Film Archive | Jewish Film Institute

Exhibition Series

2020 Filmmakers in Residence
2020 JFI Completion Grants
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2021 JFI Completion Grants
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2022 JFI Completion Grants
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2023 JFI Completion Grants
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2024 JFI Completion Grants
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2025 JFI Completion Grants
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2026 JFI Completion Grants
Cinegogue Summer Days
JFI Filmmakers in Residence
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Pre-2020 Filmmaker In Residence
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Film Type

Animation
Documentary
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Shorts Program
Television Series

Jerusalem Cuts

Three different narratives of Israel’s 1948 war of independence unfold side by side through the images of a British photojournalist, a Zionist movie producer and a Palestinian photographer. Preceded by Herskovits At the Heart of Blackness, a fascinating, visually innovative biography revealing the pioneering work and controversial legacy of American Jewish anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits, a towering scholar often credited with inventing the field of African studies in the 1920s through the 50s.

Jerusalem If I Forget You

Different backgrounds, lifestyles, and religious views paint vastly different pictures of life for female and male graffiti artists in Jerusalem. Produced as part of the Jerusalem Film Workshop for young filmmakers that includes Bay Area director Rachel Boyoung Kim

Jerusalem Is Proud to Present

In the summer of 2006, Jerusalem was host to the World Pride events, which were planned to culminate in a traditional gay pride parade. Nitzan Gilady’s award-winning documentary has an eye and ear for the complexity of life in Jerusalem as it weaves together the passions of gay rights activists and those of rabbis, priests and mullahs temporarily bonded in their opposition to homosexuality.

Jerusalem: An Occupation Set in Stone?

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Jerusalem_In_Between

Two boxers, one Jewish and one Arab, share their life story and their similarities.

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Jewish Dance in Jerusalem

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Jewish Item

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Jewish Luck

This 1925 Soviet classic is a humorous adaptation of Sholom Aleichem's story, "Menachem Mendel." It is also the film debut of the great Yiddish State Art Theatre actor Solomon Mikhoels. Mikhoels as Mendel is the "luftmensch" (one who buys and sells dreams) who, by chance, becomes a matchmaker and who experiences one hilarious calamity after another. Mikhoel's character study of Mendel as a Chaplinesque figure - lovable, tragic, and comic - has been called one of the finest performances in cinema history. Features a brilliant dream sequence on the Odessa steps (which influenced Eisenstein's POTEMKIN); intertitles by Isaac Babel; Tamara Adelheim as Beila, the bride.

Jewish Soul Music

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Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story

Not particularly known in the United States for their athletic prowess, Jews have surprisingly excelled in the most American of sports: baseball. Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, celebrates the contributions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. More than a film about sports, it is a story of immigration, assimilation, bigotry and the shattering of stereotypes.

Jews and Buddhism: Belief Amended, Faith Revealed

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Jews by Choice

In a picturesque Czech town, an alliance of ordinary citizens become inspired to renovate their local synagogue, convert to Judaism, and give birth to the first Jewish community in the region since the Holocaust. As they fight for recognition from the Jewish authorities, internal strife threatens the future of their close-knit fellowship.

Jews By Choice

After an environmental disaster decimates a historic synagogue, an intrepid group commits to rebuilding a Jewish cultural center. And not one among them is Jewish.

Jews in Shorts

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Jews in Shorts (Comedy)

What do a non-believing Jew, Elijah Wood, two dead bodies and a chicken have in common? Find out in this year’s bitingly funny collection of comedic shorts that celebrate life’s absurdities.The Funeral - Dir. Nick Green; 7 Day Gig - Dir. Kate Marks; Setup, Punch - Dir. David Schlussel; I’m a Mitzvah - Dir. Ben Berman; Welcome and Our Condolences - Dir. Leon Prudovsky

Jews in Shorts (Documentaries)

