SF Jewish Film Fest Turns 45 with a Diverse Lineup
This year, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (hereafter “SFJFF”) morphs into a record single. In other words, this year SFJFF turns 45 (Dad joke cymbal clash). Running from July 17 to August 3, 2025 on both sides of the Bay, the festival offers new takes on the teen summer camp tale and the “what are we” conversation; a portrait of the legendary TV/film writer who wrote “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more”; a heist documentary set in a Polish basement; and (of course) a couple of powerful if unexpected takes on the Israel/Palestine conflict.
It’s understandable if readers are hesitant to check out SFJFF 45 because of the current Israel/Palestine situation. But it is possible to both admire the products of Jewish culture and also want to hold accountable the deplorable actions of the Netanyahu government and the settlers who support it. That said, this writer is admittedly disappointed SFJFF didn’t get the chance to show Nadav Lapid’s new film “Yes!”
For those intending to take the SFJFF plunge, they should know festival screenings will take place at such venues as the AMC Kabuki 8, the Piedmont Theatre, and the Roxie Theatre.
Opening Night honors go to Amber Fares’ “Coexistence, My Ass!” The Sundance Award-winning documentary shows that diplomacy and stand-up comedy can exist on the same person’s resume. The film follows Noam Shuster-Eliassi, a U.N. diplomat turned stand-up comedian, as she hones her political comedy set over several years. Her performances may provide the film’s backbone, but also important are the changing political dynamics of the relationship between Israel and Palestine and the dialogue surrounding both nations.
A far different approach to reading Jewish-Muslim coexistence for filth takes place in Danae Elon’s documentary “Rule Of Stone.” Seeing the special light created in Jerusalem by the setting sun’s beams bouncing off the special Jerusalem Stone that clads many of the city’s buildings creates the illusion of a unified city shared by two peoples…even as the political facts on the ground shout otherwise. Now Mayor Teddy Kollek’s plans to redesign Jerusalem will throw the city’s central illusion further out of balance as it will displace the Palestinians already living there.
A different sort of neighborhood eviction takes place in Jeremy Xido’s work-in-progress personal documentary “Sons Of Detroit.” After a long absence, artist Xido returns to his old childhood Detroit neighborhood. Yet as he reconnects with “cousin” and best friend Boo, the director must face some prickly truths. He had the ability to leave the neighborhood as he was the only white kid there. Yet Boo was one of those neighborhood residents who didn’t have the option of leaving. The two men reflect on their personal bond and the greater forces shaping Detroit’s history.
A different reckoning with the past takes place in Sophie Rose’s personal Local Spotlight documentary “The Feeling Remains.” It uses as its primary medium her family’s home movies, shot on video in the 1990s. The film uses the voices of her parents and siblings to recount the trauma that split her family apart. Yet the film’s also about the fallibility of personal memory as the viewer tries to piece together what happened.
A different sort of family drama takes place in Justin Schein’s documentary “Death & Taxes.” Family assets and economics are also mixed into the drama. The director’s late father, record executive Harvey Schein, was obsessed with keeping as many of the Schein family assets as possible so he could provide for his family after he died. His bete noire was the estate tax, which he called the terrible “death tax.” But an estate tax that perpetuates income inequality isn’t something to be proud of either when it helps the rich get obscenely richer.
Another wrong treated as the law of the land is the transphobic U.S. v. Skrimetti decision. Even though the viewer will know how the case at the center of Sam Feder’s Take Action Spotlight documentary “Heightened Scrutiny” will end, there are still reasons to watch it besides seeing ACLU attorney (who is trans) Chase Strangio prepare his oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. The film’s also a portrait of public trans resistance in the face of a hostile media environment.
A different sort of resistance is displayed by Babs Daitch. She may be an octogenarian, but she lives by resisting the idea that her chronological age limits what she can do in life. Having many five-year plans spurs her to race through the years. Jen Rainin introduces viewers to the still energetic Babs in her documentary short “Thanks, Babs!”
Another unlikely transformation took place with a certain shy Jewish kid from Long Island. Rather than shrink from the public eye, the central subject of Clay Tweel’s documentary “Andy Kaufman Is Me” eventually became a pioneer in what came to be known as alternative comedy. This film charts Kaufman’s rise from his childhood bedroom performances to his moving up through the standup comedy circuit to his unforgettable television appearances.
The “are we just friends or are we a couple” question gets a hilarious reaming in Sophie Brooks’ uncomfortable comedy “Oh, Hi!” SFJFF 45’s Next Wave Spotlight Film follows Iris and Isaac’s first big weekend getaway together at a Shaker House Airbnb. Everything couldn’t be better…until the “what are we” conversation comes up. The result of that conversation and an unexpected discovery might very well result in this weekend being their last one together. Think of a comic version of “Leave Her To Heaven.”
Far different emotional traumas befall the family at the heart of Cooper Raiff’s TV dramedy series “Hal & Harper.” Hal (Raiff) just wants to graduate college and become self-sufficient. Sister Harper (Lili Reinhart) is trying to bounce back from a breakup. And their Dad (Mark Ruffalo) just wants to be a good partner. But a major life announcement brings up some unpleasant family memories. This screening presents the series’ first three episodes.
In Tom Nesher’s drama “Come Closer,” the restless and wild Eden comes to an emotional screeching halt thanks to the death of her younger brother Nati. When she learns of Maya, Nati’s secret girlfriend, she tracks down the young woman. Their common loss provides these two women with a bonding opportunity. But what happens when their relationship becomes something more physical? Winner of several Israeli Ophir Awards and a Tribeca Film Festival award.
Serving as Centerpiece Narrative is Matthew Shear’s dramedy “Fantasy Life.” When 30-ish Sam Stein (Shear) loses his paralegal job, he’s saved from emotionally spiraling by his psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch). The doctor prescribes both Xanax and a manny job involving the doctor’s three granddaughters. The girls are the kids of unsatisfied actress Dianne Cohen (Amanda Peet), who despite having a good marriage feels talking with Sam helps her deal with her life’s disappointments. Can Sam and Dianne somehow help each other?
The Centerpiece Documentary spot goes to the 2025 Berlin Film Festival’s Best Documentary Award winner, Brandon Kramer’s “Holding Liat.” The titular woman is Liat Atzili, who was one of the Israelis kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. The film follows the complicated struggles of Liat’s parents, Yehuda and Chaya Beinin, to bring their daughter home alive by applying pressure on both the U.S. and Israeli governments. Yet despite Netanyahu’s and the current Israeli government’s continual political pooch-screwing, Yehuda still believes in the possibilities of peace and a two-state solution.
Swiss-Palestinian filmmaker Yvann Yagchi, on the other hand, might have doubts about that solution becoming reality. He had a Jewish friend through their formative years in Switzerland. A present-day visit to the friend reveals that person lives in a West Bank Israeli settlement, and their relationship is in danger of permanently disintegrating thanks to current politics. While Yagchi deals with that possibility, he starts getting in touch with his roots by learning about his mother’s childhood and his distinguished great-grandfather. The result is Yagchi’s personal documentary “There Was Nothing Here Before.”
Maybe the answer is making Israel bi-national, or a country where Jews and Muslims live together as equals rather than continuing its current apartheid-like arrangement. This was one of the ideas proposed by the famed Henrietta Szold, the subject of Abby Ginzberg’s documentary “Labors Of Love: The Life And Legacy Of Henrietta Szold.” The director describes Szold as the “greatest Jewish feminist you’ve never heard of” who left a remarkable legacy in Palestine and America. Szold may not have gone to college, but aside from her aforementioned bi-nationalism idea, her accomplishments included creating the forerunner of ESL education and helping make classics of Jewish culture accessible in English.
A more familiar name in Jewish culture will probably be Elie Wiesel. The Nobel Peace Prize winner is the subject of Oren Rudavsky’s documentary “Elie Wiesel: Soul On Fire.” The film shows why Wiesel shouldn’t casually be stereotyped as “the guy who writes a lot about the Holocaust.” Yes, his fame rests on his searing accounts of his firsthand remembrances of that traumatic event. But his message about standing up against indifference to the suffering of hate’s victims is sadly still relevant given the current wave of ICE Gestapo kidnappings.
