The Sonoma County 10th Annual Jewish Film Series

September 5 - December 7, 2006.

Israeli films:
The Main Suspect & Sister Rose's Passion
September 14, 1:00 pm & 7:15 p.m, Santa Rosa
Ushpizin
November 29, 1:00 pm & 7:15 p.m, Petaluma
November 30, 1:00 pm & 7:15 p.m, Santa Rosa
The Tribe & The Ashkenazim!
December 7, 1:00pm & 7:15 p.m, Santa Rosa

More info: Jewish Community Center, Sonoma County, 3859 Montgomery Dr. Santa Rosa.. 707.528.4222. More info at www.jccsoco.org

The 29th Annual Mill Valley Film Festival

Israeli films:
Forgiveness: directed by Udi Aloni (96 min - narrative)
Offside:directed by Daniel Sivan and Dorit Tadir (15 min - documentary)
The Ranch: directed by Ohad Domb (22 min - narrative)
The Substitude: directed by Talya Lavie (19 minutes - narrative)

Special Presentation of "Can You Hear Me?". Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace. 
US 2006 51 minutes

Saturday, October 7, 12:30PM, 142 Throckmorton Theatre, Mill Valley.
Post screening discussion with Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo Yael Dayan. (More...) Presented in association with The Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.

Sunday, October 8, 2:30PM, Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center 3, San Rafael

Narrated by Debra Winger, Lilly Rivlin's passionate documentary focuses on Israeli and Palestinian women who insist on dialogue across enemy lines, showing a way to peaceful coexistence. The mother of a slain Israeli soldier and the sister of a Palestinian woman killed in Jerusalem speak publicly together to stop the deadly violence that has overtaken the Middle East. The two look so much alike that audiences may have difficulty recognizing which is Israeli and which Palestinian. Other voices include an Orthodox Jew who has engaged in dialogue with Palestinians since 1986, when such conversations were illegal in Israel; fearless Israeli female volunteers who intervene at checkpoints on behalf of Palestinians; and Palestinian women who seek alternatives to suicide bombing for the young. These women are truly among the saviors of our time.

October 5 - 15, 2006. Various locations, Mill Valley. Info:  www.mvff.com, or call 925.866.9559

Video Screening: Inbal Pinto Dance Company in Boobies

Tuesday, October 24, 2006. 7:00 pm. Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Mission @ 3rd, San Francisco. Info: www.performances.org / 415.398.6449

"Shalom Abu Bassem"

by Nissim Mossek (2004, 73 min. Beta SP).

Over a period of nearly two decades, Nissim Mossek filmed two families living on Haladiya Street in the Moslem Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

This is a human, touching and painful film whose power lies in the direct, straightforward manner with which the director has treated a complex story. The family of Abu Bassam, long-time Moslem residents and the family of Danny Robbins, Jewish settlers, live close to each and their lives reflect the events that have occurred on Haladiya Street.

Sponsored by the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival & the Israel Center

Wednesday, October 25, 2006. 7:30 pm. Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Mission @ 3rd, San Francisco. $8/$6 YBCA members, students, seniors. Info: Jewishfilm@Sfjff.Org, or call 415.621.0556.

San Jose Jewish Film Festival

The 14th Annual San Jose Jewish Film Festival is about to begin with a record number of films from around the world celebrating the diversity of the Jewish experience. Highlights include Bay Area premieres and guest speakers. For the complete schedule and description of films and to purchase tickets, please visit our website www.sjjff.org.

Israeli films: Out of Sight, Melting Siberia, Jews of Iran, Land of the Settlers, The Children's House, Neilah, Yiddish Aroma, Green Chariots, Like Fish out of Water.

October 18 - November 19, 2006. Camera 12, 201 S. Second St., San Jose. Info & tickets: www.sjjff.org, or call 408.874.5907 or 408-357-7492.

