The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival for 2011 kicks off on July 21. Building Jewish Bridges is co-presenting two films.
The Names of Love
What happens when a tightly-wound Jewish scientist falls for a young Algerian sexpot in modern-day France? Cultures, mores and tragic histories collide-to surprisingly humorous effect. By hook, by crook and by routine wardrobe malfunction, the charming Baya seduces right-wingers in order to convert them. When she mistakenly propositions socialist Arthur and he politely declines (having
to perform an autopsy on a goose), the spark of love ignites in this whimsical, unexpectedly sensitive romantic comedy.
Note: Contains nudity.
Playing –
Sat, Jul 23, 7:00PM at Castro Theatre, SF
Thu, Aug 4, 6:10PM at Oshman Family JCC, Palo Alto
Tevye
When you read the short stories, monologues and novels of Sholem Aleichem (the pen name of Sholem Rabinovitch, 1859–1916), the colorful characters seem to spring off the page and get a life of their own. Those who know Fiddler on the Roof may be surprised by Aleichem’s own dramatic adaptation, which takes more liberties than the musical creators did while presenting a much older Tevye and focusing mostly on the scandalous elopement of Chava and the gentile Fyedka. The dialogues alone will delight anyone with an affinity for Yiddish language and culture, and Tevye’s struggle to uphold tradition in the face of social tumult remains archetypal. Tevye was the first film not in English to be added to the Library of Congress’s prestigious American Film Registry, and will be shown in a restored print from The National Center for Jewish Film.
Playing –
Wed, Jul 27, 1:20PM at the Castro Theatre, SF
Wed, Aug 3, 2:15PM at the Roda Theatre, Berkeley