Lectures, Courses & Their Recordings
Below are the lectures, talks and courses that are added to our 2021 calendar, as well as those that took place in the past year with links to their recordings on YouTube. Enjoy!
Upcoming Lectures
"Red Sea Spies" with Raffi Berg
This is the third program of Faces of Israel Series: A Celebration of Ethiopian Jewish Heritage.
Author Raffi Berg will reveal the true story of an undercover operation run by Israel’s Mossad in the early 1980s on a remote part of the Sudanese coast. Berg’s book is the complete, never-before-heard, gripping tale of a top-secret and often hazardous operation.
Sponsors: Sponsors of the series include: Cong. B’nai Tikvah, CCJCC,
EBIJFF, Cong. B’nai Shalom and the Jewish Book Council.
Recordings of Past Online Lectures & Courses
Panel Discussion on "Marry Me However"
The conversation was on January 21, at 12:00 pm PT / 3:00 pm ET / 10:00 pm Israel. The panel included Rabbi Mordechai Vardi, the film's director, and Avigail Sperber, an Israeli cinematographer, social activist, and the founder of Bat Kol--Religious Lesbian Organization.
Sponsors: A Wider Bridge, The Consulate General of Israel, EBIJFF,
CCJCC and Eshel
The Legacy of "The Green Book"
Award-winning photographer and author Candacy Taylor's riveting talk on the legacy of the Green Book took place on Sunday, January 10, 2021. Taylor is currently a non-resident fellow at the Hutchins Center at Harvard University with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall St. Journal, Newsweek, PBS Newshour, BBC, The Guardian UK, NPR, The Atlantic and over 40 other media outlets. In writing her book, Overground Railroad, Taylor drove approximately 50,000 miles, visiting over 4,000 of the 10,000 Green Book businesses in her database.
Sponsors: EBIJFF, CCJCC and Cong. B’nai Tikvah’s Social Action Committee.
Co-sponsors: Beth Chaim Cong., Cong. Beth Emek,
Cong. B’nai Shalom, Cong. B'nai Torah, Temple Beth Abraham,
Temple Isaiah.
Underwritten by Anonymous.
Around the World with Fred: Joachim Prinz & The Civil Rights Movement
On Thursday, January 7, 2021, author/historian Fred Rosenbaum discussed the powerful documentary about civil rights activist Rabbi Joachim Prinz, which screened Tuesday, January 5 through Sunday evening, January 10.
Sponsors: EBIJFF, CCJCC and Cong. B’nai Tikvah’s Social Action Committee.
Co-sponsors: Beth Chaim Cong., Cong. Beth Emek, Cong. B'nai Shalom,
Cong. B'nai Torah, Temple Beth Abraham, Temple Isaiah.
Underwritten by Anonymous.
Around the World with Fred: The Argentinian Jews
The Argentinian drama, Anita, was available for streaming December 1 through December 6. Author/historian Fred Rosenbaum placed the film into its historic and cultural context on December 2.
Sponsors: EBIJFF in partnership with Contra Costa JCC
and Cong. B’nai Shalom.
Live Q&A for "A Call to Spy"
On Wednesday, November 11, 2:00 pm PT producer/writer/actor Sarah Megan Thomas, actor Samuel Roukin and former senior CIA officer, author Craig Gralley joined us for a live Q&A.
Craig Gralley is the author of Hall of Mirrors—Virginia Hall: America’s Greatest Spy of WWII, (Chrysalis Books, 2019). You may purchase the book here.
Underwritten by Anonymous.
Sponsor: EBIJFF.
Co-sponsor: CCJCC & Cong. B’nai Shalom.
In partnership with IFC films and Tamar simon from Mean Streets Management.
Course on Post World War II Hollywood
In this two-hour course, EBIJFF Director Riva Gambert traced the rise of the House UnAmerican Committee (HUAC) that had a major impact on Hollywood for more than a decade. She also examined Crossfire and The Gentleman’s Agreement, the two 1947 films that were the first to capture American antisemitism, for how they approached the subject. This is a follow-up to August’s course on film censorship in Hollywood.
Sponsored by EBIJFF in partnership with Contra Costa JCC and Cong. B’nai Shalom.
Around the World with Fred: The Jews of Austria
The Austrian movie The Tobacconist was available for streaming from July 21-24. Fred Rosenbaum talked about the history and contemporary life of Austria’s Jewish community on Thursday, July 30.
“Around the World with Fred” series features award-winning author and historian Fred Rosenbaum who will place a film into its historic/cultural context. Fred is the founder of HaMaQom, formerly Lehrhaus Judaica, and the author of several books on the Bay Area Jewish community as well as on partisans during WWII.
Sponsors: EBIJFF in partnership with Contra Costa JCC, Cong. B'nai Shalom, Cong. Beth Emek and Cong. B'nai Tikvah.