SBJFF 5: THE FINAL SCHEDULE

All screenings at Metro 4 Theatre, 618 State Street
Pass holder tickets will be sent April 1

Thursday, April 23
         1:30 pm…Kenneth Turan presents Max Davidson Shorts
         5:30 pm…Gala @ La Cumbre CC for pass holders and donors
         7:45 pm…A Love to Hide

Saturday, April 25
         2:00 pm…Max Minsky and Me
         4:15 pm…Bridge Over the Wadi
         7:45 pm…Strangers

Sunday, April 26
         8:00 am…Breakfast @ CBB, and…
         9:00 am…Talk by Cass Warner
         10:45 am…In Search of the Bene Israel and The Fire Within
         1:45 pm…Enemies: A Love Story

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SEE

Thursday, April 23rd

1:30 pm Kenneth Turan presents Max Davidson shorts. These silent films with jazzy sound tracks take us back to an era before political correctness when ethnic stereotyping was not only allowed, it was considered hysterically funny. Distinguished Los Angeles Times critic Turan has created this rare program just for us.

5:30 pm  Opening Night Gala.
La Cumbre Country Club. Pass holders and donors will return to the lovely club for a sit-down dinner of “Jewish comfort food” served to the lively strains of the Ventura Klezmer Band.

7:45 pm A Love to Hide
(90 min., France, subtitled). This award-winning French drama will keep you on the edge of your seat. Beautifully acted and filmed, it explores family tensions during WWII as a Christian Jewish family hides a Jewish woman while their homosexual son is being targeted by the Nazis. 

Friday, April 24th

There will be no screenings today so that those who wish to hear the Dalai Lama will not have to choose between him and us.

Saturday, April 25th

2:00 pm  Max Minsky & Me
(90 min., German, subtitled). Neither coyly
cute nor cynically hip, this delightful entry from Germany is our first family-friendly (but not sappy) film. It is a coming-of-age tale of basketball and a bat mitzvah filled with appealing characters and realistic family relationships to which all of us, 10 and over, can relate.

4:15 pm Bridge Over the Wadi
(60 min., Hebrew, subtitled). This compelling documentary looks at the first Israeli elementary school to welcome both Jewish and Arab children. It’s tough sledding, especially for the parents and teachers, but mesmerizing viewing. Discussion following the showing to be moderated by Jarrod Schwartz, executive director of Just Communities.

7:45 pm Strangers
(90 min., Hebrew, subtitled). This Israeli feature created a sensation when it was shown at Sundance and it went on to open the San Francisco and other Jewish film festivals. After a former Israeli soldier and a Palestinian free spirit meet in Europe at a World Cup soccer match, they find that love and desire are often at odds with politics and religion.

Sunday, April 26

8:00 am Sunday Morning Live! Congregation B’nai B’rith, 1000 San Antonio Creek Road. Best darn breakfast, period!

9:00 am talk by filmmaker Cass Warner. The granddaughter of legendary studio head Harry Warner and the creator of the award winning documentary and book on her family, The Brothers Warner will talk to us about her inventive, fascinating, pioneering film industry family.

10:45 am In Search of the Bene Israel
(24 min. USA). An American girl of mixed Pakistani/Indian/Western heritage goes to India on a Fulbright scholarship to discover the ancient Jewish community of her Indian grandmother’s youth. A fascinating trip to an outpost of Jewish life.  

and

11:15 am The Fire Within
(60 min., Spanish, subtitled). This Peruvian documentary about Jews in the Amazon tells a story that has to be seen to be believed. Starting with European men who came to this part of the jungle to seek their fortune during the rubber boom early in the last century, this thriving congregation now numbers dozens of people who travel as long as five days—by dugout canoe—to seek formal conversion to Judaism.

1:45 pm Enemies: A Love Story
(120 min., USA). Paul Mazursky’s star-studded retelling of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s funny/sad tale of a survivor in post-WWII New York whose life is spinning out of control. And no wonder—he is striving to maintain relationships with three women from his past while ghost writing for a celebrity rabbi. Ron Silver, Lena Olin, Anjelica Huston and Alan King. Nominated for three Academy Awards. Paul Mazursky will introduce the film, which is being shown as a tribute to the late Ron Silver.

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Famed Screenwriter/Director
Paul Mazursky to Speak at
Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival

Santa Barbara, CA., March 19, 2009….Screenwriter and director Paul Mazursky will speak at the final screening of this year’s Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival (SBJFF), April 23-26. Mazursky is appearing as part of a tribute to the recently deceased actor Ron Silver, who starred in the closing film, Enemies: A Love Story. Mazursky was nominated for an Academy Award for adapting Isaac Bashevis Singer’s novel of the same name to the screen. The film also garnered Academy Award nominations for its two supporting actresses, Anjelica Huston and Lena Olin, and features a memorable performance by Alan King as a celebrity rabbi.

Paul Mazursky was nominated for four other Academy Awards and he wrote or directed such iconic films as I Love You, Alice B. Toklas, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Moscow on the Hudson, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Moon Over Parador, Harry and Tonto and An Unmarried Woman.

“When we asked Paul Mazursky to speak at our tribute to Ron Silver, he didn’t hesitate for a second,” said SBJFF founder and president Barbara Greenleaf. “It’s a great honor to have such an outstanding member of the Hollywood community share his experiences and memories with us. His appearance at the end of our festival nicely balances that of L.A. Times movie critic Kenneth Turan at the beginning.”

Now in its fifth year, the Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival offers outstanding foreign and domestic feature films and documentaries as well as thought-provoking speakers. For complete information, including how to purchase All-Festival Passes or single tickets, visit www.jewishfilmfoundation.org or call (805) 964-5577.

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Raffle!

New this year is an exciting raffle that will benefit you as well as the SBJFF. The grand prize is an all-expense paid trip to Cancun--including airfare. Picture yourself on your private terrace overlooking the Caribbean lounging in your very own hammock. Spend four glorious days at the all-suite, all-adults flagship property, the Royal Cancun, and enjoy all the amenities, including 3 meals a day, snacks, wine, beer and liquor, tips and taxes at no additional cost. This dream trip can come true for you, because only 350 tickets will be sold. Go to Passes, Tickets and Raffle to find out more and download your order form before we’re all sold out.

Metro Four Theatre!

We’re moving up in the world as we move down, to downtown Santa Barbara that is, to the Metro 4 Theatre at 618 State Street. You’ll enjoy the improved sightlines of stadium seating, the nearby restaurants and the convenient parking in the public lot behind the theater. We look forward to seeing you there.

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