SAN DIEGO (Press Release) – The 22nd Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival, sponsored by the Leichtag Foundation, and presented by the San Diego Center for J ewish Culture at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS, will run February 9-19, 2012.
Once again the festival will feature the Joyce Forum, a celebration of both emerging and seasoned filmmakers on Monday, Feb. 13, at the Clairemont Reading Cinemas 14 beginning at 2:30 p.m. The Joyce Forum presents outstanding Jewish-themed short-subject, documentary and feature films from around the world. Named in honor of San Diego Jewish Film Festival Founder Joyce Axelrod, the Joyce Forum supports emerging filmmakers by showcasing their talent and exposing their work to established filmmakers, artists and industry peers.
Shorts in Winter
A collection of nine short films will screen at 2:30 p.m., including Flawed, Don’t Tell Santa You’re Jewish!, Ladies and Gentlemen: Biddie Schitzerman, Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest, David and Goliath, Miracle Lady, I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors, Shira, and A Reuben By Any Other Name. Shorts in Winter is free of charge.
San Diego resident Perry Chen, age 11, the filmmaker for award-winning Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest, will be in attendance and available for questions. George Zaverdas, director of David and Goliath, and Jeremy Dylan Lanni, director of A Reuben By Any Other Name, will also be guests at the showing.
According to Mark Title, Past President of the Visual Arts Foundation and Short Film Critic, “Every short film is a small gem, revealing a short story in its most basic elements – the rawest, purest essence of character, conflict and resolution. There is no time wasted expounding on a character’s childhood, the roots of a convoluted conflict, or a drawn-out resolution. Instead, in a tight sequence the stage is set, the characters presented, and all comes to a twist or surprising climax. If you enjoy drama in its purest, most powerful form, you’ll like these short films.”
Joyce Forum Featured Film: Kaddish for a Friend
At 5:00 p.m. the Joyce Forum screens Kaddish for a Friend, the story of an unlikely friendship between Ali, a fourteen-year-old Palestinian refugee who hates Jews, and an elderly Russian Jew, Alexander, who passionately wants to continue living independently. When Ali’s friends trash Alexander’s apartment, only Ali is recognized. To avoid criminal charges and deportation, Ali reluctantly agrees to help Alexander renovate his apartment and gradually the two overcome obstacles of hatred and despair.
Visiting filmmaker Leo Khasin, was born in Russia and now lives in Berlin. He turned to directing full-time two years after a career as a dentist. Kaddish for a Friend was the Opening night film at the recent Boston Jewish Film Festival and received the Audience Award for Best Feature.
Special Guest Hanan Harchol: Jewish Food for Thought
At 7:30 p.m., The Joyce Forum welcomes back (SDJFF ’04) filmmaker, multimedia artist, and nonstop animation machine, Hanan Harchol. The featured screening is Jewish Food for Thought, a series of animated shorts that incorporate Jewish wisdom into entertaining and thought-provoking conversations between Hanan and his Israeli nuclear physicist father. Each episode focuses on a particular theme in Jewish teaching, such as repentance or forgiveness, distilling the major Jewish teachings on that theme into accessible, contemporary, non-preachy, engaging human conversation. The series provides a fresh, new non-pedantic way to access thousands of years of Jewish wisdom. Tickets for Jewish Food for Thought are $11.75-$13.75.
Harchol is a multimedia artist, born in Israel, who moved to the U.S. as a child. He creates paintings, drawings, animations, videos, and multimedia installations that explore the human condition through family narratives. Harchol earned a Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He was awarded a 2011 Covenant Foundation Signature Grant. Harchol’s work has been published in the book Jewish Art In America: An Introduction. Harchol has exhibited extensively in museums and galleries across the country, and his films have been shown in nearly 100 film festivals worldwide. He is also a professional classical guitarist with eight CD releases.
Harchol will be in conversation at his screening with Rabbi Yael Ridberg, who currently serves the congregation of Dor Hadash in San Diego.
General Information
The San Diego Jewish Film Festival takes place at the Reading Cinemas Town Square 14 in Clairemont Mesa, UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas at Hazard Center, Edwards San Marcos Stadium 18, the Carlsbad Village Theatre in Carlsbad, and at the David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. San Diego Jewish Film Festival presentations at the Reading Cinemas Town Square 14 are made possible by the Joy F. Knapp Film Festival Endowment Fund.
Single ticket prices for most films are $10.75- $12.75 for seniors, $11.75 for JCC members and $13.75 for non-members; tickets for the opening night film, Mabul, and the closing night film, My Best Enemy, are $13.75-$15.75 ($12.75-$14.75 for seniors), the Feb. 14 screening of Dusk, Family Day, Teen Screen, and Joyce Forum Shorts in Winter are free. Festival passes, senior and student discounts, and group rate discounts are available. For tickets or information call 858-362-1348 or visit www.lfjcc.org/sdjff.
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Preceding provided by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture