The Bay Area fall film festival season continues to flourish with the 28th Arab Film Festival and the Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival. We have recommendations for each.
The 11-day 2024 Arab Film Festival, with 40 impressive films, runs Oct. 24-Nov. 2 at the Palace of Fine Arts, AMC Kabuki, Roxie and Artists’ Television Access in San Francisco and the New Parkway Theater in Oakland. Some films, though none listed below, are available to stream.
The opening night selection “Life Is Beautiful: A Letter to Gaza” revolves around events that transpired around a decade ago, yet its topics resonate today. Palestinian director Mohamed Jabaly’s personal documentary chronicles his experience as a budding filmmaker from Gaza who got sidetracked for seven years in Norway, where he was visiting as a teacher, due to a border crossing shutdown in his homeland. It screens at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Palace of Fine Arts in an event featuring Alana Hadid, director for Watermelon Pictures (the film’s distributor) and performances by singer-songwriter Llunr and rapper MC Abdul.
The award-winning Sudanese drama “Goodbye Julia” ends the festival, screening at 7:15 p.m. Nov. 3 at the New Parkway. Mohamed Kordofani’s complex feature details two women from different socioeconomic standings whose lives intertwine over an act of violence in South Sudan.
Two other worthwhile films include:
“To a Land Unknown”: Chatila (Mahmoud Bakri) and Reda (Aram Sabbah), cousins and refugees from Gaza by way of Lebanon, take desperate measures when they get stranded in Athens after a smuggler takes advantage of them. They need fast cash to pay for fake passports they’ll use to travel to Germany where they hope to realize their dream of opening a cafe together. Mahdi Fleifel’s gritty drama doesn’t soft pedal the men’s bleak plight. The more resourceful, less ethical Chatila hatches a plan that backfires, and follows it with a grandiose one that affects others who are equally trapped. For the more sensitive, rather child-like Reda, an addict who hooks up with men for paid sex, the new plan counters who he is. Fleifel’s unflinching yet compassionate drama is heartbreaking, thanks to both actors’ raw, naturalistic performances. The film’s Bay Area premiere is at 5:10 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Roxie.
“Layla”: Bilal Hasna lights up the screen as a showstopping Arab drag queen who’s living life large in London far from the watchful eye of their traditional family. Layla’s carefree and single, Bohemian-style lifestyle gets upended when they meet the handsome lad (Louis Greatorex), a businessman who thrives in a world bound by looks and traditional appearances. Screenwriter-director Amrou Al-Kadhi’s sexy debut comments on the importance of staying true to your identity, no matter your situation, and is more bubbly than pedantic. The upbeat sentiment is refreshing. The film’s California premiere is at 7:35 p.m. Oct. 26 at the AMC Kabuki 8.
For a full rundown of the festival, visit https://arabfilm2024.eventive.org/welcome.
In the South Bay, the 33rd annual Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival gets underway Oct. 26, in person at the Jewish Community Center, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto and the AMC 14 at 700 El Paseo de Saratoga, San Jose, as well as online, through Nov. 10.
It opens with the Northern California premiere of the positively reviewed “The Performance,” an expanded take on an Arthur Miller short story set in 1937 Germany. It stars Jeremy Piven (HBO’s “Entourage”) as a Jewish-American tap dancer who dances with joy at the lucrative payday he and a troupe learn they will receive for a special performance. Then they discover who will be watching: Hitler. Director-co-screenwriter Shira Pevin and her star, brother Jeremy, plan to attend a Q&A following the 7 p.m. Oct. 26 screening at the Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto.
The festival closes with a rousing crowd-pleaser, the award-winning “Call Me Dancer” at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Palo Alto JCC. The inspiring documentary tells the unlikely story of charismatic Mumbai street dancer Manish Chauhan who surmounted obstacles on the way to realizing his dream of becoming a pro. Chauhan is slated to attend the Q&A.
Here are two more recommendations:
“Avenue of the Giants”: Bay Area filmmaker Finn Taylor’s quietly powerful truth-based drama illustrates the feeling of liberation people feel when they at last share long-held, tormenting secrets with others they trust. Shot partially in Mill Valley, the four-hankie movie centers on 74-year-old toy shop owner Herbert Heller (Stephen Lange), an Auschwitz survivor, and anxious, loner teen Abbey (Elsie Fisher), who form a bond over Herbert’s memories of his life in Auschwitz and before. Told partly in flashbacks, “Avenue of the Giants” sensitively addresses learning how to heal. It screens virtually at 6 p.m. Oct. 28.
“Screams Before Silence”: Shattering and important, this 57-minute documentary details former Meta executive and philanthropist-author-businesswoman Sheryl Sandberg’s conversations with survivors and first responders about a date that will live in infamy: Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas members attacked, murdered and raped Israelis. Sandberg’s thoughtful and sensitive questioning revisits scenes of two massacres, the Kfar Aza kibbutz and the Nova music festival. Testimonies shared by female survivors, some of whom were kidnapped, are harrowing, while statements from members of Hamas about the crimes they committed are unfathomable. Director Anat Stalinsky conveys the monstrous violent acts without resorting to graphic imagery, a move that demands respect. The film’s tough to watch but is essential. It screens virtually at 7 p.m. Oct. 30.
For tickets and a full list of programming, visit www.svjff.org/.
The post Pass the Remote: Arab film fest in SF and East Bay, Silicon Valley Jewish fest in South Bay appeared first on Local News Matters.