Packed into a land that could fit into California more than 18 times, Israel's 7.2 million residents include dozens of ethnic and religious groups coming from wildly diverse backgrounds, cultures and traditions. Russian, Ethiopian, Iraqi and Moroccan Jews, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Orthodox and secular, Israeli Arabs, Palestinians, Bedouins, foreign nationals, activists from all sides of the political and sexual spectrum . . . Israel is a living laboratory of what it means to be a pluralistic democracy with a Jewish soul. This unique assignment has created a fascinating and colorful place, as well as a country of many conflicts and diverse points of view.

To celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival presents a variety of documentary and narrative films reflecting the complex puzzle of Israel's cultural diversity. Some highlights:

• An international group of students begins linguistic integration to Israel in A Hebrew Lesson.
• Bridge Over the Wadi introduces us to a remarkable bilingual school for Jews and Arabs, while the dramatic story of how Moroccan Jewish children were smuggled to Israel in the 1960s unfolds in Operation Mural Casablanca 1961.
• The hilarious hit TV series Arab Labor is a satire about Arab Israelis (or Palestinians, depending on your viewpoint) written by Sayed Kashua.
• Three Times Divorced, a powerful documentary about a Palestinian woman fighting for custody of her children, screens with The Film Class, the untold story of black Bedouins.
• Ashkenaz examines the definition of being an Eastern European Jew and the ongoing tension between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews in Israel.
• The stories of Jews from the former Soviet Union are presented in A Fool's Dream, and Georgia My Love.
• Black Over White is a roots journey to Ethiopia by two Israeli-Ethiopian singers.

Israeli Queer Identity

As part of our spotlight on diversity, we present a special focus on Israeli queer identity, including a number of films about sexual diversity and a panel after the screening of Jerusalem Is Proud to Present. This documentary follows the efforts of Israel's LGBT community to host the international World Pride parade in Jerusalem. More personal queer stories from Israel are featured in The Quest for the Missing Piece; Stefan Braun; Mom, I Didn't Kill Your Daughter and Avi Nesher's furtive feature film The Secrets, about two young women in an Orthodox seminary who fall in love.

Activist Voices

In Israel, the culture of critical activism among documentary filmmakers is a long-standing, cherished and very contentious tradition. Works expressing controversial points of view are regularly funded by Israeli broadcasters and just as regularly debated or critiqued. In addition to the LGBT activism mentioned above, we present two strong documentary position pieces on contested issues: Bilin My Love presents a personal view of radical left-wing activists against the separation barrier (filmmaker in person), and, protesting at a different kind of wall, Praying in Her Own Voice documents the struggle of Orthodox women for gender equality at the Western Wall. Join us for a panel on Jewish women's rights on Sunday, August 3, in Berkeley after the film.

SFJFF’s Spotlight On: Diversity in Israel