Spotlights | SFJFF38: July 19

Big Nights

SFJFF38's Big Nights honor stories big and small that illuminate the diversity of Jewish experiences, champion freedom of expression, and delight with their wit and charm. This year’s Festival features a silent film accompanied by a live score, partnerships with fellow arts organizations and more.

Hands On / Hands Off: Anatomy of a Feminist Film Movement

As part of a special initiative supported by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the wake of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, SFJFF38 shines a spotlight on women behind and in front of the lens shaping today’s social discourse and revolutionizing the way women are presented in film.

Next Wave

JFI Next Wave is a community of discerning, Bay Area film lovers as well as a platform for the showcase of emerging and established filmmakers whose work explores modern life and identity through a Jewish lens, often dealing with subjects like, art, music, travel, social justice and more.

Take Action Day

Today's national conversation and political moment has inspired a powerful revolution of filmmakers applying their trade to the moment’s most pressing issues. Environmentalism, corporate accountability, scientific creativity, legal injustice and online privacy are just some of the pressing issues raised in these buzzed-about docs.

Bless My Homeland Forever: Austria's Sordid Past

The films in this sidebar, pulled together from the 1920s, post-War period and late 20th century, challenge the false narrative that portrays Austria as the original “victim” of Hitler’s imperialist expansion, despite that country’s documented complicity with the Nazi war machine.

black•ish / jew•ish

These stories spotlight compelling personal and cultural narratives that locate the grey areas in all of us and beg the question: #WhatsYourISH? This cross-sectional, thematic grouping includes uplifting musical stories, improbable friendships formed on the sports field and complicated questions of identity and belonging.