WEST COAST PREMIERE OF "SATAN & ADAM" TO HIGHLIGHT LOCAL FILMS AND FILMMAKERS AT THE 38TH SAN FRANCISCO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
6/19/2018
SAN FRANCISCO, June 19, 2018 - The 38th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, presented by the Jewish Film Institute, will showcase another strong array of local films and filmmakers from the Bay Area highlighted by the West Coast Premiere of V. Scott Balcerek's SATAN & ADAM as the festival Local Spotlight. The festival returns to the Bay Area July 19th to August 5th.
Local Spotlight - SATAN & ADAM
Oakland based filmmaker V. Scott Balcerek will present his film SATAN & ADAM as the Local Spotlight presentation making its West Coast Premiere at the Festival following its World Premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. In 1986, two musicians from the opposite ends of life met on the streets of Harlem. Against the backdrop of racial violence in the city, Adam Gussow, a young white Jewish harmonica player, and Sterling aka "Mr. Satan" Magee, an older black Mississippi bluesman, joined forces to blaze a new musical trail. Biracial blues. Po-mo blues. Whatever you want to call it, it changed their lives forever and contested longstanding notions of cultural appropriation. Shot over 30 years, the film showcases a miraculous journey of friendship, heartbreak and the transformative power of music at a time when America finds itself once again divided. The film will screen Sunday, July 22nd at 4:00PM at the CinéArts Theatre in Palo Alto, Saturday, July 28th at 6:20PM at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, Sunday, July 29th at 6:55PM at the Albany Twin Theatre in Albany, and Friday, August 3rd at 6:00PM at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. V. Scott Balcerek will be present for all screenings of the film.
Additional Local Films and Filmmakers
CHASING PORTRAITS, a personal documentary that chronicles filmmaker Elizabeth Rynecki's journey to rediscover the lost art of her Polish-Jewish great-grandfather Moshe Rynecki, will make its California Premiere at the festival on Wednesday, July 25th at 3:10PM at the CinéArts Theatre in Palo Alto, and Wednesday, August 1st at 1:00PM at the Albany Twin Theater in Albany. Moshe Rynecki's body of work reached close to eight hundred paintings and sculptures before his life came to a tragic end during World War II. Elizabeth Rynecki was raised in Marin and is currently based in Oakland, and will be present for both screenings.
SFJFF38 is also proud to present two local short films produced as part of the Jerusalem Film Workshop for Young Filmmakers. The Workshop is an organization that provides an intensive filmmaking and film studies program in Israel and allows the youth participating to collaborate with international students, meet leaders from Israel's film industry, and produce media. The festival will showcase JERUSALEM, IF I FORGET YOU, directed by local filmmaker Rachel Boyoung Kim and HABESHA, edited by local filmmaker Michelle Blue. Both films will screen prior to CHASING PORTRAITS on Wednesday, July 25th at 3:10PM at the CinéArts Theatre in Palo Alto, and Wednesday, August 1st at 1:00PM at the Albany Twin Theater in Albany.
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For general and ticket information, visit jfi.org/sfjff and sfjff.org or email jewishfilm@sfjff.org. To contact the SFJFF Box Office directly, please email boxoffice@sfjff.org or call 415.621.0568.
For photos and press materials, visit jfi.org/press.
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About the Jewish Film Institute
The Jewish Film Institute (JFI) is the premier curatorial voice for Jewish film and media and a leading arts and culture organization in the Bay Area. Presenter of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, JFI catalyzes and inspires communities in San Francisco and around the world to expand their understanding of Jewish life and culture through film, media, and dialogue. Year round, the Jewish Film Institute promotes awareness and appreciation of the diversity of the Jewish people through multiple mediums - including original online programming that reaches a global audience of over 2 million views. All of these services, along with artists' support and educational initiatives, give audiences around the world even greater access to Jewish culture and the visionaries who shape it.
About the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF), presented by the Jewish Film Institute, is the largest and longest-running festival of its kind and a leader in the curation and presentation of new film and media exploring the complexities of Jewish life around the world. Presenting more than 65 films and 135 individual screenings, performances and events in five Bay Area cities (San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Rafael, Oakland, Berkeley), SFJFF attracts more than 40,000 filmgoers and industry professionals to its 18-day program.
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