SAN DIEGO (Press Release) – The San Diego Jewish Film Festival, announces its 23rd season with an 11-day run, February 7-17, 2013, featuring 47 films and shorts from 10 different countries. Heralded as the largest Jewish cultural event in San Diego, the festival expects to draw over 16,000 patrons to four convenient venues around the county: Reading Cinemas 14 (4665 Clairemont Dr.), City of Carlsbad — Dove Library (1775 Dove Lane), San Marcos Stadium 18 (1180 W. San Marcos Blvd.), and Garfield Theatre, LFJCC (4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla). Complete brochure with online previews and schedule is available. Call 858-362-1348 for details or see the web site for all film prices and to purchase online: http://www.sdcjc.org/sdjff/
This year’s Film Festival has something for everyone and a number of surprises! Replete with award winners for cinematic excellence, this year’s films are exciting and wide ranging. The Festival provides the finest contemporary Jewish-themed films touching on diverse topics from historic human struggles, to the joys of new love, comedy, children coping with adult conflicts, ending discrimination, defending our neighborhoods, and many more. Some films are humorous and some are controversially thought provoking but all of them are of the highest caliber.
The 2013 Festival has five opportunities designed to appeal to every audience:
- Festival films — diverse selection of award winning, fully produced, feature films
- Joyce Forum (Shorts in Winter) — A collection of 7 short films from exceptionally talented, emerging filmmakers; ranging from 7-30 minutes each. Seven films; only $7.50. Five additional, top calibre films screen later the same day.
- Teen Screen — Special night for teens to meet the real life people from a movie about urban teens overcoming violence. FREE EVENT
- Family Day — Highly popular Shalom Sesame! is for kids 3-7 years old
- Flix-Mix — A special event for young adults 20+ with food, friends and fun.
The on-going mission of the Film Festival is to present outstanding world cinema raising awareness, building appreciation and demonstrating pride in the diversity of the Jewish people to San Diego at large. These Festival programs aim to educate and illuminate through evocative, independent fiction and documentary films that portray the Jewish experience from contemporary to historic and global perspectives.
“This year’s festival line-up is extraordinary in its depth and quality,” said Saundra Saperstein, Film Festival Chair. “You will find these films enticing, exciting, heart-felt, and provocative. You can see them in four convenient venues across the County; including Carlsbad and San Marcos. These films may not be seen in San Diego again, so now is the time to catch them!”
OPENING NIGHT – Under African Skies
Awards: NOMINATED FOR 3 EMMYS! ; SXSW Audience Award, SXSW, 2012
Twenty-five years ago, Paul Simon’s, Graceland, revealed the passion and the music of South Africa; creating not just music, but a sharpened awareness of the injustices of apartheid. Under African Skies documents the singer’s return to South Africa and reveals the unknown, startling backstory of breaking the UN boycott of South Africa, creating political backlash, and more. The film may have you seeing the artist in an entirely new light. (Scheduled 2/7, 2/12, and 2/13)
CENTERPIECE FILM – Stories from an Undeclared War
(Special Guests: Film subject Erin Gruwell and several Freedom Writers)
By popular demand, this is an encore screening. It first screened at our Underwriter Kick-off, in 2011, to a prolonged standing ovation! Made famous via The Freedom Writers Diary and the movie it inspired (Freedom Writers, starring Hillary Swank), Erin Gruwell is a teacher like no other. Stories from an Undeclared War covers both her continuing saga, and forgotten chapters in the lives of the Freedom Writers, 150 at-risk students from Long Beach, California. Inspired by both their teacher and The Diary of Anne Frank, the students learned to express themselves and began to care more about history, humanity, and perhaps most importantly, their futures. This powerful and timely documentary, featuring appearances from Ms. Gruwell and some of her Freedom Writer students, shows how one passionate person truly can make a lasting difference. (Scheduled only twice: 12/12 6:00 pm and 7:30 pm at Reading Cinemas 14 — 4665 Clairemont Dr.)
CLOSING NIGHT – Hava Nagila – The Movie
(Guest Artist: Director Roberta Grossman, invited)
Chances are that if you read the movie’s title, the melody and words of “Hava Nagila” are bouncing through your brain right now. When did this song start? Who’s behind it? Who sang it best? And how did this song move from the shtetls of Eastern Europe into the neighborhoods of the US, getting more and more popular with every step? Loaded with rollicking interviews with people like Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, The Klezmatics, and Glen Campbell (yes, “Rhinestone Cowboy” Glen Campbell), Hava Nagila: The Movie shares how one song rose above boundaries of time, space, and culture to unite people in music, no matter what. (Scheduled 12/16 at San Marcos Stadium 18 and 12/17 at Reading Cinemas 14)
SAN DIEGO’S SISTER CITY – A Day in the Negev
(Guest Speaker: Negev’s Visiting Professor Sapir College and Graduate Student of Sapir College)
This documentary examines life and events in San Diego’s sister city, the Sha’ar HaNegev, located in the southern region of Israel. Meet distinguished visiting guests from the Negev and see the work of film students at SapirCollege. The films we have selected to exhibit were culled from more than 30 shorts created by these students and screened at Cinema South film festival. The challenge the students met was to give creative shape to everyday life as it is experienced in their region. We know you will find a connection between our community and theirs through this cinematic bridge.
HITLER’s CHILDREN
Awards: Nominated Best Documentary, Warsaw International Film Festival, 2012 Audience Choice Award, Documentary, Boston Jewish Film Festival 2012
Imagine growing up with a last name like Himmler, Goering, or Hoess? Meet the descendants of some of the most infamous names in human history. Learn how, over the past 60 years, they have learned to strike a peculiar balance between a child’s natural inclination to look-up to his or her parents and the horror they—just like anyone—feel when they examine the acts perpetrated by those same people. This is a view of the Holocaust from survivors of a different stripe, and will provide unique insights into how people cope with horror and shame, and come to terms with the past. (Clairemont Reading 14, Sun, Feb 10 7:00 pm)
The 11th Annual Joyce Forum –A Celebration of Rising Stars and Seasoned Filmmakers
The Joyce Forum presents outstanding Jewish-themed short-subject, documentary, and feature films by rising stars and seasoned filmmakers from around the world. Named in honor of San Diego Jewish Film Festival Founder Joyce Axelrod, the Joyce Forum supports emerging filmmakers by showcasing their talent and exposing their work to established filmmakers, artists, and industry peers.
This year’s Joyce Forum takes place on Mon., Feb. 11, at the Clairemont Reading 14. “Shorts in Winter”, a collection of seven short films, will begin screening at 2:00 p.m., including 55 Socks, Batman at the Checkpoint, B-Boy, Folkswagon, Matkot, Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto, Shlomo Pussycat, Sister of Mine. At 5:00pm, screening of Lia and Elliott Erwitt – I Bark at Dogs is offered. At 7:30pm, three films, Life in Stills and Matkot and Audition close the Joyce Forum day.
Teen Screen Night
On Tue., Feb. 14, 6:00 p.m., at the Clairemont Reading Town Square 14, a pizza dinner (for teens only) will be followed by the screening of “Stories from an Undeclared War,” the powerful story of 150 at-risk students from Long Beach, Calif., who were once considered unteachable. Their teacher, Erin Gruwell, will join us for the Teen Screen event. Using the writings of Anne Frank, she helped her students discover a new way to express themselves in writing. The documentary follows the students’ story from the first day of freshman year in 1994 to the present day. In a racially divided community these adolescents have been exposed to drugs, gang warfare, and murder. Gruwell’s goal is to teach the students to put down their fists and guns and to pick up a pen. To do this, she juxtaposes their urban American reality with some of the worst examples of man’s inhumanity to man. The once-hardened teens have an epiphany that they live in an undeclared war, and writing becomes their salvation.
Family Day – Shalom Sesame!
Back by popular demand to delight kids and parents alike! Please join us for a wonderful program full of singing, an interactive learning experience and fun, with one of our Nierman Preschool teachers!
Grover can’t seem to figure out why everyone is so busy just before a day of rest. Join him as he learns all about Shabbat, and sing along to Avigail’s favorite Shabbat song Bim Bam! Featuring a guest appearance by Cedric the Entertainer, “Shalom Sesame 2010” is a brand new series of 12 episodes from the creators of “Sesame Street” starring the loveable “Sesame Street” cast of furry pals, new friends from Israel and celebrities. Each episode introduces Jewish holidays, traditions and culture to viewers of all ages. Follow Grover as he explores Israel, its people and places, and learns new things. Get ready to laugh and sing along in this next generation of the popular classic, “Shalom Sesame”.
The event is FREE but there is a $5 recommended donation. The extremely popular tickets are on a first come, first serve basis. All seats will be released 5 minutes prior to the program. Please make your reservations early and arrive a little early too! Last year this program was sold out!
Bring the kids to Clairemont Reading 14 on Sunday, Feb 17 for the 11:30 AM Family Day event! This 90 minute program is recommended for ages 3-7 years old.
Flix Mix Evening
A “Flix Mix” evening on Sun., Feb. 10 starts with a young adult mixer at 3:00pm. The film screens at 5 p.m. at Reading Cinema Town Square 14, offering the opportunity for young professional film fans in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to view the acclaimed, DORFMAN. Winner of Best Comedy (Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, 2012) and Best Feature (Miami Jewish Film Festival, 2012), the film centers on Deb Dorfman, a young lady living out her dreams… sort of. Nebbish, incidentally complacent, and prone to more than a little magical thinking Deb gets a chance to leave her parents’ home in the San Fernando Valley—where she cares for her ailing, widower father, played by Elliot Gould—to spend a week housesitting in Los Angeles for the man of her day-dreams. What ensues is a coming-of-age story, a romance, a comedy and a love letter to Los Angeles that celebrates the renaissance and rebirth both of the city and of the film’s protagonist, the unforgettable The screening at the will be preceded by a 3 p.m. mixer in the Underwriter Lounge, where participants can meet, mingle, and enjoy food and drinks. Tickets will be distributed from the JCC Box Office or may be picked up at Will Call one hour prior to show time at the theatre. ID will be required to guarantee discounted pricing of $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
General Information
This is one of the largest Jewish film festivals in the nation. It is sponsored by the Leichtag Foundation, and presented by the San DiegoCenter for Jewish Culture at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center.
The San Diego Jewish Film Festival takes place at the Reading Cinemas Town Square 14 in Clairemont Mesa, Edwards San Marcos Stadium 18, the City of Carlsbad — Dove Library (1775 Dove Lane), and the David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. San Diego Jewish Film Festival presentations at the Reading Cinemas Town Square 14 are made possible by the Joy F. Knapp Film Festival Endowment Fund.
Single ticket prices for most films vary but are typically $10.75- $12.75 for seniors, $11.75 for JCC members and $13.75 for non-members. Joyce Forum “Shorts in Winter” program is $7.50 for seven films. Festival passes, senior and student discounts, and group rate discounts are available. Call 858-362-1348 for details or see the web site for all film prices and to purchase online: http://www.sdcjc.org/sdjff/
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Preceding provided by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture