San Diego Jewish Film Festival

The Center for Jewish Culture will host their 27th annual Film Festival February 8th through February 19th. The Festival’s mission is to educate and promote awareness, appreciation and pride in the Jewish culture, and to offer more understanding of the culture through exemplary films that portray the Jewish experience from both modern and historic perspectives. 

This 12 day festival is the largest Jewish culture event in San Diego. The festival includes film premieres, international guest filmmakers and juried and audience choice awards. 60 films will be shown in five locations. These films celebrate the Jewish life, human rights and freedom of expression. 

The San Diego Center for Jewish Culture (CJC) is the largest local institution that solely dedicates itself to exploring the Jewish experience through the arts. The Jewish Community Center was founded in 1945; its permanent home was built in 1950 and quickly became a landmark for the community. 

Here are just a few of the best Jewish films that will be shown in the festival.

1945

This film is based on the short story "Homecoming" by Gabor T. Szanto. Set after the War, two orthodox Jews arrive in a small Hungarian town with a mysterious trunk, creating an unsettling feeling among the villagers. As the residents if this town begin to speculate the purpose of these two strangers, order starts to crumble as some residents pursue devious plans and others find remorse in their hearts. 

Amor

Amor is about a heartbroken and confused man who must make a difficult decision when his fiancee is struck by a car. Escaping the tragedy, he spends three years wandering Europe only to come home and decide whether his fiancee’s one request is something that he is willing to do for her. 

Body and Soul: An American Bridge

This film answers the question, "Can music ease conflict, mend relationships and create a cross-cultural sound that breaks barriers in popular music?" Looking at the relationship between African Americans and Jews during the height of the Jazz Age, this films follows the rise of the classic jazz song "Body and Soul," written by Jewish composer Johnny Green in 1929. Body and Soul shows how the song broke the color barrier by including a black pianist in the historic Benny Goodman Trio. 

Cloudy Sunday

Based on the book "Ouzeri Tsitsanis by George Skarbadonis, this film is set in 1942. The Germans have occupied Thessaloniki, Greece, and racist laws have been imposed against the Jewish citizens. Some of the residents find solace in a small tavern that is owned by a famous musician, but then the musician’s brother-in-law begins to fall in love with a young Jewish girl. In this era of turmoil, not even their love may survive the brutality that has gripped the Greek city.

Dirty Wolves 

When Nazis overrun a small mining town in Spain’s northwest Galicia region, they use political prisoners and desperate locals to dig for a precious metal called "wolfram" (tungsten) that is important to both sides in the war effort. A single mother who works in the mines, Manuela, discovers that the metal is worth much more on the black market. She soon begins working for both sides, until she realizes that her work for the Allied side includes her participation in a spy game. 

For entertainment lovers who want to see something different and interesting, visit http://www.sdcjc.org/sdjff/ for tickets. 

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