SOME WORDS BY OUR CHAIRPERSON
A small Jewish film festival in the heart of suburbia? Sounds doubly doomed. In the Bay Area right now, as the J recently reported, Jewish non-profits of all stripes are struggling for funding, with donors favoring everything in Israel and anything that directly counters antisemitism here. Plus, movie theaters in the Bay Area took a significant hit during COVID and never fully recovered. So why has our tiny film festival flourished, at least for now?​​
One reason is location, location, location, which the festival embraces instead of denying or transcending. We are anchored in suburbia, and know our audience and their tastes.
In addition, our films (which are international in scope and masterful in storytelling) educate about Judaism in ways that no textbook, no panel of speakers, no workshop on antisemitism can reach people: through visual images and tales of Jewish life that are often counter-stereotypical.
Where else in Contra Costa County can someone be steeped in the Jewish culture of Algeria or Finland? What better way than on the BIG screen to learn about Jewish involvement in integrating an amusement park in Maryland during segregation and yes, even in founding the Beatles. In the battle against antisemitism, I would argue that film – the kind of film that shows Jewish customs and values amid a gritty or emotionally immersive narrative – is the most effective weapon. More than TikTok. More than billboards.
At 30, the East Bay International Jewish Film Festival is no Venice Festival (then again, that festival, the first of its kind, was founded by Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party in 1932) or Cannes. It doesn’t even try to compete with the edgier, more political and glitzy San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. With the festival field always growing, ours is now one of 12,000 film festivals and 60-plus Jewish film festivals (there’s even one at Rutgers university, in its 25th year), all vying for attention and donors.
Ours has no red carpet glamour or glittering stars, but it will feature a local Israeli singer, Noa Levy– and an on-screen homage to hostages in Gaza – at its festive premiere February 22, and the mayor and city officials of of Pleasant Hill will welcome the audience.
We do our best to listen our audience and cater to them. Nearby residents at Rossmoor have sophisticated tastes in cinema: they have their own film clubs (Jewish film, French film, Italian film, you name it) and are not your typical “Dune” and “Beetlejuice” devotees. Our audience likes some buzz, which we always deliver: we are showing the popular and controversial documentary, Bibi Files on Jan. 22, its first showing as part of a local Jewish film festival in the Bay Area.
We’ve also reserved a night of the festival (with some door prizes) for middle and high school students, showing the movie “Unspoken” which follows the story of Noam, a teen in a Jewish day school, who discovers a love letter written to his grandfather by another man before the Holocaust and sets out to find the mysterious man, while discovering his own identity.
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In our quest to maintain relevance, and reach younger audiences, we are weighing adding a short film contest (with cash prizes) for local filmmakers as well as a “reel” contest for those 18 and under.
Throughout, we remain heymisch...and offer bonbons on opening night.
Nadine Joseph is president of the board of the East Bay International Jewish Film Festival, which will run Saturday February 22 through Thursday February 27 at the Century 16 in Pleasant Hill and Sunday March 18 at the Vine Cinema in Livermore.