Mazel tov, y’all! This year marks the 13th anniversary of the Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival, and everyone is invited to the party. But instead of a pubescent voice squeaking out the Torah, audiences are being treated to top quality movies and documentaries presented at a variety of venues around town.
What was born out of a single film screened at Temple Beth El has expanded to a full-fledged cinematic festival showcasing the myriad sides of Jewish culture. The organizers of the event see it as a professional affair offering something for the entire community.
“We really try and make a balanced program that has a little bit of everything,” says festival committee member Eve Eden.
Committee members screened around 100 films this year before narrowing it down to the 15 selected for this year’s festival. The subject matter this year ranges from Palestinian/Israeli peace documentaries to films dealing with LGBT issues, and a French homage to Woody Allen that Eden says isn’t especially Jewish aside from the fact that the characters are “neurotic.” (“But,” she adds, “everybody’s neurotic.”)
Maurice Peel, publicity manager for the Del Mar, says his experience with presenting the festival this year was overwhelmingly positive and that the audience seems to be growing each year.
Other venues this year include the Louden Nelson Center and the Museum of Art and History.
“We see the festival as a valuable partner in our efforts to ignite unexpected connections in Santa Cruz county through arts and culture,” says MAH director Nina Simon.
This weekend, the festival will screen five films at Temple Beth El, including Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, a documentary about the prevalent and often surprising role of Jewish composers in contemporary musicals.
“Of course we know about Fiddler on the Roof, but there are a lot of other ones,” says Eden. “And most people wouldn’t know that Irving Berlin wrote the song “White Christmas.”
This weekend will also feature a showing of Esther and Me, a documentary about lesbian comedienne Lisa Geduldig’s unlikely friendship with octogenarian former stand-up comedienne Esther Weintraub. The screening will include a Q&A with Geduldig.
To celebrate its 13th year, the festival committee will put on a “Bar-Bat Mitzvah” gala at Temple Beth El with gourmet food, wine pouring by Soif, and live jazz and klezmer music by musicians Jeff Brody and Bill Ruskin.
“It’s a step up,” says Eden. “It used to be more of us just getting stuff from Costco and bringing it. But not this year.”
Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival
April 20-21, Temple Beth El, Aptos
