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9 Star Hotel – Israel (78 minutes)
An intimate look inside the lives of Palestinian construction workers who cross illegally into Israel in search of a livelihood. Director Ido Haar gains extraordinary access to a small band of workers who build luxury apartments by day but at night avoid arrest by scurrying into clandestine makeshift huts. Their determination to scratch out a living sheds poignant new light on the interdependence of two separated societies. Co-sponsored by Friends of Hannah Kranzberg, in honor of her dedication and commitment to social justice; and by Carl & Gay Grunfeld. Co-presented by Film Arts Foundation

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Tues., July 24th at 9:30 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sun., July 29th at 8:45 PM

Aviva My Love – Israel (107 minutes) Feature
Aviva My Love (2006) by Shemi Zarhin
Shemi Zarhin  Israel, 2006, 107 min.

Aviva (Asi Levi) is a cook with a tough work and family life, but her vivid imagination compels her to write magical stories she hopes to publish. A well-known author wants to help; when his motives become suspect, Aviva must make crucial decisions that pit her family’s interests against her own dreams. Richly shot, Aviva My Love won six Awards of the Israeli Film Academy, including Best Picture.

Co-sponsored by Amy & Mort Friedkin and Orli & Zack Rinat. Berkeley Opening Night generously supported by Saul's Deli and Restaurant. Co-presented by the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay; Congregation Beth Am/Los Altos Hills; and the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Thurs., July 26th at 5:45 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Wed., August 1st at6:15 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sat., July 28th at 7:15 PM
Smith Rafael Film Center – Sat., August 4th at 8:30 PM

Bad Faith – Belgium and France  (88 minutes)
Clara and Ishmael are gorgeous, happy, in love and in Paris. How nice is that? Like many cosmopolitan Parisian couples, the fact that she is Jewish and he is Muslim barely crosses the minds of these oh-so-secular lovebirds…until Clara announces that she’s pregnant. That’s when the troubles start in this charming and timely romantic comedy whose title could have been “Guess Who’s Coming to Shabbos Dinner?”

Preceded by A Kiss Is a Kiss Is a Kiss - Israel  (6 minutes) - Three of the unlikeliest screen kisses and one draw. In less than 10 minutes, Director Uri Bar-On partners drastically mismatched people in a challenge of anxiety and embarrassment, to kiss. The results are surprising, hilarious and illustrate some of our most profound preconceptions.

Co-sponsored by Craig Harrison's Expressions of Excellence!(tm) Co-presented by the Alliance Française de San Francisco; Congregation Emanu-El/San Francisco; New Israel Fund; Project Welcome;  Building Jewish Bridges, a program of Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay; and the Interfaith Connection, a program of JCCSF

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Sat., July 21st at 9:30 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Sun., July 29th at 7:00 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Wed., August 1st at 6:30 PM
Smith Rafael Film Center – Sun., August 5th at 8:30 PM

The Bubble – Israel  (90 minutes) Feature
Eytan Fox (Walk on Water, Yossi and Jagger) continues his extraordinary run of sleek, chic films that define the contradictions of modern Israeli life. A trio of charming gay and straight twenty-somethings share a flat in a hip Tel Aviv district. But the carefree “bubble” they live in threatens to burst when one of them falls in love with a young Palestinian man.

Co-sponsored by Frederick Hertz & Randolph Langenbach; and by Doug Okun & Eric Ethington, Scott Rubin & Stephen Moore, and Dan Wohlfeiler. Co-presented by Frameline, Congregation Sha'ar Zahav of San Francisco, and the LGBT Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation

Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Thurs., August 2nd at 6:15 PM

The Cemetery Club – Israel (100 minutes)
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, contemporary politics, the conflict, 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. Co-presented by the Holocaust Center of Northern California and Temple Sinai of Oakland

Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Sat., July 28th at 12:30 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Tues., July 31st at 4:15 PM

