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January 22 - San Francisco Screening. Two films which look at the presence of American music in two different Israeli subcultures "Channels of Rage" and "Caravan 841"

January 28 - Palo Alto Screening. Two films which look at the presence of American music in two different Israeli subcultures "Channels of Rage" and "Caravan 841"

February 19 - San Francisco Screening. FORERUNNERS" is the story of three Israeli women who share the same dream and unite to form a professional women's soccer team in Israel.

February 26 - Palo Alto Screening.“FORERUNNERS is the story of three Israeli women who share the same dream and unite to form a professional women's soccer team in Israel.

March 18 - San Francisco Screening. Double Feature: Chronicle of A Jerusalem Courtyard with The Postwoman.

March 25 - Palo Alto Screening. Double Feature: Chronicle of A Jerusalem Courtyard with The Postwoman.

September 30 - Sukkot Special “Bonjour Misour Shlomi”. North Peninsula outdoor screening with dinner.

December 25 - San Francisco. Christmas Special: 2 Israeli films, Israeli Animation Shorts & Chinese dinner.

January 26 - San Francisco Screening. Co-presented with the SF Jewish Film Festival.

February 17 - Peninsula Screening. Columbia - The Tragic Loss followed by a talk with Ilan Ramon's close friendIsraeli airforce pilot Nimrod Goor.

February 23 - San Francisco Screening in collaboration with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts & & the SF Jewish Film Festival. Avanim.

February 24 - San Francisco Screening. Columbia - The Tragic Loss followed by a talk with Ilan Ramon's close friend Israeli airforce pilot Nimrod Goor and David Akov Consul General of Israel for the Pacific Northwest region.

March 17 - Peninsula Screening. Hilarious comedy special for Purim! SIMA VAKNINIS A WITCH.

June 5 - Israel In Motion at Israel in the Gardens. Israeli Film Festival Continuously showing the best of Israel's recent
Drama, Comedy, Satire, Documentary and Animation Shorts.

Ha'hamishia Hkamerit - (he Cameri Quintet)

Televised Satire- An award-winning satire and one of the most influential television shows that redefined the boundaries of the genre in Israeli society. Starring Dov Navon, Keren Mor, Rami Hoiberger, Menashe Noy, and Shai Avivi.
Written by Israel's top-notch writers including Etgar Keret, the most popular writer among Israel's young generation.

Sam Spiegel film and television school, 15th Anniversary collection

Established in 1989, The Sam Spiegel School is considered to be among the leading film and television schools in the world. The School's films represent Israel at some 80 international film festival annually such as Cann and Berlin, won the Best Film School in Europe an the World over seven times, and trained some of the best professionals in the history of Israel's film industry.
Screening: Personal Goals by Ran Carmeli 1996, Sea Horses by Nir Bergman 1998 (which later developed into the award winning Broken Wings), Cock Fight by Sigalit Liphshitz 2000, and Sliding Flora by Talya Lavie 2003.

Moments

A collection of short films by different artists premiered at the 2002 Jerusalem Film Festival. A joint initiative of the New Foundation for Cinema & Television, the Jerusalem Film Festival and TelAd/Channel: "We felt we had to do something about the situation, because we filmmakers have no weapons besides our camera, and so it should be… The films cover a wide range of genres, techniques and issues. This variety is a faithful reflection of the sometimes unbearable complexity of our feelin

Ever since its opening in 1906, Bezalel has been the most prominent academy of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture in Israel, and now holds one of the best animation departments in the country which cultivates some of Israel's best animators who are recognized world-wide. Screening a selection of animation clips from the last couple of years.

Who's The Israeli? - TV Comedy Doc 2005

Wednesday July 27 -San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Special TZAVTA reception w/ the actress from the movie "Campfire" - Hani Furstenberg.

Directed by: Avi Nesher
Unlikely romances develop in the Israeli desert in the excellent "Turn Left at the End of the World," Israel's best selling film so far, commencing just after the Six-Day War and amidst the turbulent climate of social change and post-colonialism in the '60s, "Turn Left at the End of the World" chronicles the relations between two communities -- Indian and Moroccan Jews -- in a remote Israeli desert town through the eyes of two girls coming of age. Nicole (Netta Garti) is a mouthy, flirty, but also naïve Moroccan teenager, and Sarah (Liraz Charhi) is thoughtful, intelligent, if quieter and more removed, whose family has just moved in next door... Learn more...

