Film Archive | Jewish Film Institute

Exhibition Series

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Burn

A fun-loving Jewish woman who straightens her hair to fit in, until a rainy Christmas party forces her to grapple with who she really is.

Burning Lands

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Burning Memory

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Burning Off the Page

This fascinating documentary paints an intimate portrait of Yiddish writer Celia Dropkin (1887–1956) and her explicit and innovative poetic depictions of desire and death.

Bus Stop

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Bye Bye America

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Bye Bye Germany

“After World War II approximately 4,000 Jews stayed in Germany. Later, none of them could explain to their children why,” we learn in Sam Gabarski’s Bye Bye Germany. This stylized, humor-laced drama devotes itself to answering this question by portraying the lives of a sundry group of survivors who remain in Germany immediately after liberation and are led by a charismatic, top hat–wearing jokester (Run Lola Run’s masterfully expressive Moritz Bleibtreu).

About This Film

About This Film

About This Film

Best Picture, 2004 Israeli Academy Awards. Rachel, a recently widowed mother of two rebellious teenage girls, hopes to start a new life by joining a religious settlement in the West Bank. But she must first win over the community’s leader, who is threatened by her independence. A nuanced, moving drama.

Cancer in Two Voices

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The Cantor and the Sea

Gedaliah, an ultra-Orthodox cantor and eternal bachelor, has a beautiful voice but also has a terrible case of stage fright whenever he has to appear in public. However, when a small community in a sleepy beach town invites him for the New Year prayer, a glimmer of hope enters his heart. The sea, the New Year, and the friendship of a young woman could be his salvation.

A Cantor on Trial

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A Cantor's Tale

A loving tribute to a Golden Age in American Jewish life when chazzanut--the celebrated cantorial art--reached its zenith. Renowned cantors made best-selling recordings and attracted followers who would travel miles to hear them. The film follows the journey of Jack Mendelson, a Brooklyn-born son of a deli owner, who today trains future cantors in the nearly lost traditions of Eastern European sacred music.

Caravan 841

Moshe, an Ethiopian immigrant boy, lives in a temporary refugee camp where he anxiously waits to be reunited with his mother. He is torn between the adults in his life: Aharon, the strict but caring Orthodox teacher who tells him to trust in God, and his new friend Walter, a saxophone player who teaches him to trust in himself. preceded byPEPE'S WATCH

Caregiver, The

After a short home-leave in India, Raj returns to his 85-year-old employer only to find out he's been replaced by a Filipina caregiver named Joy. But Raj wonÕt back down without a fight.

Caregiver: A Love Story | Best Short Documentary Award Winner | 6pm pst

When 59-year-old Bambi decides to forgo further treatment for her cancer and die at home, her husband Rick leaves his job to become her primary caregiver—a role for which he has no experience and little support. This powerful and personal short film shines a light on the growing strain placed on family caregivers and dares to envision a new approach. Winner of the 2020 SFJFF Best Short Documentary Award.

Carfare City

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Carl Laemmle

Carl Laemmle is the extraordinary life story of the German Jewish immigrant who, as much as anyone, invented the modern motion picture business. The man whose motto was, "It can be done," fought and ultimately conquered Thomas Edison's attempts to monopolize the film industry. Creating Universal Pictures in 1912, Laemmle would go on to give many Hollywood legends their starts, including Walt Disney, John Ford, William Wyler and others. He also hired many women directors and made Lois Weber the highest paid director on his lot. Under Laemmle's leadership, Universal would become known for its classic monster movies (The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein, Dracula, etc.). When he sold Universal in 1936, Laemmle would go on to do something far moreimportant than any movie: battling Adolph Hitler's government, confronting a notoriously anti-Semitic U.S. State Department and ultimately rescuing over 300 Jewish refugee families from Nazi Germany.

Carpati: 50 Miles, 50 Years

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Carvalho's Journey

Few westward journeys were as exciting as that taken by American Jewish photographer and artist Solomon Carvalho in 1853–54 with explorer John C. Fremont’s ill-fated fifth expedition in search of a viable route for a transcontinental railroad. Hired to document the trip with daguerreotype images, Carvalho barely survived. Stunning photography, modern-day daguerreotypes and illustrations made from Carvalho’s originals and words from Carvalho’s diary, enliven this portrait of a remarkable man.

Casting

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The Cat in the Hat

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Catherine the Great

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The Catskills (Comedy Spotlight)

This humor-filled, nostalgic celebration of vacation resorts in the Borscht Belt paints a vibrant picture of 20th-century Jewish-American history.

The Cemetery Club

Meet a vital group of octogenarians who gather weekly in the Mount Herzl National Cemetery in Jerusalem. For over two decades, the group has engaged in deliberations on art, politics, philosophy, the foundation of the state of Israel, Israeli-Palestinian relations, poetry and love. Tali Shemesh’s mesmerizing documentary provides an unforgettable view of a generation that survived the worst and dreamed of a new beginning for themselves and the generations to come.

Censored Voices

Oral histories recorded by Israeli writer Amos Oz and other young kibbutzniks in the weeks immediately following their experience during the Six Day War are brought to life in this revealing documentary. The censored 1967 recordings, coupled with striking archival images, reveal the moment that Israel’s soldiers, in their own words, went from identifying with David to Goliath. The act of trying to remember is what gives this documentary its profound resonance.

Center of Life

Wissam and his wife's dream of a better life for their daughters in Jerusalem becomes a nightmare when their citizenship application is rejected.

Century Village Shiddach

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The Crow and the Canary

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Channels of Rage

The high-voltage rivalry of two talented, politically charged rap artists: the nationalist Israeli hip-hopper Subliminal and his onetime friend and protégé, Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar. Shot over three years, this energizing documentary charts their rise, friendship and growing acrimony as they stake out ideological territory through breathtaking raps.

Chants of Sand and Stars

Chazzanut, the music that accompanies Jewish liturgy, is as rich and varied as the cultures of the Diaspora. From the desert sands of Judea to the steppes of Central Asia to the neighborhoods of Manhattan, through Medieval Spain and Renaissance Venice, Chants of Sand and Stars features beautiful and ethereal melodies.

Charene Zalis: Repairing the World: Stories From the Tree of Life

For three years REPAIRING THE WORLD: STORIES FROM THE TREE OF LIFE follows survivors, families of the victims, diverse community members, students and civic leaders as they examine their vulnerabilities and the impact of rising antisemitism, racism, hate speech, and gun violence. Against the backdrop of a tumultuous period in the country, a local community that has faced violence and trauma works to heal and grapple with what it means to be stronger than hate.

Charlatan | 2021 Freedom of Expression Award Agnieszka Holland

Legendary Polish filmmaker and recipient of SFJFF's Freedom of Expresson Award, Agnieszka Holland's newest film is a richly drawn biopic of Czech healer Jan Mikolášek who rose to fame through his uncanny ability to diagnose disease with a mere glance at the patient's urine.

Charlotte

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