"WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY" TO MAKE WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 38TH SAN FRANCISCO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
SAN FRANCISCO, June 19, 2018 - The 38th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, presented by the Jewish Film Institute, is honored to be the home of the World Premiere of Roberta Grossman's WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY. The film will screen as the Palo Alto Opening Night Film on Saturday, July 21st at 6:15PM at the CinéArts Theatre in Palo Alto with Grossman in attendance. Additional screenings of the film will take place Sunday, July 22nd at 4:00PM at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, and Saturday, July 28th at 6:00PM at the Albany Twin Theatre in Albany with Grossman in attendance.
"We are thrilled to host the long-awaited World Premiere of Roberta Grossman's film Who Will Write Our History. Her films have been audience favorites at Jewish Film Institute events going back to 2008 with Blessed is the Match, 2012 with Hava Nagila (The Movie) and most recently at WinterFest 2018 with Seeing Allred. Her new film about the activist group Oyneg Shabes makes a significant and moving contribution to the story of Jewish activism in Nazi-occupied Warsaw,"said JFI Program Director Jay Rosenblatt.
Remarked filmmaker Roberta Grossman about the premiere: "WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY tells the most important unknown story of the Holocaust. It is a story about people who risked their lives so the truth would survive, even if they did not. The questions of "who lives and who dies and who tells the story" are painfully resonant today. There is nowhere I would rather premiere this film than the world-class SFJFF - with its incredible audiences - which has been a home away from home for me and my films!"
Palo Alto Opening Night - WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY
The World Premiere of Roberta Grossman's WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY will kick off the Palo Alto Screenings for SFJFF at the CinéArts Theatre in Palo Alto. Grossman (Seeing Allred, JFI WinterFest 2018; Above and Beyond, SFJFF 2014; Hava Nagila (The Movie), SFJFF 2012) returns to the Festival with her ten-years-in-the-making documentary about a team of searchers, who in 1946 went through the rubble where the Warsaw Ghetto had stood in search of a cache of archival materials documenting Jewish life in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. The collection of photographs, diary entries, smuggling accounts, newspapers and Nazi pronouncements constituted the invaluable work of a remarkable 60-member activist group Oyneg Shabes, (joy of Sabbath). Told through a combination of archival footage, photographs and masterful reenactments, the film is a stirring paean to these prescient individuals and a celebration of their optimism, persistence and grit.
An award‐winning filmmaker, Roberta Grossman has written, directed and produced several feature documentaries. Her documentaries range from social justice inquiries to historical subjects with a focus on Jewish history. Most recently, Grossman co-directed the Netflix original documentary Seeing Allred (2018) about women's rights attorney Gloria Allred -- which premiered in competition at Sundance.
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Entering its 38th year, the Festival is expecting an audience of over 40,000 moviegoers at the following theaters; the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, the Albany Twin Theatre in Albany, the Piedmont Theatre in Oakland, the CinéArts Theatre in Palo Alto, and the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.
For general and ticket information, visit sfjff.org or email jewishfilm@sfjff.org. To contact the SFJFF Box Office directly, please email boxoffice@sfjff.org or call 415.621.0568. The full program for SFJFF38 will be revealed on June 19, 2018. For Festival logos, photos and press materials, visit jfi.org/press or sfjff.org/press. To request interviews or screeners, contact Larsen Associates.
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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.
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 38 Sponsors
The Jewish Film Institute and San Francisco Jewish Film Festival wish to thank the 2018 Premier Festival Sponsors Sterling Bank & Trust and The Seligman Family Foundation.
SFJFF38 wishes to thank its Premier Media Sponsors: the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGATE; its Grand Media Sponsors: J. the Jewish News of Northern California, KQED and The Forward; and its Major Media Sponsors: ABC7/KGO-TV, Berkeleyside.com and the SF Bay Times.
The Festival wishes to thank its Business and Community Sponsors: Berkeley Film Foundation,
Britex Fabrics, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Craig Harrison's Expressions of ExcellenceTM,GoWatchIt, Ingeniux Web Experience Management, Schoenberg Family Law Group, Sinai Memorial Chapel Chevra Kadisha and Wareham Development and Where the Buffalo Roam.
SFJFF38 also recognizes its Hospitality and Events Sponsors: Leftwich Event Specialists, Inc., Ba-Bite, Catch SF, Hagafen Wineries, the Hotel Carlton, Lagunitas Brewing Co., Landmark Theatres, L'Chaim Sushi, Frena Bakery, Little Star Pizza, Melons Catering & Events, Sullivan & Botello Party Rentals, Poesia, Salt & Honey, Saul's Restaurant and Delicatessen, Taste, Wise Sons and Zaytoon Mediterranean Restaurant & Bar.
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