Upcoming Events
August 3 2008
Out of Focus
Out of Focus captures the creativity of Ohad Naharin, Israel’s “rock star” choreographer and director of Batsheva Dance Company.
Dancing Alfonso
Dancing Alfonso is a pitch-perfect portrait of a vital widower who finds a physical practice that sustains him, and community and creativity in the rhythms and movement of flamenco.
Miss Universe 1929—Lisl Goldarbeiter, A Queen in Wien
The dramatic life of a Jewish Viennese beauty queen as recorded in home movies by the man who loved her from a distance—her cousin.
Spell Your Name
In today’s Kiev, masked characters in colorful traditional attire dance in a circle for the winter celebration of Koliada; one dancer steps forward, pulls fake products from his pockets and begins a barter monologue, enacting the traditional stereotype of “the Jew.”
Three Times Divorced
The harrowing story of a Gaza-born woman locked in the battle of a lifetime for custody of her six children, and locked out of the legal process.
The Film Class
The Film Class explores the black Bedouins’ legacy of slavery through the astonished eyes of the current generation of women.
Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
Roberta Grossman’s first-rate documentary Blessed Is the Match, narrated by three-time Academy Award nominee Joan Allen, is a paean to Hungarian resistance fighter and poet Hannah Senesh.
Every Day the Impossible: Jewish Women in the Partisans
Of 30,000 Jewish partisans fighting the Nazis and their allies, 10 percent were women. This little gem of a documentary recognizes the unique contributions of women partisans during World War II. The stories of these courageous women, who had to battle sexism within their ranks as well as fascism in Europe, are riveting.
Arab Labor
Whether it leaves you in stitches or up in arms, this irreverent Israeli Arab sitcom will bring you the Middle East conflict as you’ve never seen it before.
Arab Labor
Whether it leaves you in stitches or up in arms, this irreverent Israeli Arab sitcom will bring you the Middle East conflict as you’ve never seen it before.
Volevo Solo Vivere (I Only Wanted to Live)
A unique window into the Italian Jewish Holocaust experience, this documentary features testimonies of nine Italians who survived Auschwitz, including Liliana Segre, who will be present for an onstage interview after the screening.
Four Questions For a Rabbi
Four Questions for a Rabbi is a poignant and thoughtful documentary begun by Bay Area filmmaker Stacey Ross and completed after her death by renowned documentarian and master found-footage alchemist Jay Rosenblatt (2005 SFJFF Freedom of Expression Award). Ross asks profound questions, including: What is the role of Judaism and the Jewish soul?
Praying In Her Own Voice
An excellent documentary about the contentious struggle of Women of the Wall for the right to wear prayer shawls and read Torah scrolls aloud at the Western Wall.
Tehilim
A father’s mysterious disappearance throws his family into a personal and spiritual crisis in this engrossing, beautifully acted drama set in modern Jerusalem.
Arab Labor
Whether it leaves you in stitches or up in arms, this irreverent Israeli Arab sitcom will bring you the Middle East conflict as you’ve never seen it before.
At Home in Utopia
“The Coops,” cooperative Bronx apartments, symbolized an experiment in justice and equality. Tthis documentary portrays the workers who embraced communist, socialist and union movements.
My Olympic Summer
8mm home movies from the 1970s and the discovery of an unopened letter from his mother are the potent and poetic ingredients of San Francisco–based director Daniel Robin’s reexamination of his parents’ relationship, set against the background of his own failed marriage. His father’s participation in the 1972 Israeli Olympic hostage crisis plays a crucial role.
Tel Aviv by Girls
This free-spirited and mesmerizing docu-fiction hybrid explores the complexity of modern womanhood and the fragility of human relationships.
The Quest for the Missing Piece
The Quest for the Missing Piece is a hilarious romp through the debate over circumcision.
Mom, I Didn't Kill Your Daughter
Lior and Yuval are a couple; Lior comes from a kibbutz near the Dead Sea and Yuval was born in central Israel. Like many couples, they are opposites: Lior is opinionated and Yuval is introverted. Both were born as women, but throughout their lives they identified as male.
Flipping Out
Every year, the cloud forests of India’s Himalayan foothills provide the ideal escape for some 30,000 young Israelis just released from mandatory military service.