Teen Screen (ages 14-18)
November 7, 2006. 7:00 pm.
Camera 12, 201 S. Second St., San Jose. For reservations, call Fagie Rosen at 408.357.7492.

"Free Zone"

Golden Globe winning film, Academy Award nominee

Directed by Amos GITAI

Three women, an American, played by Natalie Portman, an Israeli and a Palestinian woman, form an inextricable bond despite vast cultural and political differences. Director Amos Gitai has created a brilliant, nuanced drama with strong female protagonists each seeking meaning in their complex social realities. It is a journey fraught with risk, faith and the desire for personal and political self determination.

Presented by California State University East Bay as part of the Jewish Culture and History Series. Nancy Fishman, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Program Director, will provide an introduction, and Professor Henry Reichman, of the CSUEB History Department, will lead the post-viewing discussion.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006. 7:30 pm. University Theater, 25800 Carlos Bee Boulevard. Hayward. FREE Admission.

"The Journey of Vaan Nguyen"

Screening and discussion with filmmaker Duki Dror

Duki Dror, one of the most innovative young directors in Israel today, reveals in his documentary the absurdities of Vaan Nguyen’s life as an Israeli-born Vietnamese. Vaan's father is a Vietnamese refugee that escaped the war and was given an asylum in Israel during the 1970's. The film documents the Nguyens' journey to the home they left in Vietnam trying to reclaim their confiscated lands, a journey that becomes a parable on the loss of identity and on the fate of refugees and immigrants. More...

November 12-16. Times and locations click here.

Part of VOICES FROM ISRAEL Lecture Series, presented the Consulate General of Israel in San Francisco. 415.844.7504 / www.israeliconsulate.org

"The Diaries of Yossef Nachmani"

by Dalia Karpel (2005, 60 min. Beta SP)

Dalia Karpel’s excellent documentary explores the life of Jewish National Fund administrator Yossef Nachmani, who established Jewish settlements in the Galilee in the 1930s and 40s. Nachmani left behind a fascinating series of journals that shed new light upon the author’s complex and contradictory personality; he bought land from Arabs pre-1948 for the Jewish National Fund, but believed, perhaps naively, in co-existence.

Sponsored by the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival & the Israel Center

Wednesday, November 29, 2006. 7:30 pm. Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Mission @ 3rd, San Francisco. $8/$6 YBCA members, students, seniors. Info: Jewishfilm@Sfjff.Org, or call 415.621.0556.

The acclaimed story of an Israeli Mossad agent who is ordered to kill an ex-Nazi officer, and ends up engaging the officer's grandchildren in the mission.

Thursday, December 7, 2006, 7:00 p.m.
Holocaust Center, 121 Steuart Street, lower level, San Francisco.

Space is limited! RSVP required to Rachel Isquith at risquith@hcnc.org or 415-777-9060 x204.

Co-presented by the Israel Center and HCNC

A Christmas day treat featuring an Israeli film double feature, a bonus short film and traditional Chinese food.

Monday, December 25, 4:30 p.m. (dinner served at 6:15 p.m.)
JCCSF, 3200 California St. (@ Presidio), San Francisco (Kanbar Hall).
Tickets: $12 for members, $15 for non-members. Advance ticket sales at the JCCSF front desk, 415.292.120.
Details: www.jccsf.org.

Feature Film:
Broken Wings (2002) כנפיים שבורות

A moving drama about a family's attempts to overcome the loss of their father and the tensions that surface as grief is faced in differing ways. The Marom family (the mother, a hard working nurse, and her four children) is trying to pick up the pieces. Just as this small and hurting family seems to give up and collapse, a shocking event brings its members back together and a sense of new beginning prevails. The film is based on writer/director Nir Bergman’s personal childhood in Haifa. The character of the younger son Ido, who responds to the disintegration of the family by obsessively filming himself with a video camera and attempting dangerous feats, is based on Bergman own experiences. Bergman won the Israeli Academy Award for the direction of Broken Wings, which was shown in several international film festivals and distributed commercially in the United States.

