Arlene Schneider is a SBJFF volunteer extraordinaire. As head of the all-important screening committee, she is the person in charge of organizing the many screenings of the almost one hundred films from which the final selection is made.

Arlene was born and raised in Los Angeles, attending Fairfax High and UCLA. After graduation she taught elementary school for 10 years in the San Fernando Valley. Along the way she met Les, a professor of anatomy and physiology, and in December they will be celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary. They had two children, Stephanie and Craig, and Arlene stayed home for a while to raise them. She subsequently returned to teaching as a mentor and trainer in the Valley for 18 years.

Arlene and Les moved to Santa Barbara full-time in 1997, after both had retired. Both their children had graduated from UCSB, and they had owned a small condo in Carpinteria for years, which they had been visiting on weekends. Arlene recalls with fondness the first year they were living here when the city mounted an event honoring Anne Frank, with an exhibit mounted at the Karpeles Museum, and hundreds of banners bearing Frank’s likeness lining State Street.

A member of the board of the Jewish Federation of Santa Barbara for six years, she has been involved with the SBJFF since its inception in 2005.  She feels that the SBJFF is a wonderful event, for Jews and non-Jews alike, exposing the audience to the Jewish experience and creating a presence for that experience.

And, oh yes, she and Les have two amazing grandchildren…Aidan and Morgan. Just ask her!