Staff & Board

Lexi Leban joined the Jewish Film Institute as Executive Director in 2011. A longtime member of the Bay Area film community, Leban has over 20 years experience in all aspects of film, from production to distribution to exhibition. Prior to her appointment, she served as the Academic Director of the Digital Filmmaking & Video Production at the Art Institute of California and creator of their Bachelor's degree program. As a documentary filmmaker, Leban has directed award-winning films that focus on women's rights, criminal justice and LGBT issues. Her films have screened widely at festivals in the U.S. and abroad. Her most recent film, Girl Trouble aired nationally on the acclaimed PBS series Independent Lens and an interactive game based on the film debuted at Sundance. She served for 8 years in the marketing and web operation department at New Day Films, a 40 year old filmmaker-run educational distribution company with over 230 award-winning titles. She earned a BA degree in Political Science from Barnard College of Columbia University and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University.

Jay Rosenblatt is an internationally recognized filmmaker whose work has received many awards. A selection of his films had theatrical runs at the Film Forum in New York and at theaters around the country. Eight of his films have been at the Sundance Film Festival and several of his films have shown on HBO/Cinemax, the Independent Film Channel and the Sundance Channel. Articles about his work have appeared in the Sunday NY Times Arts & Leisure section, the LA Times, the NY Times, Filmmaker magazine and the Village Voice. Jay is a recipient of a Guggenheim, a USA Artists grant and a Rockefeller Fellowship. He has served on numerous festival juries throughout the world including the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and the Tampere Film Festival in Finland. In 2002, he co-produced and curated the 9/11 program "Underground Zero" which was named one of the Ten Best Films in 2002 by the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2005, Jay received the inaugural Freedom of Expression Award from the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Jay is originally from New York and has lived in San Francisco for many years. Since 1989, he has taught film at various universities in the Bay Area, including Stanford University, S.F. State University, and the San Francisco Art Institute. He has a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and, in a former life, worked as a therapist.

Kim Bistrong has 20 years of professional experience in the Jewish non-profit sector throughout the United States and in Israel. With Master's Degrees in both Cinema Studies and Modern Jewish Studies, Kim has provided support in many capacities for organizations that link popular culture and media arts to the Jewish experience including the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and The Jewish Musuem in New York. Kim comes to the SFJFF after a 10-year sojourn in Israel where she was the Development Director for an NGO promoting the successful integration of Ethiopian immigrants, Arab-Israelis, and ultra-Orthodox men and women into the country's thriving work force.

Kim continues on her Jewish journey through her work and devotion to her daughter in her new home in the Bay Area.

Joshua Moore is an award-winning independent filmmaker based in San Francisco. His debut feature film, I Think It's Raining had its world premiere at the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where it was nominated for the Independent Camera Award and received glowing reviews from Screen Daily and Variety. I Think it's Raining was the Opening Night selection of the San Francisco Film Society's Cinema By the Bay Festival and like his most recent film, Keep A Tidy Soul, has played in many film festivals around across the globe before acquiring distribution on digital platforms across North America. Joshua is a graduate of San Francisco State University Department of Cinema, and has worked for Michael Douglas, Francis Coppola, and Programmed for the Mill Valley Film Festival. When he's not making or curating films, you can find Joshua riding along the Northern California coastline on his vintage motorcycle.

Nate Gellman graduated with a B.A. in Literature from Bard College in 2014 and moved to the Bay Area to intern for the 34th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. He has since moved into the role of Marketing & Communications Manager. Through strong command of written and verbal communications strategies and current best practices in digital marketing and advertising, Nate crafts comprehensive marketing campaigns for all JFI and SFJFF initiatives, as well as working closely with JFI's hired PR firm to receive media attention for its exploits. Nate is proficient in metrics-based marketing tactics such as organic and paid social media advertising, conversion pixel tracking, retargeting, email marketing, and website development and management, as well as graphic design and sponsorship negotiations. He also brings strong strategic relationships with counterparts at other Bay Area arts organizations to his work with JFI and an encyclopedic knowledge of developments in the independent film and marketing industries. Having grown up in the Jewish community of Los Angeles, Nate brings a personal understanding of shifting demographics and modes of thinking to his marketing and communications responsibilities, particularly in his work with the JFI Next Wave initiative.

Phone: 415.621.0556 x213

Rob graduated magna cum laude from San Francisco State University with a BA in Cinema. After completing his degree with a focus in production, Rob has organized screenings and performances in the San Francisco Bay Area along with producing online content. His music video for SF-based rock group, Cool Ghouls, was featured in culture publications, The Bay Bridged and The 405. His thesis short, Junior the Bear, has screened at festivals along the West Coast, winning Best Student Short at the Yosemite International Film Festival in 2015. Rob is excited to develop JFI's digital media programs, including JFI On Demand, to engage audiences online.

Chelsea can usually be found working at the intersection of policy-making, data-analysis, and art. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Economics and Social Systems from Mount Holyoke College, and she continues to combine qualitative and quantitative practices whenever possible. Her pursuits have taken her from archiving artifacts at an economic history museum, to designing data-capture tools for public policy research, to mapping public art and curating photo/documentary installations.

A Bay Area native, Chelsea is also a native digital filmmaker: she got her start in grade school with a camcorder and a (very) early version of iMovie.

Adam has been with the Jewish Film Institute since 2013. After spending 5 years as an essayist, journalist, and film critic for his online publication Filmbalaya.com, as well as managing a local San Francisco market, Adam decided that having a career in anything other than film simply would not do. His tremendous depth of resourcefulness and customer service knowhow have proven to be invaluable assets in the success of the Jewish Film Institute as it stands today. In addition to his in-office responsibilities, Adam works closely with the Jewish Film Institute's in-kind donors and hospitality sponsors to ensure that all JFI programs and SFJFF feature the best in local food, drink and amenities.