographer: Lloyd Handwerker

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY, JULY 25 SUNDAY, JULY 26 SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

12:00PM 12:00PM 11:20AM

Co-Sponsored by the Feiler Family in honor of Julian and Bertha Feiler, Sid and Ida Schwartz, Aaron and Estelle Cohen, Theodore and Jenette Grunfeld, and Alex and Esther Javerbaum for handing down their appreciation of geshmakte Nathan’s Hot Dogs to their families We all love a good rags-to-riches story, and few are as improbable as the tale of Nathan Handwerker of Nathan’s Famous, the storied hot dog franchise. Famous Nathan draws on hundreds of hours of interview footage, home movies and audio recordings to weave the story of Handwerker as fast food pioneer, upstanding member of the Jewish community and family man. It is a quintessentially American tale of food, family and faith. Mark Valentine

The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films

NW

BAY AREA PREMIERE

Israel, 2014, 88 mins, English, Hebrew, French w/ English subtitles Director: Hila Medalia Editor: Daniel Sivan Cinematographers: Oded Kirma, Guy Mossman

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA SMITH RAFAEL

SATURDAY, JULY 25 MONDAY, JULY 27 SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

6:50PM 6:30PM 6:30PM 4:20PM

Sponsored by Amy and Morton Friedkin This terrific and thoroughly entertaining documentary tells the larger-than-life true story of two Israeli cousins, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who found and then lost a low-budget independent movie empire, Hollywood’s fabled Cannon Films. Before their spectacular fall, the outrageous Go-Go Boys managed a maverick tightrope between ultraviolent Charles Bronson sequels and ripoff breakdancing musicals along with the Oscar-nominated Runaway Train and Jean-Luc Godard’s artsy King Lear. Thomas Logoreci

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Germany, 2013, 91 mins, German w/ English subtitles Director: Frauke Finsterwalder Editor: Andreas Menn Cinematographer: Markus Förderer Screenwriters: Christian Kracht, Frauke Finsterwalder Cast: Ronald Zehrfeld, Sandra Hüller, Michael Maertens

CASTRO LAKESIDE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 9:10PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 4:25PM

Finsterworld presents a contemporary Germany

darkened by history’s shadow. Over half a century removed from the Holocaust, the country’s citizens are as detached from their past as they are stifled by it. Existentialist angst reins supreme, and no one feels comfortable in his or her own skin. Absurdist at times and allegorical at others, Finsterworld asks how we can relate to those around us when our strongest bond is our detachment from our surroundings. Zoe Pollak

Hot Sugar’s Cold World

1X NW

BAY AREA PREMIERE

USA, 2015, 87 mins, English Director: Adam Bhala Lough Editors: Elliot Dickerhoof, Aaron Morris Cinematographers: Patrice Lucien Cochet, Chris Messina

LAKESIDE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 8:50PM

Using a sound recorder he never leaves home without, modern-day Mozart Nick Koenig (aka Hot Sugar) creates one-of-a-kind music made entirely out of sounds from the world around him. Director Adam Bhala Lough (Bomb the System) masterfully uses Hot Sugar’s recorded sounds in his own sound design for the film to fully orchestrate the cold world heard through Hot Sugar’s ears. Through his journey of self-discovery, Hot Sugar visits the graves of his Holocaust survivor grandparents, seeks worldly (and outer-worldly) advice from Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson (The Cosmos) and learns what it takes to survive as an artist and a mensch.

Joshua Moore

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

UK, 2014, 88 mins, English Producer: Sidney Bernstein Editors: Stewart McCallister, Peter Tanner, Marcel Cohen Treatment Advisor: Alfred Hitchcock

CASTRO SUNDAY, JULY 26 12:00PM Followed by an extended discussion at Sha’ar Zahav

Sponsored by The Laszlo N. Tauber Philanthropic Fund With an unflinching eye, combat cameramen documented German atrocities as troops liberated the concentration camps. This was to be the definitive film screened in Germany after the war, but by the time the film was ready, there had been a change in AngloGerman relations and it was shelved. Alfred Hitchcock advised on the most effective methods of editing the harrowing sequences together. No one under 18 will be admitted.

Jay Rosenblatt

In Silence

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

Czech Republic and Slovakia, 2014, 86 mins, Czech w/ English subtitles Director:Zdeněk Jiráský Editor: Michal Černý Cinematographer: Hedvika Hansalová Screenwriter: Zdeněk Jiráský Cast: Jan Gallovič, Judit Bárdos, Kristína Svarinská

CASTRO CINEARTS LAKESIDE

FRIDAY, JULY 24 12:00PM MONDAY, JULY 27 2:40PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 9 12:30PM

In memory of Annette and David Biatch who treasured the power of music and the arts, co-sponsored by Shosh Blachman & Joel Biatch From the Czech Republic and Slovakia comes this poetic and hypnotic exploration of a troubling history: the expulsion and expunging of brilliant Jewish composers and performers following the Nazi invasion. Five artists are profiled in a stylized, beautifully crafted fictionalization that conveys the promise of the 1930s, when classical music and popular jazz were sites of innovation and seduction.

Then came the camps, a place of “unbearable silence.” Judy Bloch

Jews in Shorts: Faith & Spirituality

1X NW

The Law

Live Event, 90 mins

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

films

Judith Helfand: In Conversation

Dear God - Dir. Guy Nattiv, Erez Tadmor Wandering Rabbi - Dir. Henry Wiener Reverence - Collin Kornfeind First Born - Leah Tonic A Walled Garden - Efrat Cohen

CASTRO

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 1:00PM

This year’s collection of shorts finds its subjects grappling with their faith in the most unexpected ways: A young rabbi traipses around the American South, a shy security guard reads private notes removed from the Wailing Wall, Jewish kids collect and trade sports branded yarmulkes, a secular woman is rejected by her religious family and an Orthodox Jewish mother is drawn to the walled garden of a Christian monastery in Jerusalem.

CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 2:10PM

Judith Helfand is not just a filmmaker, she is a force of nature. She co-founded Working Films and Chicken & Egg Pictures supporting social justice filmmakers. Her award-winning films (including Healthy Baby Girl and Blue Vinyl ) have premiered at Sundance, aired on PBS and HBO and garnered a Peabody Award.

Join us for an onstage conversation and clip show (including her upcoming Cooked ) as we honor her tremendous contribution to the documentary field. Lexi Leban See our revival screening of Blue Vinyl on Friday, July 31, 2:30PM at the Castro as part of Take Action Day. See page 10.

Joshua Moore

Wandering Rabbi sponsored by Carolyn Cavalier Rosenberg and Sanford Rosenberg A Walled Garden sponsored by Michael Bien and Jane Kahn

France, 2015, 90 mins, French w/ English subtitles Director: Christian Faure Editor: Aurique Delannoy Cinematographer: Jean-Pierre Hervé Screenwriters: Fanny Burdino, Samuel Doux, Mazarine Pingeot Cast: Emmanuelle Devos, Lorànt Deutsch, Flore Bonaventura

CASTRO CINEARTS LAKESIDE

TUESDAY, JULY 28 9:00PM WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 8:50PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 6:30PM

Co-Sponsored by Roselyn C. Swig Leave it to the French to come up with a sexy, riveting film about the legislative process.

Emmanuelle Devos (The Other Son ; Rue Mandar ) gives a smoldering, spellbinding performance as Simone Veil, the groundbreaking health minister and leading force behind the legalization of abortion in France in 1975. With its noir look and artful pacing, the film instills the backroom dealings with all of the edge-ofyour-seat tension of a true-crime thriller.

Emily Kaiser Thelin

Love & Taxes

Manpower

WORLD PREMIERE

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

USA, 2015, 98 mins, English Director: Jacob Kornbluth Editors: Lisa Fruchtman, Dan Hayes Cinematographer: Hiro Narita Screenwriter: Josh Kornbluth Cast: Josh Kornbluth, Helen Shumaker, Sarah Overman, Robert Reich, Harry Shearer

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 8:55PM MONDAY, AUGUST 3 8:30PM

Co-Sponsored by Dan Granoff Despite his job assisting a high-powered San Francisco corporate tax attorney, Josh Kornbluth hasn’t filed his own taxes in years.

When his boss finally convinces him to file, so begins an unexpected and hilarious journey that will change his life. Seamlessly blending scenes from Kornbluth’s autobiographical show and semi-fictionalized cinematic reenactments of his life, Love & Taxes will capture your heart and make you never want to do your taxes the same way again.

Alissa Chadburn

Actor Josh Kornbluth, Director Jacob Kornbluth, and Robert Reich in person (Robert Reich in San Francisco only)

Israel, 2014, 88 mins, English, Hebrew, Igbo w/ English subtitles Director: Noam Kaplan Editor: Effi Cohen Cinematographer: Yossi Marshak Screenwriter: Noam Kaplan Cast: Yossi Marshak, Shmulik Calderon, Pampas Shimon Udi

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 4:30PM MONDAY, JULY 27 8:30PM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 8:40PM

With restraint, compassion and grace, young Israeli director Noam Kaplan crafts a portrait of four men struggling to maintain their dignity. As the film’s disparate storylines snake together and apart, the remarkable cast delivers dazzling performances full of sparkling humor and quiet heartbreak. Rooted in a gentle but resolute humanism, Manpower deals with painful realities of 21st century life in Israel and beyond: socioeconomic disparity, xenophobia and the erosion of community. Hagar Scher

Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw

TA

USA, 2015, 57 mins, English Director: Rick Goldsmith Editor: Rick Goldsmith Cinematographers: Pete Wages, Vicente Franco

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

FRIDAY, JULY 31 8:55PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 8:55PM

Co-Sponsored by Wareham Development In honor of the Berkeley FILM Foundation WNBA star Chamique Holdsclaw has always defied expectations. In her youth she seemed destined for trouble having been born to alcoholic parents. But she worked out her frustrations on the basketball court and grew up to become an iconic figure in women’s basketball, revered by some as “the female Michael Jordan.” Her struggle and her subsequent advocacy around mental illness issues embody the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, repairing the world through one’s actions.

Emily Kaiser Thelin

Director Rick Goldsmith and subject Chamique Holdsclaw in person

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

13

Mr. Kaplan

Mussa

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

US PREMIERE

1X

films

The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer

Uruguay, Germany, Spain 2014, 98 mins, Spanish w/ English subtitles Director: Álvaro Brechner Editor: Nacho Ruiz Capillas Cinematographer: Alvaro Gutierrez Screenwriter: Alvaro Brechner Cast: Héctor Noguera, Néstor Guzzini, Rolf Becker

CINEARTS CASTRO SMITH RAFAEL

THURSDAY, JULY 30 SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

8:35PM 5:35PM 6:20PM

Co-Sponsored by Bill Falik and Diana Cohen Jacob Kaplan has built a happy life in Uruguay after fleeing from Poland during World War II. But at 76 his health falters, and he fears that he is a failure. He rashly concocts a scheme to kidnap a man he’s convinced is a Nazi and ship him to Israel to stand trial. His bungled, Wiesenthal-esque quest not only makes for scenic viewing, it yields a genuinely surprising resolution.

Emily Kaiser Thelin

Israel, 2014, 72 mins, English, Hebrew, Yiddish w/ English subtitles Directors: Asaf Galay, Shaul Betser Editor: Tal Rabiner Cinematographer: Itai Neeman

CINEARTS CALIFORNIA CASTRO SMITH RAFAEL

Israel, 2014, 72 mins, English, Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic w/ English subtitles Director: Anat Goren Editor: Arik Lahav-Leibovitz Cinematographer: Oded Kirma

SATURDAY, JULY 25 1:50PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 12:20PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 12:45PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 12:05PM

Co-Sponsored by Richard Nagler and Sheila Sosnow Whether you know nothing about Yiddish writer and Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer or you have read every one of his fanciful stories, you will be riveted by this portrait of the women who inspired him. Singer’s novels and stories were written by him alone, but this documentary shows that they were reborn in English through a collaborative (and sometimes desire-laden) process of translation. Nancy K. Fishman

LAKESIDE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

2:40PM

Although he has lived in Israel for five years, twelve-year-old Mussa is unable to speak.

Refugees from Darfur, Mussa’s parents, like thousands of Sudanese immigrants in Israel, struggle to make a new life in their adopted country. We follow Mussa as he silently navigates between worlds of poverty and privilege. At once heartbreaking and hopeful, Mussa allows its subject to finally speak and movingly demonstrates the human impact of immigration policy. Alissa Chadburn Preceded by Greenland.

Preceded by Yidlife Crisis: Breaking the Fast, sponsored by Birthright Israel Foundation

A Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did

Once in a Lifetime

WEST COAST PREMIERE

BAY AREA PREMIERE

UK, 2015, 92 mins, English Director: David Evans Editor: David Charap Cinematographers: Sam Hardy, Philipp Blaubach

CASTRO LAKESIDE

THURSDAY, JULY 30 12:00PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 12:30PM

Co-Sponsored by David Jadeson Can a man’s character be separated from his role in history? From his role in mass murder?

With the volume of Holocaust material in existence, these questions have certainly been touched on before. What makes David Evans’ documentary particularly fascinating is how close he brings us to the Nazi men that have become an almost abstract symbol of ultimate evil: He has us meet their sons. Neha Talreja

32

14

Take

1 Time

Next

Bridges &

TA 1X NW BB Action Only | 415.621.0523 Wave Barriers www.sfjff.org

NW

France 2014, 105 mins, French w/ English subtitles Director: Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar Editor: Benoît Quinon Cinematographer: Myriam Vinocour Screenwriters: Ahmed Drame, Marie-Castille Mention-Shaar Cast: Ariane Ascaride, Ahmed Drame, Noemie Merlant

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA SMITH RAFAEL

FRIDAY, JULY 24 SATURDAY, JULY 25 SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

9:20PM 3:40PM 4:10PM 2:00PM

Co-Sponsored by Moses and Susan Libitzky This powerful drama is based on the true story of a difficult high school class in a poor Paris suburb and its determined teacher, played by Ariane Ascaride (Army of Crime, SFJFF 2010).

She challenges her students, many of whom are Muslim, to enter France’s annual contest about the Shoah, with unexpected and moving results. Twenty-one-year-old Ahmed Dramé, who was nominated for a 2015 César as best new actor, co-wrote the script. Sara L. Rubin

Open Bethlehem

BB

SNEAK PREVIEW

UK, 2014, 90 mins, English, Arabic w/ English subtitles Director: Leila Sansour Editors: Marianne Kuopanportti, Nidal Al Atrash Cinematographers: Katie Barlow, Will Lorimer, Tone Anderson, Nicholas Wise, Alan James, Caroline Carpantier, Hanna Abu Saada, Nidal Al Atrash

CALIFORNIA CASTRO

FRIDAY, JULY 31 6:25PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 12:30PM

Sponsored by Anne Germanacos Bethlehem is revered as one of the world’s holiest places by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Yet for a Palestinian teenager growing up in the 1980s, the city felt small and stifling. To her proud father’s chagrin, Leila Sansour left Bethlehem for Europe at age 17.

Open Bethlehem chronicles her return to her homeland, and charts how Israeli settlements and military restrictions have affected the political and cultural landscape of this ancient city. Zoe Pollak Director Leila Sansour in person

Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone

NW

Partner with the Enemy

BB

The Polgár Variant films

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

France 2014, 99 mins, French w/ English subtitles Director: Sylvie Ohayon Editor: Sophie Fourdrinoy Cinematographer: Laurent Brunet Screenwriters: Sylvie Ohayon, Sylvie Verheyde Cast: Doria Achour, Aure Atika, Marc Lavoine

CINEARTS CASTRO CALIFORNIA SMITH RAFAEL

SUNDAY, JULY 26 6:30PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 7:00PM TUESDAY, AUGUST 4 8:30PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 8:30PM

Co-Sponsored by Robert and Judy Aptekar In this autobiographical coming-of-age tale, director Sylvie Ohayon demonstrates a sharp comedic sensitivity with her portrayal of Jewish and Arab teenagers fighting for a better life in the Paris suburbs. Ohayon doesn’t avoid tough questions about race or class, but the best moments are the unpredictable exchanges between friends and family, such as the scene where a family wrestles with a sheep in the bathtub during the Muslim holiday of Eid.

Emily Kaiser Thelin

BAY AREA PREMIERE

Israel, 2015, 60 mins, Hebrew, Arabic w/ English subtitles Directors and Editors: Duki Dror, Chen Shelach Cinematographers: Hana Abu Saada, Philippe Bellaiche, Danor Glazer, Yoram Milo

CASTRO LAKESIDE

TUESDAY, JULY 28 FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

12:00PM 12:30PM

Co-Sponsored by Deborah Blank, Janet Schneider, and Andrew Kahn This soulful documentary suggests the world might look different if women and mothers were calling the shots. Co-directors Chen Shelach and Duki Dror (Incessant Visions— Letters from an Architect , SFJFF 2011) follow Anat and Rola, entrepreneurs from Kibbutz Mizra and Ramallah who join forces to start a logistics company specializing in the release and transport of Palestinian cargo shipped to Israeli ports. But a hostile environment threatens the women’s partnership. Hagar Scher

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

Israel, 2014, 68 mins, Hebrew, English, Hungarian w/ English subtitles Director: Yossi Aviram Editor: Sari Ezuz Cinematographer: Yossi Aviram

CINEARTS CASTRO CALIFORNIA

TUESDAY, JULY 28 4:25PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 11:00AM MONDAY, AUGUST 3 2:20PM

Sponsored by Sasha and Irina Kovriga In the annals of chess, the true story of the Hungarian Polgár sisters has become the stuff of legend. Believing every child to be a potential genius, father Laszlo Polgár put his young daughters, Zsuzsa, Sofia and Judit, through a daily marathon of intense game training. The Communist dictatorship confiscated the girl’s passports and even threatened Polgár with imprisonment, but the Polgár girls went on to conquer the maledominated world of chess. Thomas Logoreci

Preceded by Women in Sink, sponsored by Linda and Frank Kurtz

Probation Time

Projections of America

Red Leaves

BAY AREA PREMIERE

WEST COAST PREMIERE

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

Israel, 2014, 90 mins, English, Hebrew w/ English subtitles Director: Avigail Sperber Editor: Ido Haar Cinematographer: Avigail Sperber

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

MONDAY, JULY 27 MONDAY, AUGUST 3

12:30PM 4:00PM

Co-Sponsored by Frederick Hertz and Family It may take a village to raise a child, but sometimes it takes a child to knit together a family. Avigail Sperber takes an unflinching look at her adopted Ethiopian sister’s struggles and aspirations while aligning us with the colorful cast of characters that make up their family. Probation Time is an introspective take on the balance each of us must strike between our desire for belonging and independence.

Zoe Pollak

USA, Germany, 2015, 52 mins, English, German, French w/ English subtitles Director: Peter Miller Editor: Amy Linton Cinematographer: Antonio Rossi

CASTRO CINEARTS

FRIDAY, JULY 24 2:00PM THURSDAY, JULY 30 12:00PM

Hollywood screenwriter Robert Riskin’s Mr. Deeds Goes to Town won him a 1937 Oscar.

Less well known is Riskin’s series of short films, produced to aid America’s WWII effort. The films’ American values reflect his own Jewish, left-leaning principles, countering foreigners’ negative stereotypes of United States citizens.

With narration by John Lithgow, director Peter Miller skillfully brings Riskin’s effort to light and helps us understand the challenges he faced.

Sara Rubin

Preceded by Ed & Pauline and Autobiography of a Jeep.

Director Peter Miller in person in San Francisco Director Christian Bruno (Ed & Pauline) in person at the Castro

Israel 2014, 80 mins, Hebrew, Amharic w/ English subtitles Director: Bazzi Gete Editor: Lev Goltzer Cinematographer: Edan Sasson Screenwriter: Bazzi Gete Cast: Debebe Eshetu, Hanna Haiela, Ruti Asarsai

CINEARTS CASTRO

SUNDAY, JULY 26 MONDAY, JULY 27

8:45PM 4:30PM

An elderly Ethiopian widower sells his apartment and informs his grown children that he intends to live by shuttling between their households. Over his long journey, the stubborn patriarch discovers his family’s hidden secrets while observing the disappearance of the Jewish immigrant culture he holds dear. Director Bazi Gete and actor Debebe Eshetu have crafted a shattering cinematic experience that will linger with the viewer long after the lights have come up.

Thomas Logoreci

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

15

Rock in the Red Zone

BB

Rosenwald

TA 1X

Sacred Sperm

films NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Israel, 2014, 90 mins, English, Hebrew w/ English subtitles Director: Laura Bialis Editor: Kate Amend Cinematographers: Noam Teich, Ronen Kruk, Aner Moss

CINEARTS CASTRO

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 1:30PM THURSDAY, JULY 30 2:05PM

Co-Sponsored by Liki and Joe Abrams On the edge of the Negev Desert, the city of Sderot became the target of near-constant close-range Qassam rockets after Israel’s 2005 disengagement from Gaza. Sderot’s youth found expression for both their anger and their hope in rock music. Drawn by the music’s energy, director Laura Bialis documents Sderot’s efforts to gain attention from Israel’s large cities, long before the summer of 2014, when longer range rockets reached them, too. Sara Rubin Director Laura Bialis in person

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

US PREMIERE

CASTRO

CASTRO CINEARTS CALIFORNIA

US, 2014, 90 mins, English Director: Aviva Kempner Editor: Marian Sears Hunter Cinematographers: Christopher Condor, Roger Grange, Chapin Hall, Mel Henry, Tom Kaufman, Dana Kupper, Stephan Mazurek, Michael Moser, Mirko Popadic, Allen Rosen

FRIDAY, JULY 31

6:30PM

Co-Sponsored by Meredith J. Goldsmith and Craig Harrison in honor of his great grandfather Abraham Harrison and his sons Milton, Bernard, David and daughter Brownie Harrison of Maryland The son of German Jewish immigrants, Julius Rosenwald rose from door-to-door salesman to become one of the wealthiest men of early 20th century America. But his little-known legacy is only now coming to light as one of the greatest philanthropists of all time and an inspiring leader in Jewish partnerships with African Americans. Rosenwald is the story of an unsung hero who gave away what would be nearly $1 billion today. Alissa Chadburn

Israel, 2014, 72 mins, Hebrew w/ English subtitles Director: Ori Gruder Editor: Ilan Yechezkel Cinematographer: Ori Gruder

MONDAY, JULY 27 2:40PM TUESDAY, JULY 28 2:35PM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 3:10PM

For the Orthodox Jewish community, masturbation is a grave sin. Filmmaker Ori Gruder grapples with how to educate his prepubescent son about his emerging sexuality. Sacred Sperm challenges viewers to explore the subject of human sexuality through the lens of deeply religious people.

It is also a universal tale of parents anxious at the prospect of their children transitioning from the innocence of childhood into the moral complexities of adulthood. Mark Valentine

Director Aviva Kempner in person

The Singing Abortionist

TA

WORLD PREMIERE

Canada, 2014, 60 mins, English Director: Dara Bratt Editor: Kieran Dick, Joe Singer Cinematographers: Dara Bratt, Angela Cheng, Kieran Dick, David King Squire

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

FRIDAY, JULY 31 11:00AM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 5:00PM

Hailed by some and hated by others, the Polish-born abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler survived Auschwitz and Dachau only to receive death threats decades after the Shoah when he established abortion clinics across Canada in defiance of the law. Award-winning director Dara Bratt captures the doctor’s public persona and his life behind closed doors. What results is a probing portrait of a man whose story, in all of its guises, deserves to be told. Zoe Pollak

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16

Take

1 Time

Next

Bridges &

TA 1X NW BB Action Only | 415.621.0523 Wave Barriers www.sfjff.org

Tell Me a Riddle

1X

Those People

NW

USA, 1980, 90 mins, English Director: Lee Grant Editor: Suzanne Pettit Cinematographer: Fred Murphy Screenwriter: Tillie Olsen Cast: Melvyn Douglas, Lila Kedrova, Brooke Adams

USA, 2015, 89 mins, English Director: Joey Kuhn Editor: Sara Shaw Cinematographer: Leonardo D’Antoni Screenwriter: Joey Kuhn Cast: Jonathan Gordon, Jason Ralph, Haaz Slaiman

CASTRO

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

2:35PM

Sponsored by Lela and Gerry Sarnat This seldom seen gem was not only the debut directorial feature of this year’s Freedom of Expression Award honoree Lee Grant but also showcased at the first SFJFF in 1981. Oscarwinning screen legends Melvyn Douglas (Being There) and Lila Kedrova (Zorba the Greek ) are an elderly Jewish émigré couple who try to rekindle their troubled marriage by taking a road trip, ending up in glorious late-1970s San Francisco. Thomas Logoreci Director Lee Grant, Producers Rachel Lyon and Susan O’Connell, Laurie Olsen in person

SUNDAY, JULY 26 SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

8:40PM 8:30PM

The lives, loves, scandals and fixations of a tight-knit group of high society Manhattan youth are dissected with humor and compassion in this sexy drama from firsttime feature director Joey Kuhn. The story centers on Charlie, a struggling young artist, whose loyalty to—and longtime crush on—his dashing best friend Sebastian are challenged when Sebastian’s swindling father is jailed and Charlie starts falling in love with someone else.

Peter L. Stein

The Wanted 18

BAY AREA PREMIERE

BAY AREA PREMIERE

BB

Welcome to Leith films

Villa Touma

Palestine, 2014, 85 mins, Arabic w/ English subtitles Director: Suha Arraf Editor: Arik Lahav-Leibovich Cinematographer: Yaron Scharf Screenwriter: Suah Arraf Cast: Nisreen Faour, Ula Tabari, Cherien Dabis

CASTRO CALIFORNIA SMITH RAFAEL

SUNDAY, JULY 26 6:40PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 6:30PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 4:20PM

Sponsored by Ron Abileah and Marlene Winograd Writer/director Suha Arraf presents a neoBuñuelian, darkly comic vision of three unmarried Christian sisters living in a West Bank estate, proudly clinging to their family’s faded glory. Into their lonely time warp enters their fragile teenage niece, the orphaned Badia, who is quickly subsumed into their repressive existence. But when Badia falls in love with a handsome Muslim singer, buried emotions and simmering resentments come crashing to the surface. Thomas Logoreci

When I Live My Life Over Again

1X NW

WEST COAST PREMIERE

USA, 2015, 98 mins, English Director: Robert Edwards Editor: Mollie Goldstein Cinematographer: Anne Etheridge Screenwriter: Robert Edwards Cast: Christopher Walken, Amber Heard, Kelli Garner

CASTRO

SATURDAY, JULY 25

8:50PM

Sponsored by David and Fran Meckler Paul Lombard (Christopher Walken) was a successful crooner in the style of Sinatra and is plotting his comeback. His daughter, Jude (Amber Heard), sings jingles for a living. Paul’s ambition appalls her almost as much as her lack of ambition maddens him. When I Live My Life Over Again mines the timeless subjects of fame, chance, success, and the point at which you can no longer blame your parents for the choices you make. Mark Valentine

Palestine, Canada, France, 2015, 75 mins, Arabic w/ English subtitles Director: Amer Shomali, Paul Cowan Editor: Aube Foglia Cinematographers: Daniel Villeneuve, German Gutierrez

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

THURSDAY, JULY 30 FRIDAY, JULY 31

4:35PM 4:35PM

Co-Sponsored by Terry and Carol Hutner Winograd, MD Once upon a time (in 1988), in a Palestinian town near Bethlehem, 18 dairy cows were purchased by the people of Beit Sahour from an Israeli kibbutz. This well-crafted, creative documentary, which includes stop-motion animation, explores the strange mixture of political complexities and bovine hijinks that were manifested by the town’s efforts to take dairy production—and fiscal resistance—into their own hands. Nancy K. Fishman

Zemene

TA 1X

USA, 2014, 68 mins, English, Amharic Director: Melissa Donovan Editor: Melissa Donovan Cinematographer: Melissa Donovan

FRIDAY, JULY 31

12:30PM

This moving and inspiring documentary recounts the brave struggle of Zemene Tiget, a young Ethiopian girl with a life-threatening spinal condition and the Jewish doctor who makes it his personal challenge to keep her alive. As Zemene begins to heal, she takes a journey to New York to tell her hopeful story then makes a pilgrimage back to the isolated village that had once shunned her.

Thomas Logoreci

Director Melissa Donovan in person

USA, 2015, 85 mins, English Director: Michael Nichols, Christopher K. Walker Editor: Christopher K. Walker Cinematographer: Michael Nichols

CINEARTS CASTRO LAKESIDE

SATURDAY, JULY 25 MONDAY, JULY 27 SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

12:00PM 6:30PM 2:35PM

Sponsored by Diana Grand and Jon Holman In 2010 the attempted takeover of a tiny rural North Dakota town by notorious anti-Semite Craig Cobb ignited a national media frenzy.

Filmmakers Michael Nichols and Christopher Walker captured the rising tension between machine gun–toting racists and pistol-packing residents leading to Cobb’s armed street patrol that took events to their inexorable conclusion. This chilling document powerfully highlights the rise of hate groups and the often questionable methods used to silence them.

Thomas Logoreci

The Zionist Idea

BB

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

CASTRO

CALIFORNIA PREMIERE

USA, 2014, 159 mins, English and Hebrew w/ English subtitles Director: Joseph Dorman, Oren Rudavsky Editors: Nick August-Perna, Aaron Kuhn Cinematographer: Oren Rudavsky

CASTRO CALIFORNIA

FRIDAY, JULY 24 4:10PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 1:15PM

Co-Sponsored by Linda and Sanford Gallanter This startlingly fresh examination of the history of Israel viewed through the evolution of its ideological and philosophical foundation was written and directed by noted documentarians Joseph Dorman and Oren Rudavsky. The film states from the outset that it seeks to tell “the story of Zionism as seen through the inhabitants of the land,” meaning all the inhabitants of the land, both Jewish and Arab, Israeli and Palestinian. Seth Barron

Director Robert Edwards in person

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

17

schedule

castro theatre

San Francisco | July 23–August 2 415.621.6120 429 Castro Street (at Market Street), San Francisco

THURSDAY, JULY 23

MONDAY, JULY 27

THURSDAY, JULY 30

6:15PM Dough (Opening Night) 9:00PM Opening Night Party

12:30PM 2:40PM 4:30PM 6:30PM 8:30PM

12:00PM 2:05PM 4:35PM 6:25PM

FRIDAY, JULY 24 12:00PM In Silence 2:00PM Projections of America with Ed & Pauline, Autobiography of a Jeep 4:10PM The Zionist Idea 7:15PM The Art Dealer 9:20PM Once in a Lifetime

SATURDAY, JULY 25 12:00PM Famous Nathan 2:10PM Autism in Love 4:30PM Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish 6:50PM The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Canon Films 8:50PM When I Live My Life Over Again

SUNDAY, JULY 26 12:00PM German Concentration Camps Factual Survey Extended Discussion at Sha’ar Zahav 2:00PM Raise the Roof 4:30PM Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict 6:40PM Villa Touma 8:40PM Those People

Probation Time Sacred Sperm Red Leaves Welcome to Leith Danny Says

TUESDAY, JULY 28

12:00PM Partner with the Enemy with Women in Sink 2:00PM Carvalho’s Journey (FREE) 4:30PM Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah with Ischler, Zement, German Shepherd 6:30PM The Armor of Light (Centerpiece Documentary) 9:00PM The Law

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 1:00PM Jews in Shorts: Faith and Spirituality, with Dear God, Wandering Rabbi, Reverence, First Born, A Walled Garden 2:45PM Escaping Riga 4:30PM Manpower 6:30PM My Shortest Love Affair (Centerpiece Narrative) 8:55PM Love & Taxes

cinéarts@palo alto square

A Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did Rock In the Red Zone The Wanted 18 As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM (Next Wave Spotlight) 9:10PM A La Vie

FRIDAY, JULY 31 11:00AM 12:30PM 2:30PM 5:00PM 6:30PM 8:55PM

The Singing Abortionist Zemene Blue Vinyl Take Action Panel Rosenwald Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 11:00AM 12:30PM 2:45PM 5:05PM 7:00PM 9:10PM

The Polgár Variant Open Bethlehem Censored Voices with The Arrest Bridges & Barriers Panel Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone Finsterworld

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 10:45AM Every Face Has a Name 12:45PM The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer with Yidlife Crisis: Breaking the Fast 2:35PM Tell Me a Riddle (Freedom of Expression) 5:35PM Mr. Kaplan 7:45PM East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem (Castro Closing Night)

Palo Alto | July 25 – July 30 650.493.0218 3000 El Camino Real Bldg. #6, Palo Alto

SATURDAY, JULY 25

MONDAY, JULY 27

12:00PM Welcome to Leith 1:50PM The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer with Yidlife Crisis: Breaking the Fast 3:40PM Once in a Lifetime 6:00PM Raise the Roof (Palo Alto Opening Night) 8:30PM A La Vie

2:40PM In Silence 4:40PM Beyond the Fear 6:30PM The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films 8:30PM Manpower

SUNDAY, JULY 26

2:35PM Sacred Sperm 4:25PM The Polgár Variant 6:15PM Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish 8:35PM The Art Dealer

12:00PM 2:10PM 3:55PM 6:30PM 8:45PM

Famous Nathan Autism in Love Dough Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone Red Leaves

18

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

TUESDAY, JULY 28

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 1:30PM Rock In the Red Zone 4:00PM Carvalho’s Journey (FREE) 6:20PM The Armor of Light (Centerpiece Documentary) 8:50PM The Law

THURSDAY, JULY 30

12:00PM Projections of America with Ed & Pauline, Autobiography of a Jeep 1:50PM Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah with Ischler, Zement, German Shepherd 4:00PM Every Face Has A Name 6:15PM My Shortest Love Affair (Centerpiece Narrative) 8:35PM Mr. Kaplan

lakeside theater

Berkeley | July 31–August 6 510.848.0620 2113 Kittredge Street, Berkeley (between Oxford & Shattuck)

Oakland | August 7–August 9 510.834.3575 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland

FRIDAY, JULY 31

12:30PM Partner with the Enemy with Women in Sink 2:40PM Mussa with Greenland 4:35PM Dealing with the Devil with 70 Hester Street 6:10PM The Art Dealer 8:15PM Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (Oakland Opening Night)

12:25PM 2:15PM 4:35PM 6:25PM 8:55PM

Autism in Love Every Face Has A Name The Wanted 18 Open Bethlehem As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM (Next Wave Spotlight)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 12:20PM The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer with Yidlife Crisis: Breaking the Fast 2:10PM Conversation with Judith Helfand + Short Films and Clips 4:10PM Once in a Lifetime 6:30PM Very Semi-Serious (Berkeley Big Night) 8:55PM Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 11:20AM Famous Nathan 1:30PM Censored Voices with The Arrest 4:10PM Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish 6:30PM The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films 8:30PM Those People

MONDAY, AUGUST 3 2:20PM The Polgár Variant 4:00PM Probation Time 6:15PM My Shortest Love Affair (Centerpiece Narrative) 8:30PM Love & Taxes

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4 2:40PM Carvalho’s Journey (FREE) 4:40PM Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah with Ischler, Zement, German Shepherd 6:30PM The Armor of Light (Centerpiece Documentary) 8:30PM Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 3:10PM 5:00PM 6:30PM 8:40PM

Sacred Sperm The Singing Abortionist Dough Manpower

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 1:15PM 4:30PM 6:30PM 8:30PM

The Zionist Idea Raise the Roof Villa Touma Danny Says

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 12:30PM 2:40PM 4:25PM 6:30PM 8:50PM

A Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did Escaping Riga Finsterworld A La Vie Hot Sugar’s Cold World

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 12:30PM 2:35PM 4:35PM 6:30PM 8:30PM

In Silence Welcome to Leith Beyond the Fear The Law East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem

smith rafael film center San Rafael | August 7–August 9 415.454.1222 1118 4th Street, San Rafael

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 2:30PM Every Face Has A Name 4:20PM The Armor of Light (Centerpiece Documentary) 6:20PM Mr. Kaplan 8:30PM A La Vie

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 12:30PM 2:30PM 4:20PM 6:20PM 8:30PM

