Jewish Film Festival Jewish Film Festival

2022 Film Guide

Show by: Film | Festival Sections

Films A-Z
  • 1
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • Y
Festival Sections
  • Awakenings: Stories of Transformation
  • JFI Supported Films
  • Next Wave
  • Present Tense: Contested Histories
  • Radiant Truths: Seeing Beyond Ourselves
  • Short Films
  • Special Presentations
  • Streaming Films
  • Take Action
Explore More
  • Arts & Culture
  • Bay Area Interest
  • Documentaries
  • First-Person Filmmaking
  • Guests In Attendance
  • LGBTQ+ Stories
  • Narratives
  • Shorts Programs
  • Shorts with Features
Country
  • Austria
  • France
  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • United States
Venues
  • Albany Twin
  • Castro Theatre
  • Digital Screening Room
Minyan Duty
Minyan Duty
A week after their mother’s death, Leah and Ariel, two sisters with diametrically opposed views and personalities, wait for another person to join their evening service in this moving comedy.
Nakam
Nakam
Inspired by a true story, 12-year-old violinist Mitka must carry out a Ukrainian partisan attack on SS officers, risking the life of his friend and teacher.
Our Nappy Hair
Our Nappy Hair
Three women, three hair salons, and three different but strikingly similar stories about Black identity, the suppression of nappy hair, and mainstream notions of ideal beauty.
The Panola Project
The Panola Project
Dorothy Oliver travels door-to-door in rural Alabama to make sure the members of her often-overlooked Black community get vaccinated, and small town Panola comes together in creative ways to survive the pandemic.
The Record
The Record
An antique music instrument dealer receives a magical vinyl record from a traveler: “It reads your mind and plays your lost memories.” Obsessed by this endless record, the antique dealer listens to it again and again, and the memories reemerge.
The Rock Collection
The Rock Collection
A girl seeks to find the best stone as a gift for her father.
Rothschild 16
Rothschild 16
Seventy-four years after the birth of Israel and the "Nakba" (disaster), 16 Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv, where Israel’s declaration of independence took place, is still a popular tourist destination.
Shoot From The Heart
Shoot From The Heart
A portrait of the legendary Haskell Wexler during the last ten years of his life––a man whose life as a cinematographer and activist were inextricably connected. Featuring Jane Fonda and renowned filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, through the lens of Joan Churchill.
Sun Coming and Casting a Shadow
Sun Coming and Casting a Shadow
A film about time, memory, fear, and the challenges of holding onto joy.

Download the SFJFF42 Program Guide
Special Presentations
SFJFF42's Special Presentations honor stories big and small, illuminate the diversity of Jewish experiences, champion freedom of expression, and delight with their wit and charm. This year’s special screenings feature virtuosic performances, partnerships with fellow arts organizations, untold histories and uncomfortable truths, and more.
JFI Supported Stories
The Jewish Film Institute champions emerging and established filmmakers telling bold stories about Jewish life, culture, and identity through our Filmmaker Residency and Completion Grants programs. SFJFF42 is proud to showcase this dynamic group of films that received JFI support in their creation.
Next Wave Films
JFI Next Wave is a community of Bay Area filmmakers with an eye on the up and coming, and it is a platform for films and filmmakers that challenge and expand our ideas of Jewish storytelling. These films explore modern life and identity through a Jewish lens, often dealing with subjects like art, music, travel, social justice and more.
Take Action Films
Today's national conversation and political moment has inspired a powerful revolution of filmmakers applying their trade to the moment’s most pressing issues. Focusing on issues like climate change, abortion rights, and the fight against white nationalist violence, these films respond to the urgency of our times and embolden us to take concrete action to repair the world.
Awakenings: Stories of Transformation
As we return to the movies, SFJFF42 is highlighting stories that reflect our current moment of personal and societal awakening. What moves us from a space of inertia to action, in our lives and in the world? Who do we become when we pass the point of no return? These films ask those questions, and leave it to the audience to come up with the answers.
Present Tense: Contested Histories
Our current moment is one of grappling with history. Questions of whose stories become the popular narrative, and whose remain hidden from view, are frontline conversations in communities around the world. These films reexamine commonly accepted truths with a fresh lens, unearthing aspects of the past that illuminate our present reality.
Radiant Truths: Seeing Beyond Ourselves
What if, instead of being threatened by perspectives that challenge our own, we embraced the possibility that they have something to teach us? These films embody the idea of “multiple truths” by sharing a multiplicity of (sometimes contradictory) ideas and experiences.
Short Films
Don't miss the thirty-one short films in this year's program, each of which tells a big story. All narrative shorts compete for the SFJFF Film Movement Award and all documentary shorts compete for the juried Best Short Documentary Award, the winner of which is eligible for the Academy Award in Documentary (Short Subject).
Streaming Films
For those who prefer an at-home viewing experience, SFJFF42 offers more than a dozen programs online, available in the JFI Digital Screening Room from August 1–7, 2022. Selected titles include repeat presentations from the in-person Festival and stellar titles only streaming online.