Opening Night: 45th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Director Amber Fares, participant Noam Shuster-Eliassi, and writer/producer Rachel Leah Jones expected to attend
Coexistence, My Ass!—in title, conception, and content—brings a bold frankness and a lens of great clarity to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Director Amber Fares earned the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival with this urgent documentary, made over several years. With a narrative backbone of Noam Shuster-Eliassi’s brilliant stand-up set, developed at Harvard University and filmed before a live audience, the film documents not only the shifting perspective of Eliassi—a UN diplomat turned comedian—but also the unfolding realities in the region and the resulting seismically dynamic discourse surrounding it.
Audiences will come away with a laugh, a tear, and an openness that feels altogether like both a salve and a kick in the ass. Recipient of a 2024 JFI Completion Grant and the 2024 Envision Award for the film’s singular ability to envision a world free of prejudice and hate. —Ash Hoyle
Opening Night Party
9:00 PM | The Green Room
Following the film, the part continues upstairs in The Green Room with tasty treats and refreshments from our festival partners.
Opening Night (Film Only): $40 Members / $45 General
Opening Night (Film & Party): $90 Members / $100 General
Amber Fares is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York. Her work includes We Are Ayenda (2024 Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Entertainment), Speed Sisters, and Reckoning With Laughter. She also co-directed the Netflix documentary Convergence: Courage Under Crisis. A Canadian of Lebanese origin, Fares brings a global lens to stories of courage, identity, and transformation.
Sponsored by The Firehouse Fund
This film is available with closed captions.