Raise the Roof East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem Villa Touma The Art Dealer My Shortest Love Affair (Centerpiece Narrative)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 12:05PM The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer with Yidlife Crisis: Breaking the Fast 2:00PM Once in a Lifetime 4:20PM The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films 6:20PM Dough 8:30PM Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone

index 70 Hester Street.....................................11 A La Vie................................................10 The Armor of Light.................................... 6 The Arrest.............................................11 The Art Dealer........................................10 As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM............ 7 Autism in Love........................................10 Autobiography of a Jeep...........................15 Beyond the Fear......................................10 Blue Vinyl..............................................10 Carvalho’s Journey..................................10 Censored Voices.....................................11 Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah......11 Danny Says............................................11 Dealing with the Devil..............................11 Dear God...............................................13 Dough.................................................... 5 East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem................. 5 Ed & Pauline..........................................15 Escaping Riga........................................11 Every Face Has a Name.............................11 Famous Nathan.......................................12 Finsterworld..........................................12 First Born..............................................13 Freedom of Expression: Lee Grant................ 7 German Concentration Camps Factual Survey.12 German Shepherd....................................11 The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films....................................................12 Greenland.............................................14 Hot Sugar’s Cold World.............................12 In Silence..............................................12 Ischler..................................................11 Jews in Shorts: Faith and Spirituality...........13 Judith Helfand: In Conversation..................13 The Law................................................13 Love & Taxes..........................................13 Manpower.............................................13 Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw................................13 Mr. Kaplan.............................................14 The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer............14 Mussa..................................................14 My Shortest Love Affair............................. 6 A Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did............14 Once in a Lifetime...................................14 Open Bethlehem......................................14 Papa was Not a Rolling Stone.....................15 Partner with the Enemy............................15 Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict.................... 9 Plastic Man: The Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish.................................................. 9 The Polgár Variant...................................15 Probation Time.......................................15 Projections of America.............................15 Raise the Roof......................................... 8 Red Leaves............................................15 Reverence.............................................13 Rock in the Red Zone................................16 Rosenwald ............................................16 Sacred Sperm.........................................16 The Singing Abortionist............................16 Tell Me a Riddle......................................16 Those People.........................................16 Very Semi-Serious.................................... 8 Villa Touma............................................17 A Walled Garden.....................................13 Wandering Rabbi.....................................13 The Wanted 18........................................17 Welcome to Leith ...................................17 When I Live My Life Over Again...................17 Women in Sink........................................15 YidLife Crisis: Breaking the Fast.................14 Zemene.................................................17 Zement.................................................11 The Zionist Idea......................................17

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

schedule | index

california theatre

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Supporter Dual

Friend Individual

Friend Dual

Patron

Benefactor

Producer

Director

$60

$110

$175

$300

$500

$1,000

$2,500

$5,000

Festival catalog mailed to your home

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Early ticket-buying privileges to all year-round exhibitions

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Discounts on tickets year-round, including Festival tickets

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Recognition on our website

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Invitations to member-only sneak preview screenings throughout the year

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Complimentary Jewish Film Institute tote bag

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4-flix card

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Ticket to Closing Night film and festivities

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Premier All-Festival Passes including Opening and Closing Night films and festivities Reserved Festival seating (Castro Theatre only)

Luminary

Supporter Individual

$35

membership benefits

$10,000 $25,000+

WinterFest Pass

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Invitation to VIP Festival Preview

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Invitations to private Festival receptions

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On-Screen recognition throughout the Festival

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Opportunity to sponsor a short film and recognition in the Festival catalog

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Host private reception on the Mezzanine

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Priority admission and wine and snacks in VIP lounge (Castro Theatre only)

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Opportunity to sponsor a film and recognition in the Festival catalog

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Invitations to privately hosted events throughout the year

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Opportunity to co-sponsor a film and recognition in the Festival catalog

Sponsor a Big Night film at the summer Festival or a Special Event throughout the year

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JFI Founder’s Circle

Membership has its privileges. Become a card-carrying member of JFI and enjoy discounts, members-only sneak previews, and invitations to special events and parties throughout the year. Receive exciting benefits such as SFJFF and WinterFest passes, film sponsorship opportunities and our all-new JFI tote bags. Join now and become a founding member of the Jewish Film Institute! For more information visit our new website at jewishfilminstitute.org

Supporter 35 and under

membership levels

become a member of the jewish film institute today

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

•

JFI On Demand: Our Stories, Your Screen

NEW!

Since 1980, we have screened over 1500 films. Now you can stream or download-to-own “best of” hits from our online archive through our new JFI On Demand platform.

We’re launching with 35 favorites from our 35-year history and will continue to add new titles throughout the year.

Visit jewishfilminstitute.org/films/jfi-on-demand to set up your account and sign up for the JFI newsletter to be notified when new titles hit the virtual shelves!

JFI Online Selected Shorts

With over 1.7 million views, it’s time you joined our global online audience. Each month, JFI brings a new film to our Selected Shorts Series, free on our YouTube channel, accompanied by a Q&A with the filmmaker on the JFI blog. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the monthly free online short!

JFI Filmmaker Residency

JFI provides support to filmmakers working with Jewish themes who are in various stages of production.

Filmmakers receive workspace in the Ninth Street Independent Film Center, film consultations, outreach opportunities, and access to our intimate 80-seat screening room for the period of one year. JFI congratulates the 2015-16 Filmmakers in Residence, David Santamaria and Meika Rouda.

JFI Next Wave

jewish film institute

The Jewish Film Institute inspires communities in San Francisco and around the world to expand their understanding of Jewish life through film, media and dialogue. Built on the foundation of the world-renowned San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the Jewish Film Institute offers year-round screening series in live and online environments, educational initiatives, and filmmaker support services that speak to the needs of culturally diverse communities and 21st century audiences.

NEW!

Next Wave seeks to support the next generation mediamakers and film aficionados by spotlighting innovative content that reflects contemporary expressions of Jewish identity. Next Wave programs feature film, comedy, music and web content. JFI Members age 35 and under enjoy a special Next Wave Festival Pass PLUS all the privileges of a JFI membership for just $35 a year.

Screenings and Events

JFI presents: SFJFF, our signature summer film festival; WinterFest, an annual showcase featuring some of the best new releases; co-presentations in partnership with other Bay Area arts organizations; special membersonly sneak previews; and best of the fest encore screenings.

Education and Community Engagement

Our programs include the New Jewish Filmmaking Program that has nurtured more than 300 young adult media artists since its inception in 2002, and the JFI Mitzvah Series, bringing film and discussion directly to Bay Area senior centers and nursing homes.

Membership has its privileges.

For more info, go to: www.jewishfilminstitute.org/membership

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel /SFJewishFilm for selected monthly short films! www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

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sponsors

major foundations & government support The Alexander M. and June L.

Bloomberg Philanthropies

of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund

Young Funders Impact Grants Initiative of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund

business & community sponsors

KR

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FINE ART SERVICES

media sponsors

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COMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION

staff Executive Director

2015 SFJFF iPhone App

Lexi Leban

Frames Per Sound Talia DeVault Matt Ozer

Administrative Director

Owen Levin

Hospitality Assistants

Program Director

Development Director

Brian Freeman David Gutierez Texas Star

Programmer

House Manager, SF & San Rafael

Joshua Moore

Brad Robinson

Development & Membership Associate

House Manager, Palo Alto, Berkeley

Patrik Nylund

Gino Caputi

Marketing & Outreach Coordinator

Technical Director

Nate Gellman

Hal Rowland

Administrative Coordinator

Ticketing Services

Jay Rosenblatt Kim Bistrong

Box Cubed Ben Armington Mitch Vaughn

Adam Cuttler

Development Coordinator

Chelsea Wurms

Copy Editor

Miguel Pendas

Bookkeeper

Amelia Paradise

Print Traffic Coordinator

Chris F. Powell

Hospitality Coordinator

Tien-Tien Jong

Print Traffic Assistant

Kurtis Lee Hermes

Publicity & Publications Coordinator

Print Broker

Production Coordinator

Pre-Screeners

Maya Lekach

Donna Steger

Christine Ogu

Digital Assets Coordinator

Rob Thomas

Festival Publicists

Karen Larsen Vince Johnson Interns

Wesley Emblidge Libby Parker Volunteer Coordinator

Shani Heckman

Special Events Partner

Leftwich Events Specialists, Inc 2015 SFJFF Trailer

sponsors | staff

hospitality sponsors

Mike McKay Anastacia Maggioncalda Edward Feldman Lana Burstein Turner Johnson Jon Korn Avocados and Coconuts Dalia Burde Cooper Kenward and Carter Gunn Chris Newman SpyPost Chris Martin Darren Orr Matt Wood Nancy Hayes Casting Cinematiq

Jenny Adler Doreen Aviv Bonnie Burt Margot Brier Audrey Daniel Barbara Davis Gail Evenari Myra Feiger Valerie Lapin Ganley Ruth Gummit Karen Holmes Vivian Kleiman Jan Krawitz Moshe Levin David Liu Abby Margolis Mel Margolis Zoe Pollak Kenn Rabin Ken Paul Rosenthal Emmy Scharlatt Harvey Schwartz Janet Underwood David Volansky Andy Abrahams Wilson Diane Wolf Creative Director and Design

Caroline Van Remortel

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

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thank you

thank you The Jewish Film Institute, presenter of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, extends a heartfelt thanks to all of its generous donors.

Gifts of $175 or more received between May 16, 2014 & May 17, 2015 are listed below. For information on how you can support the Jewish Film Institute, please contact the Development Department at 415.621.0556, x205 or development@sfjff.org.

presenting sponsors 70th anniversary holocaust rememberance Laszlo N. Tauber Philanthropic Fund

opening night san francisco Steven and Bunny Fayne

opening night palo alto The Bonnie and Marty Tenenbaum Foundation

freedom of expression Lela and Gerry Sarnat

centerpiece documentary Nancy Blachman and David Des Jardin

take action centerpiece Meredith J. Goldsmith

berkeley big night Raymond Lifchez

closing night

Gale Mondry and Bruce Cohen

foundation & government support

Alexander M. and June L. Maisin Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund Bloomberg Philanthropies Consulate General of Israel, Pacific Northwest Region Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany The David Nathan Meyerson Foundation Gaia Fund George Wasserman Family Foundation Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund John & Marcia Goldman Foundation Lisa & Douglas Goldman Fund Sterling Bank & Trust / The Seligman Family Foundation Walter & Elise Haas Fund William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Young Funders Impact Grants Initiative of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund

business & community sponsors

Berkeley Film Foundation Birthright Israel Foundation, Northern California, Pacific Northwest Chevra Kadisha - Sinai Memorial Chapel Craig Harrison’s Expressions of Excellence!TM Krevsky Fine Art Services Osterweis Capital Management Schoenberg Family Law Group Wareham Development

media sponsors

ABC7/KGO-TV Betty’s List SF Bay Times Bohemian East Bay Express EuroChannel KDFC KQED Palo Alto Online Palo Alto Weekly SF Weekly J. the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California

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www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

hospitality sponsors

Anita Bowen Photography Arabica Catch The Contemporary Jewish Museum Dolby East & West Gourmet Afghan Food - Bolani FedEx Frames per Sound Galleria Park Hotel Grand Bakery Hagafen Hotel Carlton Hotel Rex Jjardine Joie de Vivre Lagunitas Brewing Landmark Theatres Laurel Inn Leftwich Martin Lawrence Galleries Poesia Italian Restaurant Public Works Rayko Photo Center Savoy Events Taste Catering Tito’s Vodka

hospitality contributors

25 Lusk 49 Square American Grilled Cheese Anthony’s Cookies Arizmendi Bakery Bi-Rite Market Canyon Market Doll’s Kitchen Donsuemor Extreme Pizza First Crush Food Should Taste Good Giddy Have Your Cake House of Bagels La Boulange La Méditerranée Loving Cup Max’s Market Nancy Boy National Holistic Institute Rose Pistola Shorty Goldstein’s Salty Sweet Saul’s Restaurant and Delicatessen Snap Fiesta Ted’s Market Weaver’s Coffee Wise Sons

individual donors founders circle

Nancy Blachman and David desJardins Steven and Bunny Fayne Meredith J. Goldsmith Ray Lifchez Gale Mondry and Bruce Cohen Lela and Gerry Sarnat Laszlo N. Tauber Philanthropic Fund The Bonnie and Marty Tenenbaum Foundation

luminaries

Susan Folkman Amy and Morton Friedkin Anne Germanacos Diana Grand and Jonathan Holman Alvin and Rosanne Levitt David and Fran Meckler The Lisa and John Pritzker Family Fund

directors

All Voices Welcome Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of the East Bay Ron Abileah and Marlene Winograd Liki and Joe Abrams Tamara Abrams Robert and Judy Aptekar Sandee Blechman and Steven Goldberg Lisa and Matthew Chanoff Roberta and Rick Cummings Linda and Sanford Gallanter Annelise Goldberg and Aaron Roland Nancy and Stephen Grand Craig Harrison Lorraine Honig Sasha and Irina Kovriga Hannah Kranzberg Moses and Susan Libitzky Susan and Jay Mall Roselyne C. Swig Terry and Carol Hutner Winograd, MD

producers

Shosh (Susan) Blachman and Joel Biatch Deborah Blank Dana Corvin and Harris Weinberg Bill Falik and Diana Cohen Scott Feiler Carol and Howard Fine Alison Geballe Dan Granoff Carl and Gay Grunfeld Ralph and Marsha Guggenheim Frederick Hertz Russell and Susan Holdstein David Jadeson James and Cathy Koshland George and Doris Krevsky Linda and Frank Kurtz

benefactors

Wendy Bear Lee K. Bevis Michael Bien and Jane Kahn Craig Broscow Larry Burgheimer and Eileen Auerbach Richard and Victoria Burt Gil Cogan and Ann Goldsmith Sanford and Jean Colen Susie Coliver William B. Dickey and Matt Huyck Kathryn and Dan Edelman Irwin and Concepcion S. Federman Judi Finkelstein Deborah Hertz Lois and Jerome Jacobs Spencer Jarrett Julius Kahn Virginia King Wendy and Howard Kleckner Stephen and Maribelle Leavitt Lexi Leban and Helga Sigvaldadottir Adrienne Leder-Schriner and Kyle Schriner David and Julie Levine Charles and Helene Linker Roger Low Dawn Margolin and Sanford Margolin Kathleen McGrath Susan Minker Stephen H. and Laura Z. Olson John Osterweis Alan Ramo and Leslie Rose Hilary and Johnny Reinis Sue Reinhold and Deborah Newbrun Mark Reisman, MD and Rogelio Chaapa Toby and Robert Rubin Rothenberg Family Philanthropic Fund Sam and Alix Salkin Marlene Saritzsky Joan Sarnat and David Hoffman Edward and Liliane Schneider Vera and Harold S. Stein, Jr. Peter L. Stein Bob Tandler and Valli Benesch Martin Tannenbaum and Alex Ingersoll