The old saying that truth is stranger than fiction certainly applies to this year’s collection of mesmerizing documentary shorts featuring Hasidic punk rocker girls, a neoconservative military strategist dad and the unlikely reunion between a gay man and a neo-Nazi.Vishneva, Belarus Soviet Union Poland - Dir. Jacob Podber; What's in a Name - Dir. Daniel Robin; - Bulletproof Stockings - Dir. Sarah Berkovich; Facing Fear - Dir. Jason Cohen; My Favorite Neoconservative - Dir. Yael Luttwak

Jews in Shorts [program]

We’ve combed the globe to find and present the best new Jewish short films, including I’m Charlie Chaplin by 2005 SFJFF Freedom of Expression Award winner Jay Rosenblatt. From tales of family to issues of Jewish identity and politics, this collection of short docs and dramas is funny and poignant and features the work of both veteran and up-and-coming directors. Total running time: 97 minutes.

Jews in Shorts: Animation

The past is present in this collection of innovative animated short documentary films.

Jews in Shorts: Docs (2016)

True life characters are often more compelling than fictional ones. A filmmaker’s childhood image from a forgotten home movie; a 90-year-old ready to eat bacon for the first time; a violinist parting with his sacred instrument, which changes the life of a 12-year-old schoolgirl; a legendary actor with dual identities, French and Jewish. These are subjects of this year's emotionally compelling documentary shorts program.- Joshua Moore

Jews in Shorts: Documentaries

Meet the fascinating subjects from this year's superb collection of doc shorts: a heavily tattooed Jewish prizefighter; a Holocaust survivor set for immortality as a 3-D digital projection; a legendary NYC mom and pop cafe struggling to keep the lights on; and the wild paintings of gun-toting Nazi-fighting wonder women and the artist who brings them to life.

Jews in Shorts: Documentaries

Truth can be found in the oddest places, especially in this year's documentary shorts.

Jews in Shorts: Documentaries

This year's collection of eclectic and powerful documentary shorts includes tracing memories of a beloved grandfather through stop motion animation, dating advice from an irascible German grandmother, contrasting accounts of the death of a family dog, striking photographs shot by an Israel war veteran and peace activist, and the gripping story of a Holocaust survivor whose life was saved when his parents sent him to Sweden.

Jews in Shorts: Documentaries

This program of short documentaries runs through a gamut of topics. Two of the films are a part of our abortion sidebar, another one deals with the effects of climate change and one tells the story of a survivor whose indomitable spirit is a true inspiration. Oh yeah, there’s also a piece about a peacock who lives in a synagogue.

Jews In Shorts: Documentaries

A collection of short documentary films.

Jews in Shorts: Experiencing the World

In these four fiction films, the experiences of young protagonists are shaped by their individual perspectives. As immigrants, ultra-religious youth or rebellious teens, they invite us to view the world through their unique lenses.

Jews in Shorts: Focus on Documentaries

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Jews in Shorts: Focus on Israeli Narratives (2010 program)

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Jews in Shorts: Israeli Narratives

Even in the midst of the mundane, life has a way of throwing us curves. In this year's superb collection of Israeli short narratives nothing is merely routine for our characters. Whether it's sitting on the bus, returning to a job after being away on vacation, attending a family gathering, riding on a train, or collecting a social security check, nothing will remain the same. - Joshua Moore

Jews in Shorts: Narratives

People aren't always what they seem. This year's collection of narrative shorts finds complex people grappling with even more complex relationships: a single mother unexpectedly alone on a sweltering summer day; a father and a daughters separate and profound encounters with the great composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein; a married couple testing their limits on a wild night out; and a gentle cantor who meets a lovely chanteuse while visiting a small Israeli seaside town.

Jews in Shorts: Narratives

This year’s collection of narrative shorts presents defining moments when people are confronted with personal decisions.

Jews in Shorts: Narratives

Jews in Shorts: Narratives (2016)

Comedy and drama can be found in many places: early ’90s New York, an Israeli drone control center, Paris in the aftermath of the recent terror attacks, Central Park invaded by a 20-piece marching band and an Israeli modern art museum. These are the diverse settings of this year’s dynamic and provocative narrative shorts program where the stories unfold in the most surprising of ways.- Joshua MooreWannabe 16'Operator 15'And Then, Violence 15'What Cheer 17'Hounds 28'

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