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By Gary M. Kramer\u2014<\/p>\n
The 46th edition of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will open today, July 16, 2026, with out gay writer\/director Moshe Rosenthal\u2019s Tell Me Everything and will close on August 1 with a screening of the Catskills documentary, We Met at Grossinger\u2019s. In between will be dozens of features, shorts, and documentaries about Jewish life and culture, including Nurith Aviv\u2019s Given Names, whichfeatures interviews with a dozen subjects, including Judith, a queer activist who took the name Judon and started to use he\/him pronouns. Here is a rundown of the LGBTQ films that will be screening at this year\u2019s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.<\/p>\n
Tell Me Everything (July 16, 6:30 pm, Herbst) is Moshe Rosenthal\u2019s compelling drama about the fraught relationship between a father and son in Israel. The first half, set in 1987, has 12-year-old Boaz (Yair Mazor) drawing away from his dad, Meir (Assi Cohen), after he spies his father having sex with another man at their local swimming pool. Boaz actively resists Meir, avoiding his touch and even ignoring him\u2014especially as news of the AIDS epidemic spreads and Boaz fears his father has the disease. As his bar mitzvah looms, Boaz begins to further question ideas of masculinity and manhood. Tell Me Everything then jumps to 1996, where Boaz, now a young adult (Ido Tako), tries to reconcile his unresolved feelings about his father. He expresses his pain in a homophobic manner toward a male sex worker but also tries to track Meir down. Seeking solace with an older man in a cruising area, Boaz has a series of encounters that may provide him with some catharsis. Rosenthal and his superb cast deftly convey each character\u2019s intense emotional state, creating a palpable sense of loss and longing. This is a sensitive, touching drama. Director Moshe Rosenthal is expected to attend.<\/p>\n
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Tell Me Everything<\/p>\n
Where To? (July 19, 8 pm, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF), and July 30, 6 pm, Piedmont) is a moving, episodic drama about Hassan (Ehab Salami), a Palestinian Uber driver in Germany. In May 2022, Hassan picks up Amir (Ido Tako), a gay Israeli, and his boyfriend Nils (Enzo Brumm) and watches the guys kiss in his mirror. Hassan then connects with Amir when he learns that they both grew up near each other in the Middle East. When Hassan picks up Amir a few months later, the two strangers become even more friendly, and Hassan helps Amir out another night when he sees the young Israeli is in trouble. Where To? also features a subplot about Hassan\u2019s efforts to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Juman (Rama Nasrallah), as well as Sanah (Derya Durmaz), a woman he once loved. Where To? is all about love, be it gay, straight, familial, or for one\u2019s country. In his feature directorial debut, Assaf Machnes generates emotion by capturing the silences and lingering on the faces of his characters, all of whom are processing intense feelings. This is a small, subtle, beautifully crafted film that yields many insights about the human conditions of longing and belonging. Director Assaf Machnes is expected to attend.<\/p>\n
Director Mike Doyle\u2019s modest, feel-better comedy-drama, Bookends, (July 20, 11 am, JCCSF) has budding novelist Nate (writer Noam Ash), moving in with his grandparents, Miriam (Caroline Aaron) and Saul (F. Murray Abraham), after he catches his boyfriend cheating on him. Anxious about his career, his heartbreak, and his future, Nate hopes to crash at Miriam and Saul\u2019s retirement community until he \u201cfigures things out.\u201d Nate\u2019s despair lifts a bit when he starts seeing his grandparents\u2019 hot, gay doctor, Daniel Green (out gay Charlie Barnett). As Nate takes care of other people, he realizes he can take care of himself. It is a sweet message, told in a sitcomic film featuring a cast that play the material a bit broadly. Nevertheless, Bookends offers charm and schmaltz in equal measure.<\/p>\n