Barry and Marjorie Traub Janet Traub Harold and Mary Zlot

patrons

Jack and Betty Adler Janet Arnesty and John Good Orit Atzmon Clara Basile Barbara Berk Sharon and Theodore Block Robert Book Sherry Brown Bonnie Burt and Mark Liss Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Caston Sheri Cohen and Charles Green Susan and Lee David Adam Eilath Judi Elman and Gordon Harris Joe and Judi Epstein Diane Filippi and Ephraim Hirsch Hal Fischer Bruce Fodiman Marvin Friedman Nancy Friedman and Terry Eli Hill Patricia and Richard Gibbs Richard Goldsmith Natalie Gubb and David Arpi Howard Herman and Claudia Bernard Lorraine Hertz James J. and Bethany S. Hornthal Esther and Mark Hudes Ron and Barbara Kaufman Gloria and Hans Kolbe-Saltzman Terri Kwiatek Abbott and Janet Leban Owen Levin and Hagar Scher Warren and Barbara Levinson Tom Lockard Elizabeth Marcus Suzanne Meyer Dr. Raquel H. Newman Rabbi Stephen Pearce Michael Peltz Jan Platt and Jeff Ross Harry Pollack and Joanne Backman David Rudnick and Julie Fingersh Alice and Bill Russell-Shapiro Lloyd Sacks Andrea Scharf and Ken Krug Danny Scher Judy and Lee Shulman Neil and Karla Smith Joelle Steefel Drew and Ty Svensson Laura Tow Alexandra Wall Mayumi Warkel Robert T. Weston Ruth and Robert White

friends

Steve and Joan Abel Lynn Altshuler and Stanley D. Herzstein Kim Bistrong

Susan Borkin Arthur Brunwasser Alan Burckin and Carol Olmert Pamela S. Burdman Katherine Catlos and Christi Azevedo Ventura Chalom and Paul Fogel Jerome Dattel Michael Ehrenzweig Janet Falk Netta Fedor Julie Felner and Amy Harrison Helena R. Foster Stuart Gold Bruce Golden and Michelle Mercer Jameson Goldner and Geri Rossen Susan Goldstein and Andy Kivel Elizabeth Grossman Martine Habib Douglas and Leni Herst Eric and Sylvie Hertzberg Stephanie and Rudolph Hoffman Nancy Igdaloff Andrea Jacoby and Robert Brody Janie Kass and Eric Silverman Seth and Sharon Kaufman Tobye and Ronald Kaye, M.D. Jack and Candee Klein Joshua Langenthal and Diane Halberg Connie Levi and Alan Robin Beryl and Leonard Levine Allie Light, for Irving Mark Lipman Judith Litvich Carrie Lozano Carrie and Ronald Ludwig David Malman Barbara Meislin Gary and Cathy Meyer Susan Moldaw Rudolf Moos Allison Nist and Michael Lund Jenni Olson and Julie Dorf Barbara Oseroff Janis Plotkin Lee and Stuart Pollak Laura Rice-Hall Katherine Roberts Solon Rosenblatt Polly Rosenthal Joshua Rutberg Sharon and Nolan Schriner Ursula Schulte Scott Seaman Sara Seims Paul and Joan Sher Leonard Shustek and Donna Dubinsky Paul Siegel Cindy and Philip Strause Myra Strober and Jay Jackman Linda Vallee Irene L. Wapnir Julia Weber Richard and Sue Wollack

thank you

Richard Nagler and Sheila Sosnow Paul Resnick and Joan Karlin Orli and Zack Rinat Emily Rosenberg Carolyn Cavalier Rosenberg and Sandy Rosenberg Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Janet Schneider and Andrew Kahn Howard and Ann Sohn Fern Tiger and Michael Pyatok Dan Wohlfeiler Maxine & Jack Zarrow Family Foundation

the future starts now One powerful way to express your values long into the future is to make a planned gift to the Future Focus Fund.

To discuss planned giving opportunities confidentially, please contact the development department at 415.621.0556, x205 or kbistrong@ jewishfilminstitute.org. future focus fund

Anonymous (4) Dan Barki Deborah Blank Jaklyn Brookman Susie Coliver Dana Doron Michael Ehrenzweig Nancy K. Fishman Craig Harrison’s Expressions of Excellence!TM Fredrick Hertz Nancy Igdaloff Spencer Jarrett Wendy and Howard Kleckner Sasha Kovriga Abbott and Janet Leban Lexi Leban and Helga Sigvaldadottir Adrienne Leder-Schriner Owen Levin Gale Mondry and Bruce Cohen Richard Nagler and Sheila Sosnow Sara J. Newman Doug Okun Janis Plotkin Jay Rosenblatt Peter Samis Janet Schneider and Andrew Kahn Peter L. Stein Dan Wohlfeiler

We sincerely regret any errors or omissions. Please contact the Development Department for corrections at 415.621.0556, x205 or development@sfjff.org.

www.sfjff.org | 415.621.0523

25

We fit your lifestyle

1395 Van Ness Ave San Francisco 415 500-8000

From one great supporter of independent films to another...

Mazel tov and best wishes for a great festival!

Our mission is to nurture, sustain and preserve the thriving East Bay film community while attracting the next generation of filmmakers. We are proud to have awarded nearly $1 million in six short years! berkeleyfilmfoundation.org facebook.com/berkeleyfilmfoundation

26

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Receive 15% OFF when you enter promo code JFF2015 at jdvhotels.com.

444 Presidio Avenue

415.567.8467

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f a M i lY l a W

Proud to support the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival “Our goal is to preserve our client’s dignity and humanity.”

P e r s o n a l at t e n t i o n t h o u g h t f u l l i t i g at i o n fi nal r esolution

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575 Market Street | Suite 4000 | SF, CA 94105 | 415.834.1120

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www.sflg.com

tickets

Serving the entire Jewish Community since 1902 San Francisco . FD262 . 415.921.3636 East Bay . FD1523 . 925.962.3636 Redwood City . FD1830 . 650.369.3636 www.sinaichapel.org

• Speaker • Trainer • Consultant • Coach • Storyteller • Mensch

510.547.0664

tickets

Harrison_SFJFF_Card2015.indd 1

regular programs

Jewish Film Institute (JFI) Members General Public Seniors (65 and older) / Students w/ID

special programs

$12 $14 $13

SF Opening Night SF Opening Night – Film Only SF Closing Night Berkeley Big Night All Other Special Programs

$65 Members / $75 General Public $30 Members / $35 General Public $22 Members / $25 General Public $22 Members / $25 General Public $15 Members / $18 General Public*

matinees (mon–thurs, through 4pm)

$9Members / $10 General Public

*Includes Freedom of Expression; Centerpiece Films; Tribute to DJ AM (w/Mix Master Mike), Oakland Opening Night

opening night screening/party

Opening Night 2015 will be held on Thursday, July 23, 2015. Festivities will begin with the Opening Night Screening, followed by the Opening Night Party at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Box Office will be open at the Castro Theatre for ticket pick-up. See www.sfjff.org for parking details. The Opening Night Party is a 21 and over event.

www.ExpressionsOfExcellence.com

how can I buy tickets?

Online: www.sfjff.org Phone: 415.621.0523 | Monday–Friday, 10am–5pm Box Office Opens June 23 for members only.

General sales begin June 26, 2015.

5/29/15 9:29 AM

festival passes

All-Festival Pass $260 Members / $295 General Public Next Wave Pass (35 yrs old and younger only with ID) $35

new passes:

Palo Alto Pass Marin Pass Take Action Pass

$175 Members / $195 General Public $100 Members / $120 General Public $30 Members / $36 General Public

Next Wave Pass is good for all regularly priced shows. Not valid for any Big Nights with the exception of Next Wave Spotlight. Take Action Pass is

good for all Take Action Day screenings and panel on July 31st only.

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.

discount 10-flix vouchers

JFI Members (limit 2 per member) General Public

$90 $110

The 10-Flix Voucher is good for 10 regular priced tickets to any 10 programs of your choice (not good for Special Programs).

rush line 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. NO DISCOUNTS APPLY. CASH ONLY. 10-Flix Vouchers not valid for rush tickets.

For Questions and/or information please email: boxoffice@sfjff.org.

For complete ticket information including full policies, pricing, delivery options, and limitations please go to www.sfjff.org/2015/tickets

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145 Ninth Street, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94103 www.jewishfilminstitute.org

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