Niche film festivals are brightening the cinematic cultural calendar this fall. For five days, November 6-10 at the New Vic Theatre, the Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival (SBJF) closely follows the recent NatureTrack Film Festival and Santa Barbara Indie Film Festival. SBJF, showcasing cinema related to Jewish film art and issues, is a fundraising event for the Santa Barbara Jewish Federation.
On the roster is a diverse and international sampling of features, shorts, and documentaries, with filmmaker Q&As and panel discussions covering cinematic subjects and broader issues facing the Jewish world in the present day. The schedule is framed with features, such as the opening night presentation of Israeli director Shemi Zarhin’s Bliss (Hemda) and the closing night’s screening of Hungarian director Adam Breier’s dark comedy All About the Levkoviches.
Among the documentaries are J’Accuse, Michael D. Kretzmer’s chronicle of the genocide of Lithuanian Jewry during WWII, as well as the tense present-day turf of post–October 7, 2023, strife in the Israel–Gaza crisis, through the lens of Rob Mor’s Echoes of Loss: Eight Days in Israel. Following that film, on Saturday afternoon, Roy Hornshtein’s feature film Air War tells the tale of conflict between Israeli fighter pilots during the six-day war.
Needless to say, much of the festival’s programming deals in realities concerning Jewish life and struggles, globally and through history, at a time of high stress on the world stage. If clearly not an escapist route at the movies, the SBJF takes its role seriously, with some comedic moments in the mix.
See sbjewishfilmfestival.org.