From politics to pop music to sock puppets, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival The festival covers a lot of territory in its 44th annual edition, though that territory has changed, as the Castro Theatre’s renovation has moved screenings from San Francisco primarily to the Palace of Fine Arts and the Vogue Theatre. After those 10 days end on Sunday the 27th, there will be six more days of programming at Landmark’s Piedmont Theatre in Oakland, from July 30 to August 4.

Things kick off this Thursday the 18th with what will be a great childhood flashback for many viewers: Lisa D’Apolito’s documentary Shari and lamb chops offers a comprehensive tribute to the late Shari Lewis, whose career spanned more than half a century. An accomplished singer and dancer, she also developed a remarkable skill for high-speed, multi-character ventriloquism. After getting her first “big break” on Arthur Godfrey Talent scouts In 1951, she moved from hosting regional children’s shows to national broadcasting, eventually developing the iconic characters of Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy.

His mixture of education, fantasy and self-affirmation long predates that of Sesame Street— and she, too, eventually ended up on PBS. (Though during a lull, she had a surprising interlude doing more risqué puppet material in Las Vegas.) A “queen of the gifted” who at one point learned to perform her entire stage act in Japanese, she comes across here as a driven show-business professional who was never “down.” But her impact on generations of children cannot be underestimated. The opening show this Thursday, the 18th, will be followed by a party, both at the Palace of Fine Arts; the film will be rerun on Wednesday, the 31st, at Piedmont.

Two days later, in the same SF theater, the JFF will welcome the prolific New York independent filmmaker Nathan Silver, whose latest film may well be his most seen. It’s certainly his funniest. Between the temples Jason Schwartzman stars as Ben, a synagogue cantor in upstate New York. He’s depressed, and no wonder: His wife died in an accident a year ago. Yet everyone from his lesbian “two moms” (Caroline Aaron, Dolly de Leon) to his rabbi (SNL veteran Robert Smigel) pushes him toward any eligible woman, assuming a new love will solve his problem.

They don’t have in mind someone like Carla (Carol Kane), a free-spirited 70-year-old widow who was once Ben’s elementary school music teacher. Meeting by chance, they discover an affinity that is both endearing and a little anarchic, terms that also fit this film, which has a touch of inspired improvisational comedy and a great soundtrack of vintage Hebrew pop rock. The Franco-Italiananother offbeat comedy, apparently fueled by improv, in which a neurotic young couple takes bizarre and elaborate revenge on the neighbors who kick them out of their Manhattan apartment. This is a “New Wave Spotlight” starring Peter Vack WWW.RACHELORMONT.COM (yes, that’s the title) at the Roxie on Thursday the 25th.

Temples is the central narrative selection of the festival, broadcast on Saturday, August 20; its documentary counterpart (broadcast at Piedmont on August 3) is Diane Warren: Relentless. The subject is arguably the world’s most commercially successful living songwriter, having written (or sometimes co-written) hits for an impressive array of artists, including Cher, Aerosmith, Lee Ann Rimes, Celine Dion, En Vogue, Elton John, Selena, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Barbara Streisland, Ricky Martin, Meat Loaf, Mariah Carey, Carrie Underwood, Cheap Trick, Bette Midler, Beyonce… the list goes on. This behind-the-scenes portrait reveals a personality as colorful as the stars that orbit around her. A rarer songwriting talent in the pop arena is showcased in Varda Bar-Kar’s film Janis Ian: Breaking the Silencewith the director and the subject expected at the Sun/21 Palace premiere.

The official closing game in San Francisco, on Sunday the 28th (it is also played two days later in Oakland) is Queen of the Sabbath by Sandi DuBowski, whose previous Tremble before God He has focused on the conflicted lives of gay Orthodox Jews. His latest book focuses on one activist in that milieu: Amichai Lau-Lavie, the scion of a prominent Israeli family who moved to New York in 1997 after being outed by the press in his home country. Radicalized by the gay scene, he began devoting himself to making Jewish religious practices more inclusive, even going so far as to attend the Jewish theological seminary in order to become “a virus within the system”—steps that have sparked much controversy.

Other special LGBTQ+ programs of interest at JFF this year include celebrations of two singular artists: Lessons from fishing (Roxie Wed/24) finds the outrageous Canadian expatriate musician celebrating the 20th anniversary of the triumph of her eponymous electroclash album; TABOO traces the life of Amos Guttman, who directed only feature films for a decade before his death from AIDS in 1993, but who nevertheless had a great and lasting influence on Israeli cinema and gay culture.

Winding the clock back significantly is a real rarity: the 1922s Breaking ties at homean American silent drama long thought lost until a single surviving print was found in Europe. Now restored, it is accompanied by on-screen text explaining that the Pennsylvania-set film was “produced for the express purpose of countering the escalation of anti-Semitism in the United States, stirred up by the Ku Klux Klan and Henry Ford.” (Although he publicly apologized for encouraging bigotry, the General Motors magnate would also do business with the Nazis for many years to come.)