Human Theories (July 25, 3:30 pm, Roxie)depicts dozens of awkward encounters between various people in New York City. Each vignette lasts only a few minutes, and some of the actors reappear in other episodes. The strength of queer writer\/director Jess Zeidman\u2019s film is that she knows where to place the camera\u2014such as on a lazy Susan as friends dine out\u2014and when to cut a scene for maximum dramatic impact. The stories range from absurdist, such as two gay men talking in funny accents, to downright uncomfortable as when a woman provides some honest feedback to her roommate. That the characters reveal themselves in just a few lines of dialogue, or a simple action, makes Human Theories incisive about human nature and helps move the film along when the episodes are less interesting. Director Zeidman is expected to attend.<\/p>\n
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Far From Maine (July 26, 2:30 pm, JCCSF),by out gay filmmaker Roy Cohen, is a thoughtful documentary about memory and the current political situation in Israel. As a 14-year-old, Cohen, an Israeli Jew with Arab heritage, met Aseel Asleh, a Palestinian living in Israel, at the Seeds of Peace camp in Maine. Cohen admired Asleh\u2019s charisma, and they became friends. Three years later, Asleh would be murdered by Israeli police. Far From Maine uses letters Asleh wrote to Cohen to reflect on the optimism and friendship they shared decades earlier. In addition, Cohen revisits the camp and meets with other friends from that time, including Shurouq, who shares his concerns about raising children in Israel. (Cohen and his husband Toby are parents of a young girl, Alia, and the couple talk in the film about staying in Tel Aviv.) Cohen also dedicates a section of Far From Maine to Asleh\u2019s unjust murder and its impact, explaining in a poignant voiceover that he \u201cneeded [Asleh\u2019s] words to deal with his death.\u201d This is certainly a personal story for Cohen, but the film\u2019s themes about social justice and \u201cfinding one\u2019s own way of living\u201d will resonate with most viewers.<\/p>\n
Two queer films are featured in the Narrative Shorts program, (July 28, 6 pm, Piedmont):<\/p>\n
Bubbe and Tal is a sweet short about the trans Tal (Sylvie Tamar) taking their feisty grandmother Bubbe (Judy Rosenblatt) to the beach. They fight in the car on the way and during a pit stop as well as on the beach where Bubbe takes off her boot (cast) and collects shells. But Tal notices Bubbe is in pain and offers her a joint to ease her suffering. They soon bond over dinner and oysters while high. Bubbe and Tal reveals an unexpected commonality in its last act, which adds another layer of emotion to this sensitive film.<\/p>\n
Photos of Her has Lidor (Lioz Levi) taking maternity photos of Shiri (Shaylee Atary) and her husband Doron (Tomer Machloof). But when Doron gets called away, Shiri and Lidor chat over a cigarette, and Lidor reveals she is trans. Shiri is surprised, but agrees to be photographed for Lidor\u2019s artistic endeavors, leading to a session where both women get naked and pose. Photos of Her captures a moment of non-sexual intimacy between Lidor and Shiri that is striking because of how they both embrace their bodies.<\/p>\n
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Photos of Her<\/p>\n
Two queer films are also featured in the From the Bay shorts program (August 1, 1 pm, Piedmont):<\/p>\n
Born Kicking is an inspiring documentary portrait of Jill Posener, an out lesbian activist, writer, and photographer\u2014she was the photo editor for On Our Backs\u2014as well as the founder of Paw Fund, a program for low- and no-income pet owners in the Bay Area. Posener talks about her life and experiences, her rebellious nature, and care for animals with candor, and her fabulous photographs illustrate her stories. She has oddly flown under the radar despite being out and proud and in-your-face in her life and work, but, as Born Kicking shows, Posener is getting her due with a recent exhibition of her work at the Tate gallery. This terrific short film helps get her the attention and respect she deserves. Director Lauretta Molitor is expected to attend.<\/p>\n
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Born Kicking<\/p>\n
Looking for Mr. Israeli, directed by Dan Wohlfeiler, about the filmmaker\u2019s decades-old magazine crush, was not available for preview.<\/p>\n