Speaking of World War II and the Gestapo, readers may want to check out Silvio Soldini’s adaptation of Rosella Postorino’s At The Wolf’s Table. Rosa is one of “The Tasters,” women who have the job of tasting Adolf Hitler’s food to make sure it hasn’t been poisoned. As the war rages on, the job becomes more complicated thanks to Rosa’s divided loyalties between SS Lieutenant Ziegler and such sister tasters as Elfriede. The trouble is, Elfriede carries a secret whose revelation would earn both women death.
Another World War II secret is the subject of Dan Sturman’s entertaining heist documentary “The Stamp Thief.” Could a basement in Legnica, Poland contain a buried treasure trove of valuable stamps stolen by a Nazi officer from a concentration camp? To find out, screenwriter Gary Gilbert assembles a group posing as a crew shooting a feature film.
On the other hand, there’s nothing lighthearted about Cameron S. Mitchell’s chilling documentary “Disposable Humanity,” which was previously screened at Slamdance. It’s a recounting of the Nazis’ notorious yet forgotten Aktion T4 program. That program rationalized the mass killing of the disabled as disposing of “life unworthy of life,” and in its way served as a dry run for the Holocaust.
In Alex Silberberg’s short “The Auschwitz Bagel,” a trio of siblings are already under stress at their great aunt’s funeral. Did things need to be more complicated with family dysfunction and their father’s new sexuality?
Fans of cringe comedy may want to check out the series pilot for “Bulldozer.” Andrew Leeds’ tale concerns Jo Goodman’s (co-creator Joanna Leeds) rocky efforts to navigate post-breakup life. Her need for closure on the breakup jostles with concerns over her medical problems. Add in uncertainty about the course of her new relationship, and it’s a wonder Jo can get through life.
Joe Stephenson’s biopic “Midas Man” presents the story of a famous real-life man also navigating a rocky road in life. He was a gay Jewish man in pre-swinging 1960s England, a not always hospitable or progressive environment. His name was Brian Epstein, and he would be the manager who ultimately turned four lads from Liverpool into rock legends.
Famous in a different way is screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, who’s won three screenwriting Oscars over the course of his professional career. Yet mentioning Chayefsky’s name nowadays is likely to be greeted by a “who?” Matthew Miele’s documentary “Paddy Chayefsky: Collector Of Words” introduces the famed writer to a new generation and reintroduces him to viewers who remember his famous line “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.” Hear from Chayefsky fans as diverse as Aaron Sorkin, Larry David, and Judd Apatow about the late screenwriter’s influence on their own work. Incidentally, SFJFF 45 will also screen “Network,” the film where Peter Finch uttered the “mad as hell” line.
Another highly praised creative talent is interdisciplinary art pioneer Meredith Monk. This composer and performer paired theater, dance, and installations with music that centered on her three-octave voice. But as Monk enters her seventh decade of creativity, will her unique creative works die with her? Billy Shebar’s documentary “Monk In Pieces” takes viewers through the visionary artist’s life and career.
Another unconventional creative who’s worked for decades is the subject of Toby Perl Freilich’s documentary “Maintenance Artist.” For over six decades, artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles has quietly and subversively used as her subject the everyday acts of human labor (e.g. motherhood and sanitation) that allow a society to function. Rather than relying on sentimentality, her collaborative art pieces exalt these unseen but necessary jobs.
On the other hand, Nomi sees her job as fill-in Camp Daveed counselor as a replacement for her unceremonious bouncing from her rock band on the eve of a big tour. The protagonist of Rachel Israel’s SFJFF 45’s Closing Night film “The Floaters,” might not be keen on being the summer camp’s Artistic Director, but she’s less keen on doing the umpteenth production of “Fiddler On The Roof.” Then again, that’s a minor complaint compared to the camp’s dodgy septic systems and mandatory lice checks. Winning the Maccabiah Games challenge against wealthier Camp Barak could provide a much needed cash infusion to Camp Daveed. But will Nomi’s decision to do an original production for the theatrical challenge lead to victory or disaster?
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