Festivals & Series
Sonoma County Jewish Film Festival
Since the Fall of 2000, the Jewish Community Center of Sonoma County has called Rialto Cinemas home for its annual Jewish Film Festival. Produced and programmed by the Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Film Festival presents films about the Jewish experience, both past and present, here at home and around the globe. Over the years, this festival has become a cherished tradition, presenting captivating films that explore the rich tapestry of the Jewish experience, spanning both historical narratives and contemporary stories.
Beginning in April of 2024, Rialto Cinemas will team with the JCC to present a monthly film series showcasing a diverse selection of films that celebrate Jewish heritage, culture, and identity.
Jewish Film Festival
Cinema Sabaya
Tuesday, April 9 1 & 7pm
Not Rated
92 mins
Drama
A group of Palestinian and Israeli women attend a video workshop at a small town community center run by Rona (Dana Ivgy, Zero Motivation), a young filmmaker from Tel Aviv, who teaches them to document their lives. As each student shares footage from her home life with the others, their beliefs and preconceptions are challenged and barriers are broken down. The group comes together as mothers, daughters, wives, and women living in a world designed to keep them apart, forming an empowering and lasting bond as they learn more about each other… and themselves…MORE INFO
Jewish Film Festival
Call Me Dancer
Tuesday, May 21 1 & 7pm
Not Rated
84 mins
Documentary
Manish is an athletic street dancer from Mumbai, whose working-class parents depend on their only son’s support. When he accidentally walks into an inner-city dance school and encounters a curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli ballet master, a hunger develops within him. Ambitious and passionate, Manish is determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked against him…MORE INFO
Jewish Film Festival
Farewell Mr. Haffman
Tuesday, June 18 1 & 7pm
Not Rated (PG-13)
115 mins
Drama
Occupied Paris, 1941: all members of the Jewish community are instructed to come forward and identify themselves to authorities. Dedicated jeweller Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil), fearing the worst, arranges for his family to flee the city and offers his employee François Mercier (Gilles Lellouche) the chance to take over his store until the conflict subsides. But his own attempts to escape are thwarted, and Haffmann is forced to seek his assistant’s protection. It’s a risky proposition for both men, and one that Mercier’s wife Blanche (a wonderful Sara Giraudeau) is sceptical of. As the couple move into the Haffmann home, the agreement turns into a Faustian bargain, one that will forever change the fate of all…MORE INFO
Jewish Film Festival
Fioretta
Tuesday, July 16 1 & 7pm
Not Rated
127 mins
Documentary
History-obsessed Randy Schoenberg (memorably portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in Woman in Gold) brings his reluctant teenage son Joey along for the journey of a lifetime, through Europe and the centuries, to reclaim 500 years of their family story. Along the way, they encounter kings, mystics, and a false messiah — as well as numerous ordinary and extraordinary people who witnessed Europe’s tumultuous past. And the relationship between father and son is forever changed. Randy is renowned for recovering Nazi-looted art, but his greatest achievement might just be reuniting the fractured and scattered shards of his own family…MORE INFO
Jewish Film Festival
Stay With Us
Tuesday, August 20 1 & 7pm
Not Rated
90 mins
Comedy
After three successful years living and working in America, French-Jewish actor and comedian Gad Elmaleh decides to move back home to Paris. He misses his family and friends. Or, at least that’s what Gad tells his loving yet overbearing parents, Régine and David. However, it’s not long before his parents find out the true reason for their son’s return — after a long period of ambivalence towards his own Jewishness, Gad has officially decided to convert to Catholicism. Dumbfounded by his sudden obsession with the Virgin Mary, and with only five weeks before his baptism, Gad’s family endeavor to bring him back to Judaism for fear of losing him forever…MORE INFO
Jewish Film Festival
Bella! This Womans Place is in the House
Tuesday, October 15 1 & 7pm
Not Rated
TBD mins
Documentary
As Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi lead the nation, they travel a path blazed by several women before them, notably Bella Abzug. In 1970, when the United States was ruled by men, Bella challenged the status quo, running a successful campaign from the streets of Manhattan that elevated her all the way to the halls of Congress. With her trademark hat and Bronx swagger, Bella entered Congress swinging, battling for credit cards for women, equality for the LGBTQ community and trailblazing a path for leadership that reflected the broad diversity of the country…MORE INFO