San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is the oldest Jewish film festival in the world, and currently the largest with a 2016 attendance figure of 40,000 at screenings in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, San Rafael, and Palo Alto. The three-week summer festival is held in San Francisco , California , usually at the Castro Theater in San Francisco and other cinemas in San Francisco, Berkeley , Oakland , San Rafael , and Palo Alto , and features contemporary and classic independent Jewish film from around the world. In 2015, the organization re-branded itself as the Jewish Film Institute, retaining the name "San Francisco Jewish Film Festival" for the annual film festival.
15-508: The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival also maintains an online archive of Jewish film, and holds individual film screenings throughout the year. The festival was first held at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco in 1980. The current executive director is Lexi Leban and the program director is Jay Rosenblatt. In 2009, the officials in charge of the event were criticized for the decision to
30-532: A 49-seat theater dubbed the Little Roxie opened two doors from the main theater. Other names for the theater: In the late 1960s with the decline of its neighborhood, The Roxie became a pornography theater. In March 1976, film lovers Robert Christopher Evans, Dick Gaikowski, Peter Moore, and Tom Mayer bought the Roxie, remodeled it, and turned it into an art and independent film center. Between November 1–15, 1979,
45-473: A development consultant, became a co-Executive Director; neither received a salary. Over his four-year tenure, Statton established the Roxie as a community-based non-profit, including the creation of the Roxie's Lights. Camera. Action! Awards to honor Bay Area social justice documentary filmmakers. The inaugural awards honored the filmmaking team of Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and filmmaker Hima B for their significant contributions in raising awareness of
60-474: A statement, festival Executive Director Peter Stein apologized "for not fully considering how upsetting this program might be." At the same time, the festival did not back down from its decision to screen the film. The 36th festival was held between July 21 and August 7, 2016, in five locations around the Bay Area. The featured films included "Germans & Jews", and Director Janina Quint was scheduled to attended
75-549: Is an American director, producer, writer, and editor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature , for the films The Times of Harvey Milk and Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt . In 1987, Epstein and his filmmaking partner Jeffrey Friedman founded Telling Pictures, a production company that focused on feature documentaries. Epstein's works also include scripted narratives such as Howl , his award-winning film about Allen Ginsberg 's controversial poem by
90-651: The Roxie Cinema or just The Roxie , is a historic movie theater , founded in 1912, at 3117 16th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. It is a non-profit community arthouse cinema. The Roxie is one of the oldest continuously operating movie theaters in the US, with its history tracing back to the early 1900s. The 300-seat theater was renovated in 1933, changed its name to the Roxie, and added its unusual marquee with neon sign but no place for movie titles. In 2003,
105-708: The Roxie Board of Directors and is now working with Milwaukee Film on their acquisition of the historic Oriental Theatre . The theatre also is home to Roxie Releasing, an independent film distributor most notably responsible for the 30th anniversary re-release of George A. Romero 's Night of the Living Dead . Roxie Releasing specializes in documentaries . 37°45′53″N 122°25′21″W / 37.76472°N 122.42250°W / 37.76472; -122.42250 Rob Epstein Robert P. Epstein (born April 6, 1955),
120-404: The Roxie announced Isabel Fondevila, former Board President of Artists' Television Access , as the new director. She further expanded the theater's film festivals and developed RoxCine, an ongoing series of Spanish-language films. In 2015, Dave Cowen came aboard as executive director, while Fondevila remained at the Roxie in the role of Director of Programming. Over the next two years, Cowen led
135-603: The Roxie hosted the U.S. premiere of Luis Buñuel 's L'Âge d'Or (1930), a film that had been banned for almost 50 years. Over the years, the Roxie has been home to many film festivals such as the Frameline Film Festival , the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival , the Arab Film Festival, San Francisco Transgender Film Festival , SF Indiefest, and many others. In December 2005, an agreement
150-641: The challenges of living with HIV/AIDS. Statton also raised over $ 400,000 in contributions to help support the Roxie's programming and operations. In 2013 Statton was awarded the Marlon Riggs Award by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for "his significant contribution to San Francisco’s film community through the Roxie Theater over the past four years". Statton resigned from the Roxie in 2013 due to health concerns. In December 2013,
165-597: The screen of a film about ISM activist Rachel Corrie . Writing in the N. California JWeekly , Dan Pine noted "If the Academy handed out an Oscar for community turmoil, the Rachel Corrie flap at this year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival would win handily." Pine reported that some Jewish community members said that festival organizers "crossed a line into overtly anti-Israel propaganda" and that "Corrie, and now her parents, have worked to ostracize and delegitimize Israel." In
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#1732863363509180-522: The screening. The 37th festival took place July 20 to August 6, 2017, in the same five Bay Area locations as previous years. The opening and closing films, Keep the Change and Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story , were both directed by women. The 38th festival took place July 19 to August 5, 2018. This article about an American film festival is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Roxie Theater The Roxie Theater , also known as
195-629: The theater to profitability with projection and facilities improvements, an increased social media presence, and a successful focus on showing repertory film in 35mm. During this time, the Roxie's classic neon marquee was fully restored, and the Roxie was honored by the California State Assembly in 2017 as Small Business of the Year. In August 2017, Sundance veteran Elizabeth O'Malley replaced Cowen as executive director, with Operations Director Lex Sloan promoted to general manager. Cowen remains on
210-497: Was announced under which the Roxie was acquired by New College of California , a small liberal arts college also based in the Mission District. It became part of New College's Media Studies Program on January 1, 2006, and was renamed the "Roxie Film Center at New College". An anonymous benefactor paid off the theater's debts, and the college registered it as a non-profit corporation. On February 26, 2008, New College announced it
225-454: Was closing, thus ending its support of the Roxie. New College Board member Rod Holt and his son Alan subsequently took over the theater’s lease. In 2010 Alan Holt transitioned from Executive Director to a seat on the Board and community activist and philanthropist Christopher Statton joined the Roxie as Executive Director and member of the Board. Megan Wilson, who began working for the Roxie as
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