Film Festival

Film has the magical power to bring people together, to inspire, to educate, to help us explore our identities, and uncover new and forgotten stories.

For 30 years JCC Sonoma County has fostered a strong appreciation of Jewish and Israeli Cinema within the communities of our county. Continuing the tradition of superior cultural programs, the festival brings the newest and best of Jewish-themed and Israeli films that are rarely if ever featured on our local silver screens.

Since the Fall of 2000, JCC SoCo has partnered with Rialto Cinemas to give a home for its annual Jewish Film Festival. A partnership we are proud to be a part of, and thank our friends at Rialto for their support over the years.

The Rialto theatre in Sebastopol pictured at night looking into the bright and welcoming interior.

2025 Film Fest

This year's film festival runs April through December, screening one film a month. Screenings take place on a Tuesday and run at 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM that day.

April 8 and 29, May 13, June 10, July 08, August 12, Sept. 9, Oct. 14, Nov. 11, Dec. 9

TRAILERS & TICKETS

COMING UP

JULY 8th • 1 & 7pm

Tickets

Trailer

UnBroken

As each generation ages, the need to record family history before it is forever lost increases in urgency. Filmmaker Beth Lane embarks on an international quest to uncover answers about the plight of her mother and her six siblings who, as mere children, escaped Nazi Germany relying solely on their own youthful bravado and the kindness of strangers. After being hidden in a laundry hut by a benevolent farmer, the children spent two years fending for themselves. Emboldened by their father’s mandate that they ‘always stay together,’ the children used their own cunning and instincts to fight through hunger, loneliness, bombings, and fear. Their journey culminates with a painful ultimatum, when, separated from their father, they are told that they must declare themselves as orphans in order to escape to a new life in America. Unbeknownst to them, this salvation would become what would finally tear them apart, not to be reunited for another 40 years.

Told with wit, warmth, and a sense of unfolding discovery, UnBroken is a heartwarming achievement.

7 PM SHOWING SPECIAL
Director Beth Lane will attend the evening showing, and do Q&A afterwards.

AUG 12th • 1 & 7pm

Tickets

Trailer

AMONG NEIGHBORS

Using hand-drawn animation to bring the past to life, “Among Neighbors” investigates the story of a small, rural town where the longstanding peace between Jewish and Polish neighbors was shattered by World War II. The film focuses on the only living Holocaust survivor from the town, and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews murdered there — six months after the Nazis were defeated. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Potash (“Crime After Crime,” Sundance Film Festival).

Winner, Variety Magazine’s Envision Award.
Winner, Audience Award, Best Documentary Feature, San Francisco Independent Film Festival
Winner, Special Award, Warsaw Jewish Film Festival
Winner, Envision Award, Jewish Film Institute
Winner, Best Documentary, Los Angeles Film Awards

SEPT 9th • 1 & 7pm

Tickets

Trailer

YANIV

"The most vivid and most enjoyable movies immerse us in a world and show us how that world works. The story of Yaniv does just that, tracing the journey of two desperate high-school teachers from the Bronx who become embroiled in a high-stakes caper that is way over their heads. Their misadventure begins with noble intentions, as they try, albeit unsuccessfully, to secure funding for a spring musical production for their students. Their unconventional solution? Infiltrating an underground card game called “Yaniv” run by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group, all in pursuit of claiming the coveted prize money. However, despite their best-laid plans, chaos ensues, resulting in a riotous, comedic unraveling with moments of profound depth and heartwarming warmth."

-Miami Jewish Film Festival

OCT 14th • 1 & 7pm

Tickets

Trailer

THE TRUE STORY OF TAMARA DE LEMPICKA & THE ART OF SURVIVAL

“The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & the Art of Survival” is a visually stunning and sweeping feature documentary that traces the life and survival of the renowned painter through her powerful paintings – from her rise to international stardom in 1920s Paris, to her move to the United States in 1940, fleeing the rise of fascism, and her revival in the current art market. Tamara de Lempicka was the preeminent Art Deco painter, known for her high-gloss sensual nudes and portraits of high society during the Jazz Age. She was marginalized and gained notoriety for her romantic liaisons with her models and her indulgent, decadent lifestyle, but she was so much more.

The film follows this remarkable émigrée as she reinvents herself multiple times, looking behind the veneer of the publicity she generated for herself and examining the bisexual Jewish artist who embodied talent, resilience, passion, and the relentless pursuit of artistic freedom. Told through her never-before-seen 8mm home movies and groundbreaking newly-discovered birth and baptism certificates, our film reveals her true name, heritage, and identity for the first time and will change art history.

-Miami Jewish Film Festival

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