SFJFF42's Next Wave selections address the complicated, conflicting, and empowering elements of contemporary life, Jewish identity, and expression through a showcase of remarkable stories that touch on art, social justice, relationships, politics, and more.
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. Next Wave members receive all-inclusive Festival passes, attend private receptions and parties with filmmakers, actors, and artists; experience programs and events that step outside the boundaries of film such as live music, comedy, art and, (of course), drink, eat, socialize, and network with other young leaders and fans of the independent arts community.
A quirky comedy about a former Catholic school girl turned atheist who wrestles with an unplanned pregnancy, a proposal and pressure from her future in-laws to convert to Judaism.
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Neve Sha’anan, Tel Aviv: Ben and Raz are well-to-do “concerned citizens” planning to have a baby in the refugee neighborhood they live in (and gentrify) in this thorny Israeli satire.
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Michale Boganim’s beautiful and thoughtful film about the second class treatment of three generations of Mizrahi Jews in Israel raises questions of identity and belonging.
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In the wake of a difficult break-up, talented jazz pianist Yishai returns home to the smoky dive bars and sunlit side streets of Tel Aviv to reconnect with his past and decipher his future.
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The story of four remarkable young women of color, including U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, fighting for a Green New Deal and a historic shift in U.S. climate politics.
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When 22-year-old Rae witnesses the rise of antisemitism in her Billings, Montana community, she is forced to reckon with her ancestors’ trauma, and her own. Features notable performances from Madeleine Coghlan (The Rookie) and Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs).
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These powerful works of fiction pack an emotional punch and share one thing in common: the legacy of the Holocaust.
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Relationships, romantic and familial, are the glue that binds these superb narrative shorts together.
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This year’s assortment of eclectic and potent documentary shorts takes us all over the world: from New York and California, to Germany, Israel, and Poland.
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In their own way, each of these short documentaries presents subjects who are trying to make the world a fairer and more equitable place.
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