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
Janis Ian: Breaking Silence
JFF screening: Tuesday, April 8 1 & 7pm
Outwatch screening: Thursday, April 10 1 & 7pm
Q&A with Director Varda Bar-Kar following April 8, 7pm screening!
Not Rated
114 mins
Documentary
Janis Ian: Breaking Silence chronicles the remarkable journey of the Jewish singer-songwriter Janis Ian, beginning with her teen years when she was a precocious member of the vibrant Greenwich Village folk scene and jammed late at night with such legends as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. In the mid-70s, she ascends to major stardom with such hits as “Stars,” about the transient nature of fame (covered by Nina Simone and Cher) and “Jesse,” the wistful lament of a lonely person waiting for their lover to return home (covered to great success by the R&B singer Roberta Flack and Folk icon Joan Baez)…MORE INFO
Tue, Apr 8
Wed, Apr 9
Thu, Apr 10
(1:00) 7:00
(11:50) 2:20, 4:55, 7:30
(1:00) 4:00, 7:00
Jewish Film Festival
Resistance: They Fought Back
Tuesday, April 29 1 & 7pm
Q&A with director Paula S. Aspell to follow each screening!
Not Rated
97 mins
Documentary
We’ve all heard of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, but most people have no idea how widespread and prevalent Jewish resistance to Nazi barbarism was. Instead, it’s widely believed “Jews went to their deaths like sheep to the slaughter.” Filmed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Israel, and the U.S., Resistance – They Fought Back provides a much-needed corrective to this myth of Jewish passivity. There were uprisings in ghettos large and small, rebellions in death camps, and thousands of Jews fought Nazis in the forests. Everywhere in Eastern Europe, Jews waged campaigns of non-violent resistance against the Nazis…MORE INFO
Tue, Apr 29
1:00, 7:00
Jewish Film Festival
Bad Shabbos
Tuesday, May 13 1 & 7pm
Not Rated
84 mins
Comedy
When David and his fiance Meg gather for his family’s traditional Shabbat dinner on New York’s Upper West Side, things spiral faster than you can say “hamotzi” when an accidental death (or…murder?) derails the evening entirely. With Meg’s devoutly Catholic parents due any moment to meet David’s very Jewish family, soon Shabbat becomes a comedy of biblical proportions….MORE INFO
Tue, May 13
1:00, 7:00
Jewish Film Festival
All God’s Children
Tuesday, June 10 1 & 7pm
Not Rated
100 mins
Documentary
In an unprecedented attempt to heal centuries of racism and antisemitism, and combat the rising racial and ethnic tension in their Brooklyn communities, activist Rabbi Rachel Timoner teams up with Baptist Reverend Robert Waterman to unite their congregations. As their faith is put to the test, both congregations struggle to not let their differences drive them apart…MORE INFO
Tue, June 10
1:00, 7:00
Jewish Film Festival
UnBroken
Tuesday, July 8 1 & 7pm
Q & A with director Beth Lane to follow 7pm show!
Not Rated
97 mins
Documentary
UnBroken chronicles the seven Weber siblings who evaded certain capture and death, and ultimately escaped Nazi Germany following their mother’s incarceration and murder at Auschwitz. After being hidden in a laundry hut by a benevolent farmer, the children spent two years on their own in wartorn Germany…MORE INFO