Thursday night, my wife and I visited the Castro for the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival's Freedom of Expression Award, which goes to a Jewish filmmaker who has worked to preserve our freedoms. This year, the award goes to documentarian Liz Garbus, the maker of Girlhood, Bobby Fischer Against the World, and What Happened, Miss … Continue reading Freedom of Expression, Liz Garbus, & The Fourth Estate
Category: Jewish FF
A Day of Two Film Festivals
On Sunday, for the first time in my life, I attended two film festivals on the same day. Only in the Bay Area. Modern Cinema/Black Powers: Reframing Hollywood SFFILM and SFMOMA don't officially call their various series festivals, but they qualify in my book. When you can see eight films in three days, all built … Continue reading A Day of Two Film Festivals
A Day of Jazz and Noir at the SF Jewish Film Fest
I saw two films at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Saturday; both at the Castro. I liked them both, but neither of them blew my mind. B Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes This documentary traces the history of the revolutionary jazz label that brought Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk onto vinyl. The … Continue reading A Day of Jazz and Noir at the SF Jewish Film Fest
Jewish Film Fest Opens with Love, Gilda
I hate the Castro Theatre's balcony! It's dark and you must feel your way through stairs and ramps to find an empty seat. And once you find one, the rows are so narrow it's almost impossible to get to it. And when you finally sit down, there's little room for your legs. The seats lack … Continue reading Jewish Film Fest Opens with Love, Gilda
SF Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 2
Here are four more capsule reviews of movies playing at this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Once again, I have two documentaries and two narratives. Only this time, only one is likely to get a theatrical release. This is the last I'll right about this festival before opening night. A Wajib Often very funny, … Continue reading SF Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 2
SF Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 1
As I write this, I've seen four movies that will screen in this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. They're split evenly between narratives and documentaries. One is a 1933 classic. The others are new, and will all be distributed after the festival (possibly long after the festival) by Menemsha Films - a company that … Continue reading SF Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 1
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival opens July 19 (my birthday)
The Bay Area hosts a lot of what I call identity film festivals. These concentrate on a particular group of people - both on the screen and in the audience. We have film festivals for Asians, South Asians, Asian-Americans, LGBTQ, Iranians, Irish, women, and atheists. I can't properly cover them all. But I try to … Continue reading San Francisco Jewish Film Festival opens July 19 (my birthday)
More February Film Festivals
Last week, I told you about three film festivals running in February. Here are three more. Modern Cinema SFMOMA, February 1 - 18 (only Fridays and weekends) Both SFMOMA and SFFILM, the two organizations behind this event, call this a film series. But when a series allows you to see eight feature films in three days, … Continue reading More February Film Festivals
Harmonia: Genesis and classical music in my last Jewish Film Fest screening
Today (Sunday) is the last day of this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. But I'm not attending the Festival today. Therefore, the one movie I saw yesterday closed out the Festival for me. Luckily, it was a really good film. A- Harmonia This wonderful musical drama places the Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, … Continue reading Harmonia: Genesis and classical music in my last Jewish Film Fest screening
Unhappy marriages: Thursday night at the Jewish Film Festival
Thursday night, I caught two movies at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. One was very good. One was very bad. No filmmakers attended their films at the Albany Twin that night. That's normal after the Festival moves from San Francisco to the East Bay. A- Personal Affairs This surprisingly sad comedy looks at a quietly dysfunctional … Continue reading Unhappy marriages: Thursday night at the Jewish Film Festival
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