From July 16 - 19, 2020 JFI will be serving up four unique days of new programs showcasing the best of Jewish film and culture in a reimagined festival experience. Join us for a combination of Drive-In movie presentations, virtual events and screenings. The complete lineup will be announced July 1st.
Throughout the year we search the universe for films that reflect the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam- repairing the world through one’s actions. This year we only had to look in our backyard. Barbara Lee, the US Representative for California’s 13th District, has spent her life fighting inequality and racism, uplifting the stories of those falling through the cracks and speaking truth to power. The current protests and reactions to George Floyd’s death has only elevated her visibility in Congress and the country as she has called for a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Commission to confront the legacy of slavery and racism in the U.S. and propose ways forward.
From composers to lyricists and producers to actors, Jews have played a pivotal role in the creation of many of Broadway’s biggest hits. This entertaining documentary tracks the breakthrough works and artists who made Broadway into a venue where you will find everything from the experimental and iconoclastic to the corporate and commercial, reflecting the diverse, complicated society in which we live.
From composers to lyricists and producers to actors, Jews have played a pivotal role in the creation of many of Broadway’s biggest hits. This entertaining documentary tracks the breakthrough works and artists who made Broadway into a venue where you will find everything from the experimental and iconoclastic to the corporate and commercial, reflecting the diverse, complicated society in which we live.
Emmy-nominated filmmaker Tiffany Shlain has been doing a very popular #ZoomChallahBake every Friday since the pandemic began. Each week she brings on special guests to talk about everything from the pandemic to the protests to technology and art, all while making challah with people around the world. She’ll be doing a very special bake for Cinegogue Summer Days, featuring two special guests: Rabbi (/comedian) Sydney Mintz from the Bay Area and Prince Challah from Berlin. Don't worry if you have never made bread or challah before. She'll teach you. It's easy. It's healing. We all look forward to baking bread together! RSVP required for this free event!
Since 2012, the JFI Filmmaker Residency has provided creative, marketing, and production support for independent filmmakers. JFI residents are in various stages of completion on their projects whose work promotes the exploration and understanding of Jewish identity and culture. This year’s filmmakers Nora Mariana, Theo Rigby, Eva Ilona Brzeski, Yoav Potash, and Charene Zalis will present clips and trailers of their works in progress and share insight into their creative process in a conversation moderated by programmer Joshua Moore.
In 1906, Irmi Selver was born into a comfortable Jewish family in Chemnitz, Germany, where she grew up, married and began her own family. Nothing prepared her for the upheavals and tragedy that were in store for her, or for the many times she would have to start her life over on unfamiliar ground. IRMI is a deeply personal film made by a daughter who is inspired by her mother’s story and her spirit.
As a sugar baby, Danielle is financially pampered by her sugar daddy Max in exchange for companionship and sexual favors. When she joins her family at a shiva, shortly after leaving his house, her day takes an unexpected turn: apparently against all odds, she runs into Max with his accomplished wife and crying baby.
They Ain’t Ready For Me is the story of Tamar Manasseh, the African American rabbinical student who is leading the fight against senseless killings on the south side of Chicago. The film explores the challenges and motivations of this fearless community leader as she works to prevent more people from being killed by gun violence.
In 1970, Michael Tilson Thomas was considered the great young hope of American classical music. Oscillating between performance and the personal, Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is offers an intimate look at an exceptional artist who continues to blaze his own trail.
Originally released as Khavah and later renamed Broken Barriers, this 1919 silent film is the first American screen adaptation of the work of Sholem Aleichem (Tevye, the Milkman). This special one-time-only online screening features a brand new commissioned score by renowned musician Sascha Jacobsen who, along with his fellow musicians, will perform live along with the film in this can’t miss one of a kind event.
A lyrical story of the healing power of love in the midst of conflict, loss and trauma, Those Who Remained reveals the healing process of Holocaust survivors through the eyes of a young girl in post-World War II Hungary. This beautiful, poetic, and nuanced film had its US premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and was shortlisted for Best International Feature for the 2020 Academy Awards.
When we look at current and near-recent TV offerings is it fair to say there's a "boom" of female Jewish characters afoot? In what ways are stereotypes morphing and evolving and, in pondering this, what can we learn about ourselves and the culture in which we live? Join the nation’s most illustrious and insightful television critic—New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum—for a conversation that delves into never before charted territory.
Love & Stuff is a multi-generational love story. Told in the first person, in deep consultation with the past, filmmaker Judith Helfand explores the transformative power of parenting, our complex and emotional attachment to “stuff” and what it is we really need to leave our children.
THE SHABBOS GOY noun /ˈSHäbəs / goi/1 – a non-Jew who performs certain tasks which religious law prohibits a Jew from doing on the Sabbath.2 – a human loophole.In this delightful comedic short God literally forbids Chana to turn off her vibrator gone rogue, so she sets out on a quest to find someone who can. Winner of the SFJFF FIlm Movement Award for Best Narrative Short.
When 59-year-old Bambi decides to forgo further treatment for her cancer and die at home, her husband Rick leaves his job to become her primary caregiver—a role for which he has no experience and little support. This powerful and personal short film shines a light on the growing strain placed on family caregivers and dares to envision a new approach. Winner of the 2020 SFJFF Best Short Documentary Award.
Cinegogue Summer Days Closing Night Awards Ceremony and Cocktail Hour. Raise a toast to the closing night of Cinegogue Summer Days where we celebrate award winning films and share the future of Jewish film through our Completion Grants program!