Written and directed by Nir Bergman
With: Orly Silbersatz-Banai, Maya Maron, Dana Ivgi   
Hebrew with English subtitles

Bonus Short:
Excerpts from Sea Horses (1998) קטעים מתוך סוסי ים

As a cinematography student at the Sam Spiegel Film School in Jerusalem, Nir Bergman wrote and directed a short film that later served as the basis for Broken Wings. The brilliant short film, which also takes place in Haifa, was screened at several international film festivals and won numerous awards. The clips from the short movie will give new perspective to the feature film.

Written and directed by Nir Bergman
With: Irit Gidron, Maya Maron
Hebrew with English subtitles

FeatureFilm:
The Big Dig (Blaumilch Canal) (1970) תעלת בלאומילך

Ephraim Kishon, the greatest Israeli satirist of the 1950s and ‘60s, created a hilarious comedy about a madman who escapes from an asylum in Tel Aviv and starts digging a canal right in the middle of one of the main junctions of the city (The corner of Alenbi and Ben Yehuda streets). Due to the bureaucratic mess in the city’s administration and a multitude of intrigues, not only does nobody try to stop him, but he actually gains the help of the police, the city chief engineer and the clueless mayor. Thanks to this crazy project, Tel Aviv is about to turn into a second Venice, while the single city clerk who yells the truth is sent to the asylum. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award (Kishon’s earlier features, Sallah and Officer Azulai won Golden Globes and were Oscar nominees).
 
Written and directed by Ephraim Kishon
With: Bomba Tzur, Shaike Ophir, Nissim Azikri, Shraga Friedman, Oded Teomi
Hebrew with English subtitles

Featuring the following Israeli films:

“What a Wonderful Place”
Monday, February 6, 7:30 p.m.
Brenden Theatres.
An award-winning 2005 feature about illegal foreign workers in the Holy Land.

“Code Name: Bayonet” + “Hats of Jerusalem”
Tuesday, February 27, 10:00 a.m.
CCJCC.
Two Documentaries

“Like a Fish out of Water”
Tuesday, February 27, 12:15 p.m.
CCJCC.
An Argentinean TV soap opera star woos an Orthodox Jewish woman.

“Out of Sight”
Tuesday, March 1, 7:30 p.m.
Brenden Theatres.
A feature about identity search.

“Something Sweet” + “The Schwartz Dynasty”
Friday, March 2, 10:00 a.m.
CCJCC.
Love, Israel Style Marathon.

February 6 - March 2, 2007.
CineArts, Pleasant Hill and at the Contra Costa Jewish Community Cetner, 2071 Tice Valley Bl, Walnut Creek.
Info: www.jfed.org/jewishfilmfestival, or call 510.839.2900, ext.256

Sponsors: Contra Costa Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay

"Blood and Tears" The Arab-Israel Conflict, A Documentary

"Blood and Tears" explores the origin of the confrontation itself, and challenges many of the most deep-rooted myths we all hold about this epicenter of human conflict.  Acclaimed documentary Producer and Director Isidore Rosemarin has made the definitive film on this seeminly irresolvable conflict.  In the film, Rosemarin and his team of Middle East experts have gone right to the source:  top officials from both sides, the ministers and mullahs, the fanatics and peaceniks, the soldiers and terrorists - from former Israeli Prime ministers to senior Palestinians officials to the leaders of the Hammas terrorist organization, Sheikh Bitawi and the late Dr. Abdel aziz Rantsi and the ordinary families batteling extraordinary forces as they try to lead a normal life. 

Neal Levy, SFCJF Israel Center Director will moderate a post-screening discussion.

Thursday, February 22, 2007. 7:30 p.m. $5 ahead, $7 at the door.
Cubberley Community Center, Room M-2, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
More info: www.paloaltojcc.org. Contact: Boris Vladimirsky /  650-852-3509

Co-Sponsored by: the Israel Center.

"Frozen Days": FeminIsrael 2007

Anat Klausner, the film star, will present the feature about Meow, a young Tel Aviv clubber, who takes on the identity of an internet chat buddy after a suicide bombing. More...

Presented by: the Consulate General of Israel.

Monday, March 5, 7 p.m. Students $5 / General $9.
San Jose Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose.
101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose.

Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 p.m. Free.
Academy of Art University, 79 New Montgomery St, San Francisco.

Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 p.m. $5 / General $9.
California Theatre, 345 S 1st St, San Jose. Students
Note: Anat Klausner will NOT be at this screening.

Wednesday, March 7. 7:30 p.m. Free.
Theatre of Yugen at Noh Space, 2849 Mariposa St., San Francisco.
RSVP: frozen.eventbrite.com / 415.844.7506. More info: www.israeliconsulate.org

Sponsored by: the Israel Center.

"Threads of Progress"

Two Israeli Jewish women create new opportunities for Israeli Bedouin women confined by tradition to tending large families on limited means. Efforts to alleviate the poverty and social restrictions these women face lead to an uplifting story of progress and hope.

Screening of the documentary will be followed by a talk by Rachel Oren, founder of Creation House and Ishmael Khaldi, Vice Consul of the State of Israel.

Sponsored by: BlueStar PR, Cosponsored by: Hadassah, Israeli Consulate, Israel Center, JCRC, Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay and the National Council of Jewish Women.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007. 7:00 p.m.
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St, San Francisco.
Info: 415.844.7508, www.israeliconsulate.org

"Three Mothers": FeminIsrael 2007

Director Dina Zvi-Riklis will present her feature about the three Hakim sisters, born in Alexandria, 1942. A saga of powerful love and deadly deceit.

More...

Presented by: the Consulate General of Israel.

Saturday, March 24 -, 2007. 8:15 p.m.
Congregation Beth Shalom. 4746 El Camino Ave, Carmichael. (916) 485-4478. $10
415.844.7508, www.israeliconsulate.org

"Hanuszka"

A unique story, told here for the first time. Hanna Mandelberger, a 12 year old girl who fled the ghetto, roams the street of Warsaw looking for something to eat. Out of nowhere, a light is shining; Hanna barely makes it to a doorstep before collapsing. Hanna will eventually tell the Mother Superior she is a Polish Catholic, 15 years old, from the City of Lodge . At that very moment, Hanna Mandelberg no longer exists.

Anna stays in the monastery for a couple of years, and decides, against all odds, to survive. Thus, she erases her childhood memories, and fully identifies with her new role as a Catholic nun. As such, she also serves as an emissary for the Polish underground, risking her life transmitting letters and weapons to different agents throughout Poland .

Father Karl Wojtyla, whom she loves and cherishes, placed the Prosphora on her tongue during communion. Forty years later, Hanna Avrutzky travels to the Vatican to meet an old friend: Karl Wojtyla, who, in meantime, has become Pope John Paul II.

Presented by: the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Wednesday, March 28, 7:30 p.m.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco.
Info: www.sfjff.org, 415.621.0556.

Tiburon International Film Festival

The Tiburon International Film Festival is an annual event which seeks to provide a greater understanding of the world and its many cultures through the artistic medium of film.

Featuring the following Israeli films:

The Substitute
Zohara is an Israeli soldier on an isolated military base who is about to get a much-anticipated transfer. Her hopes are shattered when her substitute appears to be suicidal.

Offside
Ishaq, a 13 years old Palestinian boy wants to play soccer with his friends. What seems natural to any boy this age that can play soccer whenever he wants is no easy task for Ishaq. He lives in a closed military zone which was created after the separation wall was built. The wall was built around his house and created an enclave in which the house is disconnected from both Palestine and Israel. Ishaq must get to a soccer game, his friends are waiting for him but it is not that simple.... Is he gonna make it on time?

"Offside" reflects the absurd of the Israeli occupation through a personal human perspective. There is no politics for little Ishaq, his main wish is to play soccer with his friends like any normal kid in the world.

The First Zionist Bunny
"The First Zionist Bunny" portrays the story of Noga Shachar (21) who wins the competition to become the first Israeli Playboy bunny. Noga, is a daughter to a psychologist which resists the participation of her daughter in a competition of this nature. On the other hand Noga relates to the competition as an experience which helps her to cope with childhood memories of sexual abuse. Her "voyage" from the small town in a traditional and quiet periphery of Israel to the top of the powerful American entertainment industry, will make her "suffer" a critical experience that will change her life forever.

"The First Zionist Bunny" – creates a fascinating psychological profile of young women who dare to break the general moral code, of the conservative macho Israeli society

March 22 - March 30, 2007.
Tiburon Playhouse Theater, Main Street, Tiburon.
Info: www.tiburonfilmfestival.com, or call 415.381.4123

"Walk on Water" with Filmmaker Eytan Fox

The Israel Center and the Israel on Campus Coalition invites you to a special screening with filmmaker EYTAN FOX

The films and TV series of Israeli Filmmaker Eytan Fox, including Yossi & Jagger, Song of the Siren, Florentine and Gotta Have Heart, have all become favorites of young LGBT (and other) audiences in Israel and the U.S. Eytan will make a rare appearance in SF, and will present his feature Walk On Water, about the unorthodox bond between an Israeli macho secret agent and a German queer.

Following the screening, Eytan Fox will be available for an open conversation with the audience.

Saturday, April 14, 7:00 p.m. Suggested donation: $5.
The SF LGBT Community Center. 1800 Market St., San Francisco.
INFO: 415-512-6293

Co-sponsored by:

Souvenirim

An unemployed film director learns that his father may have left "souvenirs" with Dutch girls while he served in the legendary Jewish Brigade in World War II. This road movie follows the father’s earlier path and uncovers surprising truths and consequences. More... Watch the preview
Director Halil Efrat will be available after the screenings for Q & A.

Monday, May 7, 3:15 p.m.
Wednesday, May 9, 9:15 p.m.
Sundance Cinemas Kabuki, 1881 Post St, San Francisco.
Tickets and Info: $8.50-10 www.sfiff.org / 800. 838.3006.

Isreel 2007 Israeli Film Festival

Most films are in Hebrew with English subtitles

All screenings are at:
The Camera 12 Theaters - 201 S. Second St, San Jose.
Tickets and Info: $8.50-10 www.sjjff.org / 800. 838.3006

Things Behind the Sun
A debut feature from an emerging young Israeli director. This melodrama peers into the lives of the dysfunctional Grossman family, who are facing reconciliation after the wife’s paintings expose her family’s secrets. Winner, Best Actor, 2006 Israeli Academy ”Ofir" Award. More...
May 9 (Wednesday) @ 7:30 p.m.

Frozen Days
In this psychological noir thriller, a young woman from Tel Aviv assumes the real life identity of her on-line chat buddy, and finds herself sinking into a dangerous and deluded reality. More...
Playing with the short A Conversation with Anat Klausner
May 16 (Wednesday) @ 7:30 p.m.

Avi, Avi
A poetic revelatory and life-affirming documentary about a filmmaker and painter both named Avi, who become friends and embark on a transformative journey back to Israel. A must see for every Israeli who lives abroad. More...
May 20 (Sunday) @ 3 p.m. - Playing with the short West Bank Story

West Bank Story
A short-film parody of "West Side Story" applied to the Israel-Palestine conflict. This musical comedy gets everything right! From the songs to the craziness of Middle-East politics and allegiances. Winner, Best Short Action Film, 2007 Academy Award. More...
May 20 (Sunday) @ 3 p.m. - Playing with the feature Avi, Avi

Three Mothers
This emotionally charged film is a stunningly beautiful, evocative tale of family relationships at their best and worst. The movie follows the lives and secrets of triplets Rose, Flora and Yasmin. Winner, Special Prize Award, 2006 Jerusalem International Film Festival. More...
May 20 (Sunday) @ 5:30 p.m.

Six Days, Four Decades: Israel, Forty Years After the 1967 War

Shortly after the State of Israel celebrated its nineteenth Independence Day, a war that lasted six days between Israel and its neighboring Arab countries: Egypt, Syria and Jordan, reshaped the geographical, political and demographic map of the Middle East.

The Israel Center presents a special event, marking the war that started on June 5. Past, present and future of the post 1967 Middle East, the occupation, the unification of Jerusalem, the peace process and Israeli-Palestinian relationship will be discussed.

David Akov, Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest Region will
Open the program. Neal Levy, the Executive Director of the Israel Center will moderate a panel, whose participants are Steve Rothman, the Director of the San Francisco office of the New Israel Fund and Yitzhak Santis, the Director of Middle East Affairs of the Jewish Community Relations Council. At the end of the event Ari Sendal’s musical film “West Bank Story,” the 2006 Academy Award winner for best live action short film, will be screened.

Monday, June 4, 2007. 7:30 pm.
PJCC 800 Foster City Blvd., Foster City.
Info: 650.212.PJCC (7522).
Tickets: $5.

The Bubble at Frameline LGBT Film Festival

Director Eytan Fox (Yossi and Jagger) offers a sexy, modern and queer Romeo and Juliet in this story of lovers from two different worlds. Noam is a handsome record-store attendant who serves part-time with the Israeli Army at a checkpoint on the border of the Palestinian territories. An out gay man, he lives in Tel Aviv with his friends Lulu, an aspiring clothes designer, and Yali, a gay restaurant manager. When not commenting on each other’s love lives, the young friends actively support liberal politi-cal causes and consider themselves enlightened, distributing left-wing flyers opposing Israel’s Palestinian policy and organizing anti-occupation raves.
Noam’s world is rocked when he meets Ashraf, a soulful Palestinian who crosses through the checkpoint one day, then turns up again on the gay party scene in Tel Aviv. Noam and Ashraf hook up, and soon Noam is arm-twisting his roommates into accepting Ashraf as a new member of the household. The passionate affair flourishes in this “bubble” of liberal sentiment, but the world can only be held at bay for so long, as political and family pressures force Ashraf into cat-aclysmic decisions that threaten the love he’s found with Noam. Ultimately, each character comes face-to-face with the harsh realities that have fueled their attraction yet also conspire to drive them apart. Stern and unflinching in its mapping of battle lines, The Bubble passionately celebrates the love that brings Noam and Ashraf together, despite the legacy of conflict they’ve inherited. — SHANNON KELLEY.

Monday, June 18, 9:00 p.m.
Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., San Francisco
Info & Tickets: 415.703.8650 / The Bubble at Frameline ($10 members  | $15 general   | BUBB18C)

Sponsored by Sundance Channel
Co-Presented by: the Israel Center, LGBT Alliance, Jewish Community Federation and the Consulate General of Israel Pacific Northwest

It Kinda Scares Me (Tomer Ve-Hasrutim)

This tough documentary film concentrates on Tomer Heymann, a youth leader in a small town near Tel Aviv, who motivates a group of delinquent adolescent boys into creating a play. The collective effort goes through a number of shifts and changes, and in a startling development, Tomer announces to the group that he is gay. For the straight teenage boys in the gang this is a shock. Their process of adjustment to or acceptance of this reality forms a major thread in the play and the documentary. Tomer Heymann’s film (Israel 2001) has a rough-hewn vitality that matches the energy of the teenage boys.

Thursday, June 21, 2007. 7:30. $5.
PJCC 800 Foster City Blvd., Foster City.
Info & Tickets: 650.212.PJCC (7522).

Presented by: Tzavta at the Israel Center and the PJCC.