Written and directed by the team of George K. Rolands and Frank N. Seltzer, it is a moving melodrama in which a prosperous Russian Jewish family living near St. Petersburg finds itself torn apart by the fallout of a love triangle, their son fleeing to America while those left behind fall into poverty. Professionally directed, though devoid of style or redeeming verve, this rather ponderous soap opera heads toward a highly contrived accidental reunion. But it remains of great historical interest for its highly atypical portrait of Jewish life at the time, without condescension, caricature or exoticism. There will be live musical accompaniment at the Vogue screening on Tuesday 23rd.

There’s much more on the SFJFF44 agenda, including a Freedom of Expression Award tribute to filmmaker Julie Cohen (RBG) Saturday 27; portraits of activists (Winner, There is no going back to the merry-go-round, The journey ahead, Jews by choice); burning questions (XCLD: The History of Cancel Culture, Nobody wants to talk about Jacob Appelbaum). Of course, there is no shortage of material addressing Israeli-Palestinian dynamics, including documentaries. Lyd, The other, Three promisessand Doctor, heal thyselfmore stories Mediterranean fever And The missing soldier.

In fact, Dani Rosenberg The missing soldier The drama, which tells the story of an Israeli army soldier who deserts amid the fighting in Gaza, is one of the strongest of the many Israeli features presented here, alongside Avi Nesher’s twisting, barbed-wire film. Pygmalion rotation The Monkey House. Others of interest are Veronica Kedar ExcursionistsMaya Dreifuss’ Highway 65,Eitan Green My daughter, my loveShalom Hager Under the shadow of the sunMaya Kenig’s Sci-Fi-Tinged Satire The Milky WayAdar Shafran Running on the sandand more.

American films range from Daniel Robbins’ dark comedy Bad Shabbat to Ondi Timoner’s latest project, work in progress All God’s children. An endearing Hungarian serious comedy. All about the Levkovitches is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of a broader international presence, which also includes France (Auction, Neither day nor night), Germany (The glory of life), Italy (The Assembly), Ukraine (The Porcelain War) and Colombia (Tropical Torah). The geographical and cultural diversity is even greater among the myriad of short films presented.

Local filmmakers will be well represented, as will projects that have received creative support or funding through the festival’s parent organization, the Jewish Film Institute. These paths will no doubt be among the many that intersect during this period of overlap. Jewish Film Presenters Network Conference 2024whose gathering of creators, programmers, distributors, industry experts and other personnel takes place this weekend (July 20-21).

44th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will run from July 18th to August 4th at various locations in SF and the East Bay. For the full schedule, times and ticket information, visit www.sfjff.org

From politics to pop music to sock puppets, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival The festival covers a lot of territory in its 44th annual edition, though that territory has changed, as the Castro Theatre’s renovation has moved screenings from San Francisco primarily to the Palace of Fine Arts and the Vogue Theatre. After those 10 days end on Sunday the 27th, there will be six more days of programming at Landmark’s Piedmont Theatre in Oakland, from July 30 to August 4.

Things kick off this Thursday the 18th with what will be a great childhood flashback for many viewers: Lisa D’Apolito’s documentary Shari and lamb chops offers a comprehensive tribute to the late Shari Lewis, whose career spanned more than half a century. An accomplished singer and dancer, she also developed a remarkable skill for high-speed, multi-character ventriloquism. After getting her first “big break” on Arthur Godfrey Talent scouts In 1951, she moved from hosting regional children’s shows to national broadcasting, eventually developing the iconic characters of Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy.

His mixture of education, fantasy and self-affirmation long predates that of Sesame Street— and she, too, eventually ended up on PBS. (Though during a lull, she had a surprising interlude doing more risqué puppet material in Las Vegas.) A “queen of the gifted” who at one point learned to perform her entire stage act in Japanese, she comes across here as a driven show-business professional who was never “down.” But her impact on generations of children cannot be underestimated. The opening show this Thursday, the 18th, will be followed by a party, both at the Palace of Fine Arts; the film will be rerun on Wednesday, the 31st, at Piedmont.

Two days later, in the same SF theater, the JFF will welcome the prolific New York independent filmmaker Nathan Silver, whose latest film may well be his most seen. It’s certainly his funniest. Between the temples Jason Schwartzman stars as Ben, a synagogue cantor in upstate New York. He’s depressed, and no wonder: His wife died in an accident a year ago. Yet everyone from his lesbian “two moms” (Caroline Aaron, Dolly de Leon) to his rabbi (SNL veteran Robert Smigel) pushes him toward any eligible woman, assuming a new love will solve his problem.

They don’t have in mind someone like Carla (Carol Kane), a free-spirited 70-year-old widow who was once Ben’s elementary school music teacher. Meeting by chance, they discover an affinity that is both endearing and a little anarchic, terms that also fit this film, which has a touch of inspired improvisational comedy and a great soundtrack of vintage Hebrew pop rock. The Franco-Italiananother offbeat comedy, apparently fueled by improv, in which a neurotic young couple takes bizarre and elaborate revenge on the neighbors who kick them out of their Manhattan apartment. This is a “New Wave Spotlight” starring Peter Vack WWW.RACHELORMONT.COM (yes, that’s the title) at the Roxie on Thursday the 25th.

Temples is the central narrative selection of the festival, broadcast on Saturday, August 20; its documentary counterpart (broadcast at Piedmont on August 3) is Diane Warren: Relentless. The subject is arguably the world’s most commercially successful living songwriter, having written (or sometimes co-written) hits for an impressive array of artists, including Cher, Aerosmith, Lee Ann Rimes, Celine Dion, En Vogue, Elton John, Selena, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Barbara Streisland, Ricky Martin, Meat Loaf, Mariah Carey, Carrie Underwood, Cheap Trick, Bette Midler, Beyonce… the list goes on. This behind-the-scenes portrait reveals a personality as colorful as the stars that orbit around her. A rarer songwriting talent in the pop arena is showcased in Varda Bar-Kar’s film Janis Ian: Breaking the Silencewith the director and the subject expected at the Sun/21 Palace premiere.

The official closing game in San Francisco on Sunday the 28th (it is also played two days later in Oakland) is Queen of the Sabbath by Sandi DuBowski, whose previous Tremble before God He has focused on the conflicted lives of gay Orthodox Jews. His latest book focuses on one activist in that milieu: Amichai Lau-Lavie, the scion of a prominent Israeli family who moved to New York in 1997 after being outed by the press in his home country. Radicalized by the gay scene, he began devoting himself to making Jewish religious practices more inclusive, even going so far as to attend the Jewish theological seminary in order to become “a virus within the system”—steps that have sparked much controversy.

Other special LGBTQ+ programs of interest at JFF this year include celebrations of two singular artists: Lessons from fishing (Roxie Wed/24) finds the outrageous Canadian expatriate musician celebrating the 20th anniversary of the triumph of her eponymous electroclash album; TABOO traces the life of Amos Guttman, who directed only feature films for a decade before his death from AIDS in 1993, but who nevertheless had a great and lasting influence on Israeli cinema and gay culture.

Winding the clock back significantly is a real rarity: the 1922s Breaking ties at homean American silent drama long thought lost until a single surviving print was found in Europe. Now restored, it is accompanied by on-screen text explaining that the Pennsylvania-set film was “produced for the express purpose of countering the escalation of anti-Semitism in the United States, stirred up by the Ku Klux Klan and Henry Ford.” (Although he publicly apologized for encouraging bigotry, the General Motors magnate would also do business with the Nazis for many years to come.)

Written and directed by the team of George K. Rolands and Frank N. Seltzer, it is a moving melodrama in which a prosperous Russian Jewish family living near St. Petersburg finds itself torn apart by the fallout of a love triangle, their son fleeing to America while those left behind fall into poverty. Professionally directed, though devoid of style or redeeming verve, this rather ponderous soap opera heads toward a highly contrived accidental reunion. But it remains of great historical interest for its highly atypical portrait of Jewish life at the time, without condescension, caricature or exoticism. There will be live musical accompaniment at the Vogue screening on Tuesday 23rd.

There’s much more on the SFJFF44 agenda, including a Freedom of Expression Award tribute to filmmaker Julie Cohen (RBG) Saturday 27; portraits of activists (Winner, There is no going back to the merry-go-round, The journey ahead, Jews by choice); burning questions (XCLD: The History of Cancel Culture, Nobody wants to talk about Jacob Appelbaum). Of course, there is no shortage of material addressing Israeli-Palestinian dynamics, including documentaries. Lyd, The other, Three promisessand Doctor, heal thyselfmore stories Mediterranean fever And The missing soldier.

In fact, Dani Rosenberg The missing soldier The drama, which tells the story of an Israeli army soldier who deserts amid the fighting in Gaza, is one of the strongest of the many Israeli features presented here, alongside Avi Nesher’s twisting, barbed-wire film. Pygmalion rotation The Monkey House. Others of interest are Veronica Kedar ExcursionistsMaya Dreifuss’ Highway 65,Eitan Green My daughter, my loveShalom Hager Under the shadow of the sunMaya Kenig’s Sci-Fi-Tinged Satire The Milky WayAdar Shafran Running on the sandand more.

American films range from Daniel Robbins’ dark comedy Bad Shabbat to Ondi Timoner’s latest project, work in progress All God’s children. An endearing Hungarian serious comedy. All about the Levkovitches is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of a broader international presence, which also includes France (Auction, Neither day nor night), Germany (The glory of life), Italy (The Assembly), Ukraine (The Porcelain War) and Colombia (Tropical Torah). The geographical and cultural diversity is even greater among the myriad of short films presented.

Local filmmakers will be well represented, as will projects that have received creative support or funding through the festival’s parent organization, the Jewish Film Institute. These paths will no doubt be among the many that intersect during this period of overlap. Jewish Film Presenters Network Conference 2024whose gathering of creators, programmers, distributors, industry experts and other personnel takes place this weekend (July 20-21).

44th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will run from July 18th to August 4th at various locations in SF and the East Bay. For the full schedule, times and ticket information, visit www.sfjff.org