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Film Type

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Filtered By: SFJFF 2010 Clear All

Anita

Anita, a young Jewish woman with Down syndrome, lives with her devoted mother above the shop her late father started in a commercial district of Buenos Aires. Into their sweetly sedate domestic life the outside world intrudes with unexpected fury. But as Anita wanders the city lost, she finds compassion in unlikely quarters through the simple force of her ingenuous personality and open heart. Wrenching, lovely, suffused with life, Anita is a profoundly hopeful study of human innocence, compassion and resilience in a fragile, troubled world.

Budrus

When Palestinian Ayed Morrar learned the Israeli security barrier would veer from the border separating Israel and the Palestinian territories, and would instead cut through his West Bank village, he decided to organize, galvanizing both Palestinians and Israelis in an effective strategy of nonviolent protest. This groundbreaking documentary neither romanticizes nor demonizes the many viewpoints it reveals, instead capturing with raw intensity the power of ordinary people fighting peaceably for change.

Bugsy

Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel has a dream—or is it a mirage?—of a casino named the Flamingo rising out of the Nevada desert. What Siegel doesn’t gamble on are construction delays or falling in love, and he falls hard for actress Virginia Hill (played to perfection by Annette Bening). Warren Beatty’s tour de force performance as the sexy, psychotic New York gangster shines among excellent turns by Ben Kingsley and Harvey Keitel.

A Film Unfinished

Filmmaker Yael Hersonski discovers that the Warsaw Ghetto footage that we’ve seen in countless documentaries was actually staged by the Nazis using the actual Jewish inhabitants of the Ghetto as actors. A Film Unfinished is a rigorous and profound documentary that simultaneously exposes the perversity of Nazi propaganda, honors its victims and pays tribute to the resiliency of the filmmaker’s own grandmother and the other survivors of the Ghetto.

Jaffa

This gut-wrenching drama has both mainstream appeal and a keen political and psychological edge. Reuven owns an auto shop where he employs his son and daughter, as well as two Arab mechanics, when an explosive argument at the dinner table sets off a tragic chain of events. Jaffa showcases a raw performance by Dana Ivgy as daughter Mali, a young woman who—against all odds—transcends the culture of fear and hatred consuming her family.

Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story

Not particularly known in the United States for their athletic prowess, Jews have surprisingly excelled in the most American of sports: baseball. Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, celebrates the contributions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. More than a film about sports, it is a story of immigration, assimilation, bigotry and the shattering of stereotypes.

King of the Roaring 20's- The Story of Arnold Rothstein

King of the Roaring 20’s—The Story of Arnold Rothstein is a tale of ambition and the corruption of a nice Jewish boy. An Irish cop brings young Arnold home to his old-world father, who turns to mother Esther and says, “This boy has a dybbuk in him.” As Rothstein grows up, he strategically navigates New York’s Democratic politicians, the police, the Saratoga racetrack and the vicissitudes of love and luck.

Lepke

Tony Curtis is mesmerizing as Louis “Lepke” Buchalter in Menahem Golan’s epic drama about the feared leader of Murder, Incorporated. The film reads like a who’s who of New York Jewish gangsters: Dutch Schultz, Gurrah Shapiro, Mendy Weiss, Kid “Twist” Reles and their nemesis, Thomas Dewey. Lepke provides a unique window into the Jewish immigrant experience in the trajectory of a man driven to achieve one version of the American dream.

Protektor

Set in German-occupied Prague, this visually stunning, highly original thriller explores how much we might compromise for love. Emil accepts a job promotion to be the on-air voice of the Nazi propaganda in order to protect Hana, his Jewish wife. Meanwhile, Hana’s glamorous life as a movie star comes to an abrupt end. As she rebels against her Emil’s attempts to control her every move, Hana sets out on some dangerous adventures.

Saviors in the Night

Based on true events, this bravura drama powerfully records one memorable instance of moral courage under desperate conditions. Menne Spiegel, a German Jew, meets his old army comrade Heinrich Aschoff on the eve of a mass deportation of Jews in 1943. Aschoff, a Catholic farmer with a conscience, agrees to shelter Spiegel’s wife Marga and their daughter in spite of the deadly risk to his own family. Saviors in the Night, based on Marga’s best-selling memoir, relates the extraordinary true story of the families’ perilous years together. Join us for Opening Night in San Francisco with special invited guests Marga Spiegel, director Ludi Boeken and principal actor Lia Hoensbroech. Followed by Opening Night Bash at Swedish American Hall.

A Small Act

Can a single act of generosity transform a life? As a poor Kenyan boy, Chris Mburu’s life changed forever when a Jewish schoolteacher in Sweden anonymously sponsored his education. Today a Harvard-educated lawyer, he honors his benefactor (and now friend) by providing scholarships in her name to a new generation of promising but desperately poor Kenyan children. A Small Act rivetingly celebrates this inspiring example of “paying it forward.”

The "Socalled" Movie

Meet Socalled (aka Josh Dolgin): musician, arranger, rapper, producer, composer, magician, filmmaker and visual artist, to name just a few of his talents! Blasting through boundaries separating different cultures, eras and generations, Socalled creates a wholly unique sound combining klezmer, funk, soul and hip-hop. Not too shabby for a nice Jewish boy from Montreal. This is a dynamic, kaleidoscopic portrait of an iconoclastic artist at the peak of his powers. Followed by live performance

Stalin Thought of You

A portrait of 105-year-old Russian political cartoonist Boris Efimov, whose pointed caricatures filled the pages of satirical magazines from Lenin’s time to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, Kevin McNeer’s fascinating documentary relates the riveting tale of Efimov’s relationship with brutal dictator Josef Stalin and the tragic fall of his beloved brother, Mikhail. A dizzying, deeply moving chronicle of two siblings and one dictator whose crossed paths illuminate the story of a nation.

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