Hot House – Israel (89 minutes)
Nearly 10,000 Palestinians are incarcerated in Israel today. Most Israelis regard these “security prisoners” as murderers and criminals. To the Palestinians, however, they are freedom fighters, heroes and martyrs in the making. Granted extraordinary access to the highest-security institutions, renowned filmmaker Shimon Dotan uncovers a startling truth: Israeli prisons have become a breeding ground for the next generation of Palestinian leaders and a hotbed for terrorist plots. —David Courier, Sundance Film Festival. Co-presented by American Friends Service Committee and Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Wed., July 25th at 6:30 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Sat., July 28th at 4:30 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sun., July 29th at 4:15 PM
Smith Rafael Film Center – Sat., August 4th at 6:30 PM

I AM – YOU ARE – Israel (79 minutes)
Seven short films from the award-winning youth media program run by Gilli Mendel at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, I Am You Are brings together young Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers from the Jerusalem area to make films and help break down walls of misunderstanding and fear that exist between them.

Preceded by Gary’s Story, the newest documentary from SFJFF’s New Jewish Filmmaking Project, about a young Russian Jewish immigrant to San Francisco. Co-sponsored by the David R. Stern Fund at the Agape Foundation. Co-presented by JCCSF Club 18 Teen Program; Zeum; and JSU/Bay Area Association of High School Jewish Clubs

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Sun., July 22nd at 11:30 AM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Sun., July 29th at 2:00 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sat., July 28th at 4:30 PM

Jews in Shorts – out of seven films, the following are from Israel

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.

• I’m Charlie Chaplin by Jay Rosenblatt
• Orders of Love by Jes Benstock
• Tolya – from the Sam Spiegel Film School
• Naturalized
• Weitzman Street No. 10
• Yedidiah;s Collection
• Your Younger Daughter – from Israel’s Sapir Academic College

Co-presented by East Bay Media Center and Berkeley Video and Film Festivals, and by Lehrhaus Judaica

Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Wednesday, August 1st at 8:30 PM

*Knowledge is the Beginning – Germany (114 minutes)
In the 1990s, conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian-born writer and professor Edward Said created the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. This unusual hybrid of a concert movie and a political documentary chronicles the life of the orchestra

Conductor Daniel Barenboim believes that “a life without music is impoverished.” In the 1990s, Barenboim and the late Palestinian-born writer and Columbia University professor Edward Said created the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, comprising talented musicians between the ages of 14 and 25 from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia. The film, an unusual hybrid of a concert movie and a documentary about artistic diplomacy, eloquently chronicles the life of the orchestra.

Sponsored by a friend of the festival and dedicated to David Grossman: parent, writer, public intellectual, humanitarian and conscience of Israel. Co-presented by Marin Synphony and Cinemayaat, the Arab Film Festival

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Wed., July 25th at 4:00 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Tues., July 31st at 8:15 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Thurs., August 2nd at 8:30 PM
Smith Rafael Film Center – Sat., August 4th at 2:00 PM

ADDES -

LADINO: 500 YEARS YOUNG - Yasmin Levy is following in the footsteps of her father, Yitzhak Levy, a revered singer who recorded and documented the musical culture of Ladino, the ancient language of the Jews of Spain. Now Yasmin is trying to preserve the songs of an endangered culture. Ladino follows this electrifying Israeli singer on a singing tour in Spain that includes her tour-de-force performance at a world music festival in Madrid.

Free Wednesday Matinees are generously sponsored by the Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation
Co-presented by JIMENA, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa; and by the Bureau of Jewish Education's Jewish Community Library

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Wed., July 25th at 2:00 PM – Free Matinee
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Mon,. July 30th at 2:15 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Wed., August 1st at 2:340 PM – Free Matine

Lebanon Dreams – Israel  (63 minutes) playing with Borders – Israel  (56 minutes)
When we first meet Samir Farhat, he is a successful Lebanese businessman profiting by importing luxury goods from Israel into Southern Lebanon during Israel’s long military foray there (1982 to 2000). Farhat, a cross between Brecht’s Mother Courage and a character in a Greek tragedy, wears whatever uniform is convenient, be it from the Southern Lebanese or the Israeli army. His business acumen allows no room for morality and his politics consist of cultivating whoever happens to be in power. And yet he is fascinating, both because of his self-determination amidst absolute chaos and because his existence raises the question, Did he contribute to creating the war, or did the war create him? Nurit Kedar has fashioned a devastating documentary portrait of the profiteer she first encountered while filming Borders.

