As the Israeli-Hamas war continues without any ceasefire, the 44th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (July 18-August 4) finds itself "at a time of devastating international conflict and humanitarian crisis in Israel and Gaza," reads a letter from Executive Director Lexi Leban and Ralph Guggenheim, Chair of the Board of Directors. Posted on the festival's website, they acknowledge that along with a divisive presidential election, all these events are occurring amid rising levels of polarization in our country.
"Throughout SFJFF's 44-year history, our programs have been presented against the backdrop of complex and emotionally charged world events. Each time, we have been fortunate enough to expose our audiences to transcendent films that remind us of what can be learned from the unique perspectives of independent filmmakers who, in times like these, help make sense of our world and imagine a better future, no matter how challenging it may seem."
"SFJFF remains committed to the universal right of freedom of expression and to connecting audiences and filmmakers in vibrant spaces that foster discussion, understanding, empathy, and reflection."
"At SFJFF44 we are dedicated to maintaining a respectful environment for filmmakers and audiences from different cultures and diverse perspectives, many of whom may be impacted by tragic loss. We take this responsibility seriously: our staff and Board have engaged in conversations with stake-holders throughout the Jewish and filmmaking communities for months on how best to wrestle with these issues through our programs."
In their shorts programs, "Ruins & Ruminations," nuanced, pre-October 7 films by Israelis, Palestinians, and international collaborative teams, offer unique perspectives to help contextualize the current crisis in Israel and Gaza, including "Vantage Points: Perspectives From Sapir College," the only academic institution in the Gaza envelope.
Other films such as the sci-fi documentary "Lyd," imagining an alternative Palestinian future, "The Other," concerning Israeli and Palestinian peace-builders, "Three Promises," about a Palestinian mother sheltering in her basement during the Second Intifada in the West Bank, and "The Vanishing Solider," centering on an Israeli soldier fleeing the Gaza battlefield to visit his Tel Aviv girlfriend, all attempt to bridge the gap between the two states.
As part of that universal right of freedom of expression to foster discussion and empathy, SFJFF44 presents several queer-related films. "Taboo: Amos Guttman," is a riveting documentary on the life and career of the rebellious filmmaker Guttman (1954-1993) who directed "Drifting (1983)," the first Israeli LGBTQ-related film.
The film is bracketed by the last interview Guttman gave as he lay dying of AIDS in his mother's apartment at age 38. "I'm sitting alone in my ghetto." Born in Romania and emigrating to Israel at age seven with his family, he studied for a year at New York University and his hero was Pasolini.
He made only four films, all of them unconventional and controversial often based on real people and events, including "Himmo," a campy operatic take on Israel's War for Independence (a box office failure). His last film "Amazing Grace," is still the only Israeli film to deal with AIDS. It told the story of a gay Tel Aviv man, who has a short-term affair with a visiting American from New York with AIDS. He was more interested in making art films than commercial ones, though two of his films were box office successes. At his death he was adapting Jean Genet's "Our Lady of the Flowers," for a movie.
His philosophy of film was expressed in his quote, "Life isn't one genre, it's a salad." The documentary uses unreleased footage from his film sets, rare archival materials, and excerpts from his personal diary, where we hear Guttman's digitally generated voice reading them.
There are interviews with his sister, boyfriend, and personal assistant shedding light on how Guttman confronted his personal demons. It took him years to accept being gay, though he still felt some shame. He only acknowledged his illness at the very end, using work to cope with his devastating diagnosis. He's the patron saint of current queer Israeli filmmakers. "Taboo" is a fascinatingly disturbing portrait of a prickly, contradictory artist finally given his due.
Since it is the closing night feature, we can say SFJFF4 is going out with a bang in the documentary "Sabbath Queen." It's the compelling story of Amichai Lau-Lavie, an openly gay man, a Conservative Jewish rabbi, a Radical Faerie, and a drag queen, filmed over twenty years. The filmmaker is Sandy DuBowski, who in 2001 created the queer Jewish cult classic, "Trembling Before G-d," on how gay Orthodox Jews reconcile their sexuality with their faith.
Amichai is a descendant of 38 consecutive generations of Orthodox Jewish rabbis, which is both a gift and a burden. His grandfather died in the Holocaust saying Kiddush in the gas chamber with his congregation. His father was an Israeli diplomat. His uncle was the former Chief Rabbi of Israel. His disapproving but loving brother is an Orthodox rabbi in Israel, whose commentary about Amichai we hear throughout the film.
"Sabbath Queen" follows his journey from being outed by the Israeli press, then emigrating to New York where he gets involved with the Radical Faeries, meets his non-Jewish lover, who later dies of HIV complications. He develops a hilarious stage drag persona, Rebbetzin (meaning rabbi's wife) Hadassah Gross spouting Jewish wisdom. He helps establish a God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation called Lab/Shul that welcomes everyone, where he can enact his religion as performance approach.
