LA JOLLA, California (Press Release) Celebrating the San Diego Jewish Film Festival’s 26th Season, presented by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Jacobs Family Campus, will run February 4-14, 2016.
On February 8th, 22 short films beginning at 10:00am to 7:30pm at the ArcLight Theatres (UTC) La Jolla CA will be devoted to short films (The Joyce Forum), which is a juried competitive program of short films with awards being presented Tuesday, February 9h at the Arclight Theatres in La Jolla, CA by a film industry group of international jury members chaired by Susie Botello . Tuesday’s program will begin at 9 am with breakfast followed by the announcement of this year’s winning films in five different categories: Best Short Drama; Best Short Documentary; Special Jury Award; Best Director; and Best Short Film..
This collection of short films is exclusively designed to present four different programs made up of 22 of the best in short films with Jewish storylines. Over a period of several months, a group of fifteen individuals watched and selected films from over fifteen different countries. The curators then skillfully divided the films into four categories: 1) All These Voices defined as A creative collection of different voices with different points of view. As Maya Angelou said “…We are more alike than unalike.” 2) Out Of The Box defined as innovative, creative, new ways to think and consider. These shorts will show you how some people think “Out of the Box.” 3) Disclosures defined as Sometimes when you have full “Disclosures”, one might realize that it is worth evaluating another way of thinking. Finally, 4) Curator Raves – This last program consists of this year’s favorites of the curating team. There will be special appearances of international filmmakers at the screening for a talkback after the films.
The Fourth Program has an interesting film called Bernice about Bernice Steinbaum. The short documentary by filmmaker, Kristina Sorge, tells the story of the pioneer and instigator who was singularly dedicated to finding and exhibiting female artists of color – largely marginalized or ignored in New York’s art world in the 1970s and 1980s. As a gallery owner, first in New York and then Miami, Steinbaum became a mentor and advocate for her artists and helped them gain major museum exhibitions, prestigious awards and worldwide recognition.
Her artists come from vastly diverse backgrounds, including China, Cuba and Harlem. One universally known work she championed was “Tar Beach,” Faith Ringgold’s story quilt and children’s book set in a busy world of imagined Harlem rooftops. Others of Ringgold’s quilts are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, and MoMa. Another artist she brought into the fore was Miriam Schapiro, whose feminist collages are at the Met, MoMa, Whitney, Smithsonian, the Israel Museum and others. The film has been highly received at many festivals including the Madrid International Film Festival, Hot Docs International Documentary Festival in Toronto and the Palm Springs International ShortFest.
Bernice will be shown at the San Diego Jewish Film Festival at 8pm Monday, February 8 at the ArcLight theaters as part of the Joyce Forum’s collection of short films. Bernice Steinbaum will be present to introduce her film and answer questions.
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Preceding provided by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture