By Camryn Bell, Blue Fay and Ryan Tuozzolo
In a survey conducted this year by the Jewish Electorate Institute, 73 percent of Jewish Americans reported feeling less safe since President Donald Trump’s election; in the wake of notable recent increases in anti-Semitic hate crimes in the United States, these anxieties are not unfounded. In the midst of this fear, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the first and largest of its kind, serves to amplify a set of narratives whose right to be spoken proves increasingly contested. During the past two weeks, the festival featured 65 films that do just that and bring them to the Bay Area. And though this year’s series comes to a close Sunday, the conversations its content sparks and the kinship it fosters will outlast the rolling of the final credits. Through discussions with two of the leading voices behind the festival, as well as suggestions for coming screenings, The Daily Californian has compiled an inside look at the event.
— Ryan Tuozzolo
Comedy as survival: An interview with ‘Tel Aviv on Fire’ director Sameh Zoabi
He believes that people caught in the conflict miss leading a normal life. “People want it,” he said. “But we don’t have the leadership to take us there.”
— Blue Fay
‘Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles’ director Max Lewkowicz discusses universal appeal, longevity of musical story
There’s a tapestry of common threads throughout “Fiddler on the Roof” that allows the show to reach across any perceived boundaries.
— Camryn Bell
The Daily Californian’s viewing suggestions for the final days of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
The festival ends Sunday, but that doesn’t mean you don’t still have a chance to see some highlights from the collection in theaters.
— Ryan Tuozzolo