Preceded by Borders - Filmmakers Nurit Kedar and Eran Riklis teamed up to make Borders, a riveting documentary that puts a human face on the neighbors who live alongside Israel’s 1,171 kilometers of borders. The film deftly explores the political, cultural and geographical divisions that separate Israelis, Lebanese, Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians and Palestinians from one another. Some of these borders are peaceful and quiet; others are fraught. Co-presented by Jewish Voice for Peace and the American Friends Service Committee.

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Thurs., July 26th at 12:15
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sat., July 28th at 11:00 AM

The Longing: the Forgotten Jews of South America -Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Israel and the United States (75 minutes)
The poignant and inspiring story of six South Americans who long to affirm their Jewish faith against all odds. They believe they are among millions descended from crypto-Jews, immigrants to the Americas who secretly practiced Judaism despite centuries of draconian prohibition during the Spanish Inquisition. Now their descendants wish to reclaim a heritage and a faith long buried, but face resistance from both within and outside the Jewish community.

Co-sponsored by Be’chol Lashon, a project of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research
Co-presented by Congregation Rodef Sholom and Latino Film Festival of the San Francisco Bay Area

Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Mon., July 30th at 4:30 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sat., August 4th at 4:45 PM
Smith Rafael Film Center – Sun., August 5th at 2:15 PM

Max Baer’s Last Right Hook – Israel (66 minutes)  playing with My Son, The Hero - United States (52 minutes
Ulmer’s 1943 My Son, the Hero is a delightful slapstick farce that showcases boxer “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom’s acting talent as well as the zany and enchanting comedic performances of Roscoe Karns and the great Patsy Kelly. Karns plays Big Time, a con man who pretends to be wealthy during his war hero son’s furlough. Preceded by Max Baer’s Last Right Hook, a boxing history film with a twist.

Co-presented by the Judah L. Magnes Museum

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Sun., July 22nd at 9:45 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Thurs., August 2nd at 1:45 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Wed., August 1st at 6:30 PM

Mr. Cortisone, Happy Days – Israel (90 minutes)
If you are a sucker for love stories and unexpected angles, the evocative cinematography, dialogues with doctors, dogs named Fellini and mirrors in this intimate tour de force are visceral. Some call this a powerful documentary of a spirited man confronting a cancer. But it’s much more. The director with his oh-so-Jewish wit is looking for salvation. He finds it by creating a cinematic masterpiece.—Erica Marcus
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Co-presented by the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Thurs., July 26th at 3:15 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Tues., July 31st at 2:15 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sun., July 29th at 1:45 PM

Sidewalk – Israel (57 minutes)
When does it all begin—how do we become who we become? How does it happen that we get slotted into our places in the social pecking order? How did any of us survive the tribulations of childhood? These are some of the questions that may pass through your mind as you watch Sidewalk, the latest documentary by Festival favorite Duki Dror. Dror presents a simple, child’s-eye view that may jog a few of your own childhood memories. Beyond that, Sidewalk is filled with marvelous observations—some wry and hilarious, others painful and poetic—as he follows kids on their daily journeys to and from school. Dror has the same wondrous gift of bittersweet nostalgia that the cartoonists Charles M. Schulz and Lynda Barry have. They all remind us that the touch of our childhood is with us—and marks us—forever.

Playing with Jonathan - It seems like a straightforward home movie, but we promise Jonathan is anything but. Rather, it is an impossibly prescient piece of filmmaking whose seeming simplicity belies its narrative power. Jonathan tells the story of a little boy who wants to dress up as the Little Mermaid for Purim, and you wouldn’t think you could care so much about whether or not he gets to fulfill his dream. Jonathan makes us think again about what little boys are made of.

Co-presented by the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay and by Temple Sinai of Oakland.

Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sunday, July 29th at 11:30 AM

Sweet Mud - Israel and Germany (100 Minutes) Feature
Northern California Premiere
Dror Shaul     Israel, Germany, 2006, 100 min., color, Hebrew, w/Eng. Subtitles
Principal Cast: Tomer Steinhof, Ronit Yudkevitch, Henri Garcin

One of the year’s most accomplished and celebrated international dramas, Sweet Mud peels back the romantic mythology surrounding communal life on an Israeli kibbutz to tell a personal, poignant story of thwarted love, adolescent awakening and human failings. It is 1974, and 12-year-old Dvir must care for his emotionally fragile mother. When her much-rumored boyfriend appears from Switzerland, things begin to look up, but a series of small but earthshaking conflicts will test the nascent family as well as the ability of the kibbutz to take care of its most vulnerable members. Winner, Sundance Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema.

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Thurs., July 19th at 8:00 PM *
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Thurs., August 2nd at 6:15 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sat., August 4th at 8:00 PM
Smith Rafael Film Center – Mon., August 6th at 6:30 PM

Three Mothers - Israel (106 minutes) Feature
The multigenerational saga of beautiful but troubled triplets, Flora, Yasmin and Rose. Following them over 60 years from Egypt to Israel (and interspersed with haunting songs), this intimate drama reveals the sisters coming to terms with long-buried secrets, exploring how even the closest relationships—sisterhood, motherhood, marriage—can be both tender and vicious. Starring Gila Almagor and nominated for nine Israeli Academy Awards. Co-sponsored by Fred Levin & Nancy Livingston, The Shenson Foundation

Co-presented by JIMENA, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa; Peninsula Jewish Community Center; and Jewish Family & Children's Services of the East Bay

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Sat., July 21st at 4:30 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Mon., July 30th at 6:30 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sat., August 4th at 9:15 PM
Smith Rafael Film Center – Mon., August 6th at 8:45 PM

A Touch Away – Israel (eight 40 minute segments)
If you thought smartly written, superbly acted television dramas only happen on HBO, think again: A Touch Away takes a slice of contemporary Tel Aviv life and spins out a marvelous multi-family drama. The series revolves around the forbidden love between a young Russian immigrant man and his neighbor, an Orthodox Jewish girl. Eight episodes screen over two days at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. Co-presented by Kritzer/Ross Émigré Program, JCCSF, and by the Club NooN and 79ers programs at Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.

The series contains eight 40-minute episodes. Each episode includes a brief recap of the story, so it is not essential to see them sequentially. Screenings (with brief intermission) will take place in two four-episode blocks, separate admission for each block.

Part 1 (Episodes 1-4)                Sat Aug 4     7:30pm
Part 1 (Episodes 1-4)                Sun Aug 5    12:30pm
Part 2 (Episodes 5-8)                Sun Aug 5    4:00pm

Saturday, August 4th and Sunday, August 5th

Special 2-part screening at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

Wasted – Israel (70 minutes)
Veteran filmmaker Nurit Kedar’s accomplished documentary Wasted (based on Ron Leshem’s novel If There Is a Heaven) is a candid look at Israeli soldiers who served in the fortress of Beaufort in Southern Lebanon before Israel’s withdrawal in 2000. A quiet, elegant film about the horrors of war, Wasted intersperses interviews with the young soldiers with footage of the Bat Sheva Dance Company.
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Co-presented by the Contemporary Jewish Museum and Jewish Voice for Peace

Castro Theatre, San Francisco – Wed., July 25th at 9:00 PM
Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Wed., August 1st at 4:30 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Sat., July 25th at 1:50 PM

Yoel, Israel and the Pashkevils – Israel (54 minutes) playing with Film Fanatic – Israel (55 minutes)
Film Fanatic is a captivating portrait of Yehuda Grovais, an energetic Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jew who has made over 50 feature films geared toward members of his community (who are prohibited from watching mainstream movies, but watch his films on disc). Preceded by Yoel, Israel and the Pashkevils, an unusual documentary because of its access to a hidden community, about a printer of protest posters (pashkevils) and his zealous nemesis.

Co-presented by East Bay Media Center and Berkeley Video and Film Festivals, and Peninsula Temple Sholom

Aquarius Theatre, Palo Alto – Sun., July 29th at 11:45 PM
Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Rep – Tues., July 31st at 1:45 PM