Believing he can dismantle the repressive prejudicial traditionalism of Conservative Judaism from the inside, Amichai decides to become a rabbi. He enters the conservative Jewish Theological Seminary, to the consternation of his progressive congregation and his orthodox family, who feel he treats Judaism like a game.
However, Amichai is put to the test when two men want to get married, one a Jew, the other a Zen priest. The issue is not that it's a same-gender marriage, but that Conservative Judaism prohibits interfaith marriages, which is the heart of Lab/Shul. Amichai knows if he performs the wedding, he will probably be thrown out of the denomination. What will he do?
This documentary is really about what it means to be Jewish today, especially with the reality that in 30 years Orthodox Judaism will make up over 75% of Jews worldwide. The documentary jumps back and forth in time. It's fast-paced but packed with lots of facts and counter opinions that will probably interest mostly Jewish folk, but it's very thought-provoking. It will be easy to make connections with Christian nationalists and Islamic fundamentalists.
Always opposed to the Israeli occupation of Gaza, right after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, Amichai immediately called for a ceasefire at a protest where other Jews barraged him with hateful names. Amichai is a shapeshifter and you aren't sure exactly where he lands in the end, but he wants you to be uncomfortable. His philosophy is best summed up in his quote, "Not everything that we've inherited is worthy of being passed on; we need to look the 21st century in the eye." He believes any change will come from the marginalized divisive voices in Judaism, of whom he's the archetype. One of the best queer documentaries of this year.
The unkindest cut of all or perhaps not? Circumcision is the topic du jour in writer/director Jonah Weinstein's ten minute short, "The Eighth Day." Noah and Jonah are gay Jewish husbands and through surrogacy are new parents to a baby boy, Reuben. When Noah and Jonah's parents arrive at their home expecting a traditional bris for their grandson, Noah and Jonah are forced to tell them they've decided not to circumcise Reuben. The parents are now in an uproar. Will Noah and Jonah surrender?
The humor here is Borscht Belt/Neil Simon one-liners, which may or may not appeal to viewers. It's a fully acted narrative, including Steven Skybell, who played Tevye in the recent Broadway production of "Fiddler on the Roof," as the insulted grandfather. This controversy once discussed in secret is now a mainstream Jewish issue, especially for queer and non-traditional Jewish parents. An amusing conversation discussion starter.
Few issues are as radioactive today as cancel culture featured in the 38-minute semi-short "XCLD: The Story of Cancel Culture," produced by MSNBC. Cancel culture originated as a progressive tactic to hold people accountable for bad behavior, particularly racism, misogyny, and homophobia. However, more recently, conservatives have coopted the phrase to lament the overreach of "woke" goals, seeing themselves as victims. "They attempt to use it as a political power play of their own, while seeking to de-platform opponents with similar strategies."
Brilliantly, the film uses comedians, including the lesbian comic Judy Gold (who wrote a book, "Yes I Can Say That," on the subject), often victims of cancel culture. They argue that people need to be less sensitive about comedy which is supposed to make us wince and think. "XCLD" also profiles how there's a long tradition of cancel culture in our country going back to the Puritans, who used public shaming to hold people responsible for their actions (i.e. the Scarlet A). The film centers around the conundrum of using free speech to prevent someone else from speaking.
There's also a thoughtful interlude about developing mechanisms of forgiveness and redemption as a way of bringing people back who experienced cancel culture. Taken too far, the film seems to suggest, cancel culture, even with laudable goals, can become toxic. It's funny and provocative, with its use of comedy simultaneously to lighten the topic, but also with its barbs, to show the hypocrisy undergirding the whole concept, as just more divisiveness about which people can argue.
Another major LGBTQ film that was not screened for the press is the documentary, "Janis Ian: Breaking Silence," about the singer/songwriter's life and career. According to the film's website, it "will chronicle the singer's epic life journey beginning with her Jewish childhood on a chicken farm in New Jersey; her youthful struggle with notoriety following her hit "Society's Child" (about an interracial love) in 1966 and her ascent to fame with the single "At Seventeen" (about body shaming) in 1975," for which she won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
During the 1960s Ian jammed with Jimi Hendrix in Greenwich Village bars and partied with Janis Joplin. She was outed in 1976 by the "Village Voice" magazine, but was quiet about it until her 1993 album "Breaking Silence," (her first in 12 years) in which she formally came out publicly about her loving relation-ship with wife Pat Snyder.
They had to take out a second mortgage on their home to fund the album, as record companies were no longer interested in Ian's music. The film utilizes Ian's vast archive, as well as interviews with family, friends, famed collaborators, and music journalists to tell her courageous story, which is ongoing, as she is still performing today in concerts at age 73.
www.jfi.org
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