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As our region continues to recover from the recent wave of deadly storms, we are here to help. If you or someone you know needs assistance, please contact our JFS Community Social Worker Diane Weber at 916-205-0688, or Federation at 916-486-0906.
Coming Soon
March 1 through 21, 2023
Every year, the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival, a program of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, presents short films from all over the world.

In March, we will be presenting two films which were short-listed for best live-action short film.

From March 1 through March 21, we will be streaming Nakam and White Eye.

Nakam is a short film from Germany based on a true story that took place in 1942 Ukraine.

During WWII, the Nazis invaded Belarus and Ukraine, rounding up Jews for deportation to concentration camps. Twelve-year-old violin prodigy Mordechai "Motele" Schlein managed to hide as his father, mother, and sister were arrested and sent to Auschwitz. On his own, Motele encountered a partisan group actively working to attack Nazi units in occupied Belarus and Ukraine with the help of allied forces. A pivotal story in young Motele's life is told in Andreas Kessler's short film Nakam. Nakam depicts the story of violinist Mitka who plays for Nazi soldiers in a Ukrainian restaurant with his friend and teacher pianist Yegor. Mitka keeps his role in a Jewish partisan movement secret and plots to take revenge, nakam in Hebrew. An opportunity arises to execute an attack on SS officers in the restaurant, and Mitka has to choose between friendship and cause. Nakam shows the extremes Jews had to go to during the Holocaust to save themselves.

Nakam is one of 15 films that has been short-listed for best live-action short film this year. On January 24, the top five films will be announced and the Oscar ceremony will take place on March 12.

To read more about the film, click here and here.

The Israeli film, White Eye, was nominated for best live-action short film in 2021. It was one of five films short listed for the Oscar, but the American film Two Distant Strangers won.

The 20-minute short film tells the story of an Israeli man named Omer (Daniel Gad) who finds his stolen bicycle locked up by another owner. The character Omer, who represents real-life Israeli director Tomer Shushan, indignantly tries to get his bike back from the man who bought it from a reseller, Yunes (Dawit Tekelaeb), but the tables turn quickly when Omer involves the police.

Incredibly, Shushan wrote the script in less than an hour just two hours after the story actually happened to him. And the film was shot in one take.

Read reviews here and here.
SPECIAL PROGRAM IN HONOR OF MARTIN LUTHER KING’S BIRTHDAY

The Educational Legacy of Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington
with Dorothy Canter, Marian and Valerie Coleman, Stephanie Deutsch, Andrew Feiler and Aviva Kempner
Tuesday, January 17, 1:30 PM PST

Working with African American intellectual Booker T. Washington, Jewish businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald established challenge grants that lead to the creation between 1912 and 1937 of almost 5,000 schools, known as Rosenwald Schools, for African American children throughout the segregated south. Come learn from our distinguished guests who have dedicated their time to documenting, preserving, and sharing the historical and educational legacy of Washington and Rosenwald, “one of the earliest collaborations between Jews and African Americans,” according to photographer Andrew Feiler. They will discuss Rosenwald and Washington’s historic partnership, the impact the Rosenwald schools had on the African American community and the importance of remembering and preserving their legacy.

·        Dorothy Canter is the founder of the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historic Park Campaign.

·        Marian Wheeler Coleman was once a student at a Rosenwald school-the Nobel Hill School that her great grandfather helped build. The restored school is now a Black heritage museum, first curated by Marian and now by her niece Valerie Coleman.

·        Stephanie Deutsch, whose husband is a great grandson of Julius Rosenwald, is the author of You Need a Schoolhouse: Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South.

·        Andrew Feiler is author of the photodocumentary A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America.

·        Aviva Kempner is a filmmaker who created the documentary Rosenwald: The Remarkable Story of A Jewish Partnership with African American Communities.

·        The Sacramento Jewish Film Festival presented the film, Rosenwald, in 2020.

To Register for this program, Click here.
SEE A COMPLETE LIST OF FILMS ON OUR WEBSITE

Please visit our website for a complete list of the feature and short films to be presented (including trailers).

To become a sponsor of the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival and view the benefits that are commensurate with your sponsorship level, please click here.

Tickets and passes to the festival for the general public will go on sale later this month.
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The Sacramento Jewish Film Festival will be celebrating its 24rd season in 2023, bringing the community together for entertaining, provocative, and educational films.

The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region is a philanthropic organization that provides educational, cultural, and social services programs to the Jewish community locally and around the world. The Federation movement protects and enhances the well-being of Jews worldwide through the values of “tikkun olam” (repairing the world) and “tzedakah” (charity and social justice).

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) educates about and advocates on behalf of issues of vital importance to the Jewish community.