Deconstructing "Casablanca"

Film "enthusiast" and historian Lynne Thorner will join us online for an in-depth "deconstruction" of Michael Curtiz's 1942 masterpiece Casablanca. Thorner teaches two film classes in the East Bay and loves sharing the ins and outs of how a film was made and what makes it "work" with other film enthusiasts. This is an IJWC Year-round program.

This program is part of From Europe with Film series sponsored by the EBIJFF in partnership with the CCJCC and Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation.  

Erik Preminger on Preminger

Erik Preminger, Otto Preminger's son, will give an insider's view of his father's life as well as explore the making of one of his father's later movies, Bunny Lake is Missing. This is an IJWC Year-round program.

This program is part of From Europe with Film series sponsored by the EBIJFF in partnership with the CCJCC and Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation.  

Deconstructing "Sunset Boulevard"

Film "enthusiast" and historian LynneThorner will join us online for an in-depth "deconstruction" of Billy Wilder's 1950 masterpiece Sunset Boulevard. Thorner teaches two film classes in the East Bay and loves showing other film enthusiasts the ins and outs of how a film was made and what makes it "work. This is an IJWC Year-round program.

This program is part of From Europe with Film series sponsored by the EBIJFF in partnership with the CCJCC and Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation.  

Transkids Panel Discussion

This panel conversation is on the personal and social effects of youth gender reassignment in present-day Israel, and on how families learn to accept and navigate this complex and delicate process of gender transitioning. Panel includes Hilla Medalia, the director of the film Transkids, Noam Kaniel and Ofri Shemesh, two of the teenagers featured in the film, and Tracy Fiske, a member of the Alliance of Lionesses, a community of families for transgender and gender non confirming children. The conversation moderator will be Nate Loony, the Director of Community Safety and Belonging at The Jewish Federations of North America). May 17, 2022 is International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia.

Sponsors:A Wider Bridge, The Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest, and The East Bay International Jewish Film Festival

Around the World with Fred on "Gentleman's Agreement"

On Sunday, May 15, author/historian Fred Rosenbaum put the film Gentleman's Agreement, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1947, into its historic and societal context. Gentleman's Agreement had beaten out the similarly-themed movie Crossfire. Both films deal with antisemitism in America--the first to do so--with Crossfire released just a few months before Gentleman's Agreement. The film, stars Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and John Garfield. In it, Peck plays a non-Jewish journalist, David Green, who tells people that he is Jewish to investigate antisemitism in the U.S. Elia Kazan (On the Waterfront) directed this popular film from a screenplay by Jewish writer Moss Hart.

Underwritten by Sandy & Dave Anderson, Marty Aufhauser, Beth Hoenninger, Jo-Ann & Arnold Jacobson, Susan & Moses Libitzky, Carol & Ken Ogren, Mary Ann & Hugh Winig, and Martha Ann & Sanford Wishnev..

Sponsored by EBIJFF.

Prof. Eran Kaplan on the Documentary "Angelica"

SFSU Professor Eran Kaplan talks on the history of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and the art culture in pre-state Israel.

Prof. Eran Kaplan on the Film "Neighbours"  

SFSU Professor Eran Kaplan discusses the history and contemporary life of the Kurds.

Fred Rosenbaum on the Docudrama "Berenshtein" Based on a True Story

Award-winning author and historian Fred Rosenbaum examines the role of the partisans during World War II.

Underwritten by Elaine Gerstler & Booker Holton; Eve Gordon.

Fred Rosenbaum on the Danish Film "Into the Darkness"

Award-winning author and historian Fred Rosenbaum delves into the complex response of Danish citizens under Nazi occupation.

Underwritten by Sandy & Dave Anderson; Marty Aufhauser; Beth Harris Hoenninger; Karen & Jim Holtz; Jo-Ann & Arnold Jacobson, M.D.; Libitzky Family Foundation Fund; Carol & Ken Ogren; Mary Anne & Hugh Winig; Martha Ann & Sanford Wishnev.

Yonatan Eyov on the Documentary "With No Land"

Yonatan Eyov, an Israeli emissary (shaliach) serving at Stanford University, shares his own story of immigrating to Israel at the age of six from Ethiopia and the present situation facing the Beta Yisrael community.

Co-sponsor: Tri-Valley Cultural Jews

Steven Pressman on "The Levys of Monticello"

Director Steven Pressman talks about the film and how he came to make the documentary The Levys of Monticello about the Jewish family who not only owned but saved from ruin Thomas Jefferson's beloved house "Monticello" in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Underwritten by Cherie & Marc Hallert and Phyllis Hallert in memory of Steven Hallert, Z”L.

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Co-sponsor: JEICOR

Matan Zamir on the Film "Image of Victory"

Deputy Consul General Matan Zamir of the Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest discusses the 1948 Battle of Nitzanim, during which Egyptian forces overwhelmed the Israeli seaside kibbutz, the 1947-1949 War of Independence, and the young fighters and their place in Israel's history.

Underwritten by the Consulate General of Israel; Fran Greenberg & Don Chaiken.

Akiva Naiman on the Film "200 Meters" and the Documentary "The Pianist from Ramallah"

West Coast NCSY Director and Director of CCJCC's Project Impact Rabbi Akiva Naiman provides the historic background for why the wall separating parts of Israel from the West Bank was erected.

200 Meters  underwritten by Marty Aufhauser in memory of Judy Aufhauser, Z"L.

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The Pianist from Ramallah underwritten by Jo Alice Canterbury.

Doug Seserman and Noam Weisbrod on "Dead Sea Guardians"

Doug Seserman, CEO, Americans for Ben-Gurion University and Professor Noam Weisbrod, Director, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research examine the environmental changes that have occurred in the Dead Sea region.

Co-sponsor: Americans for Ben-Gurion University

Yair Qedar on the Documentary "The Fourth Window"

Director Yair Qedar talks about his documentary The Fourth Window, a biographic look on the life and works of the award-winning Israeli author Amos Oz. The panel is presented and underwritten by the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival.

Co-sponsor: New Lehrhaus

Outing Lucy: When HUAC Cancelled Culture

The phenomenon of “cancel culture” existed long before the 21st century when HUAC, a Congressional committee, searched for members of and potential sympathizers with the Communist Party. One of the focuses of Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos (starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem) is on Lucille Ball’s being labeled a “Red” (and not for her hair color) by journalist Walter Winchell. On February 17, EBIJFF Director Riva Gambert explored how HUAC got started and the repercussions the film and TV industries experienced due to this earlier cancel culture onslaught. 

Sponsors: IJWC (Parent organization of EBIJFF) in partnership with CCJCC and Cong. B'nai Shalom.

Saving the Planet: A Conversation with Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed & Filmmaker Eliezer Yaari

Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, the Executive Director of the world famous Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in the Negev, joined the filmmaker of the powerfully moving documentary The Optimists in a heartfelt conversation about his belief that there is an alternative path to peace. 

Sponsors: EBIJFF in partnership with CCJCC, Cong. Beth Emek, Cong. B'nai Shalom and Cong. B'nai Tikvah.

On Thursday, January 13, 2022 noted author/historian Fred Rosenbaum placed the German docudrama The Invisibles into its historic and cultural context, as he explored the Jews of Berlin and their plight to survive during WWII.

This program was underwritten by Sandy and Dave Anderson, Marty Aufhauser, Jo-Ann and Arnold Jacobson, Carol and Ken Ogren, Mary Anne and Hugh Winig, Martha Ann and Sanford Wishnev.

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Sponsors: EBIJFF and CCJCC in partnership with Cong. B'nai Shalom and Cong. Beth Emek.