Directed by: Shay Kanot
Starring: Mili Avital, Assi Cohen, Shmil Ben Ari, Nir Levi, Osnat Hakim, Einat Weitzman, I. Barnea, Lirit Balaban.

"What's a wedding? It's like putting yourself in jail so you can sleep with the warden every night!"... Uri (Assi Cohen) and Tali (Mili Avital) are a young couple in love. At the wedding of her best friend, Tali discovers that the guys, and in particular Uri, partied with a stripper at the bachelor party. Tali throws Uri out of the house and he, fearing the loss of the love of his life, hurriedly proposes marriage. Uri and Tali announce to their families that they are getting married, and this releases all of the family madness. The wedding day arrives and it appears as if everything is going to be okay, but as soon as the ceremony is over, things go out of control. Pini (Shmil Ben Ari), the father of the happy groom, is offended by the bride and makes a crazy ultimatum. Now, Uri is in a terrible dilemma--should he remain faithful to his family or to his new wife. Tali must decide if she is willing to sacrifice her honor for the sake of love. In Colombian Love, the filmmakers tell the story of their own generation--a generation alienated and uncommitted, that no longer believes in anything and is just waiting for life to begin. Perhaps this is their way of repressing the surrounding madness into which they were born. This is a wild comedy about love so true that not even a wedding can destroy.

January 31 - Ushpizin. As the festive holiday of Succoth approaches, Moshe Bellanga, a devoutly religious man with a big heart, who is a member of the Breslau Chasidim, finds himself broke - a self describes "lump of sadness." Moshe doesn't have the money to scrape together a Succah, a temporary dwelling religious Jews stay in during the festival to commemorate the time of Exodus; nor does he have the means to purchase the four plant... More

July - August - San Francisco Jewish Film Festival: special presentations of Israel films

Close to Home - Israel, 2005 94 minutes, Arabic, and Hebrew with English subtitles.
An army buddy movie - but these buddies happen to be young women Israeli soldiers. A unique view on the female experience of military service at a time of heightened security concerns, it’s also a well-crafted coming-of-age tale about friendship between two opposites. Smadar, the quintessential bad girl, is boy-crazy and a recreational shoplifter to boot. Mirit is the goody two-shoes who tries to be the perfect soldier so she can be transferred and not posted “close to home.” Vidi Bilu and Dalia Hager's new feature transcends politics and borders with the strength of its storytelling and the universality of its characters. Co-sponsored by Congregation Emanu-El Young Adults and by Tzavta at San Francisco Israel Center of the JCF.

Preceded by
The Substitute - California Premiere, Israel, 2005, 19 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles. Zohara, an army clerk, has been waiting for months to get a transfer from her remote base. Today is the day. But When her substitute shows up appearing to be emotionally unstable, Zohara’s plans threaten to unravel.

What a Wonderful Place - North American Premiere, Israel, 2004, 104 minutes, English, Hebrew, and Russian with English subtitles. Awarded “Best Picture” in Israel last year! This tough, bittersweet drama links the lives of desperate men and women on the fringes of Israeli society, looking for someplace to call home. Ex-cop Franco is reduced to smuggling illegal immigrant girls from the former Soviet Union on behalf of a violent gangster but is touched by Jana, a wispy Ukrainian woman trying to earn money for her daughter back home. Their deepening relationship forms the spine of this brilliant feature.

An Israeli Double-Bill Plus a Short Bonus and Traditional Chinese Food for Christmas Day Treat! Co-sponsored with the JCC of San Francisco

Monday, December 25, 2006, 4:30 pm. (with dinner at 6:15). JCCSF, 3200 California St. (@ Presidio), San Francisco (Kanbar Hall). Tickets: $12.00 Member / $15.00 Public.

A moving drama about a family's attempts to overcome the loss of their father, and the tensions which 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’s. 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:
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 which 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 that succeeded it.

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

The greatest Israeli satirist of the 1950s and 60s, Ephraim Kishon, 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 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 the crazy initiative, 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 the Golden Globe (Kishon’s earlier features, Sallah and Officer Azulai won the Golden Globe and were Oscar nominees).

Written and Directed by: Ephraim Kishon
With: Bomba Tzur, Shaike Ophir, Nissim Azikri, Shraga Friedman, Oded Teomi
Hebrew, with English Subtitle