Movie Night | Tinghir Jerusalem, Echoes from the Mellah (Israel 2011)

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Tinghir Jerusalem, Echoes from the Mellah Dir. Kamal Hachkar | France, Morocco, Israel | 2011 | 86min. The film traces Kamal Hachkar's rediscovery of a Judeo-Berber culture in Morocco through a personal journey that leads him from the country of his birth, France, to Israel and Tinghir. Introduced by Professor Emily Gottreich, Vice Chair of […]

Movie Night | Life? Or Theatre? (Netherlands/Germany/USA/France 2012)

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

LIFE? OR THEATRE? Dir. Frans Weisz | Netherlands, Germany, USA, France | 2012 | 85min. In this documentary, Dutch filmmaker Frans Weisz traces the life of Charlotte Salomon, a German Jewish painter who defied the Nazi regime as a teenager by staying in Berlin and attending art school until 1938, when she was sent to […]

Movie Night | Dressing America: Tales From the Garment Center (USA 2011)

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

DRESSING AMERICA: TALES FROM THE GARMENT CENTER Dirs. Stepehen Fischler and Joel Sucher | USA | 2011 | 57min. Dressing America explores the ways in which immigrant Jews transformed a half-square mile of new York City into an urban village, packed with sewing machine operators, cutters, tailors, designers, trim manufacturers, machine and tool suppliers and […]

Movie Night | Fluchkes (Dir. Ofer Inov | Israel | 2011)

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Fluchkes is an honest, humorous look at growing older and its relationship to creativity and art. The film follows a group of talented, energetic and feisty women, all aged between 72 and 82, as they prepare for a professional dance performance. Intimately observing a year of grueling rehearsals building up to the final show, director […]

The Jewish Mother

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

“The Jewish Mother” has become an icon in film, fiction and popular culture. On one hand, her image reflects the yearning for lost childhood, family and traditional community. On the other hand, this sense of enchantment and nostalgia is accompanied by a perception of the mother as an intimidating, somewhat demonic figure, who forces her […]

Movie Night | My So-Called Enemy

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Spanning a seven-year period, “My So-Called Enemy” follows six Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls committed to justice and mutual understanding as the conflict continues to rage in their homeland, after participating in a women’s leadership program in the U.S. called Building Bridges for Peace.  This heart and mind-opening film documents how the young women’s transformative experience, of knowing […]

Movie Night | The Swing Girls (Italy, 2010)

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Swing Girls (Le ragazze dello swing) Dir. Maurizio Zaccaro | Italy, 2010 | 210 min. During the Fascist Regime in Italy, three Dutch sisters, Alexandra, Judith and Kitty Leschan, try to make a career as popular singers. After various attempts, thanks to their foreign accent, Cetra, the record company, takes them on. The EIAR (the broadcasting […]

SFJFF Movie Night | Next Year in Bombay

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Sharon and Sharona Galsulkar are the last educators of their Indian Jewish community, the Bene Israel, which has been residing in the Bombay region for centuries and is now disappearing. Genuinely Zionists and concerned about their daughters' future, they are also committed to their community's needs. Whose education will they sacrifice? Introduced by Lawrence Cohen, […]

SFJFF Movie Night: Orchestra of Exiles

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Orchestra of Exiles explores the 4-year odyssey of prodigious Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman in the founding of the orchestra that would become the Israel Philharmonic. Huberman's personal transformation and subsequent heroic struggle to get Jewish musicians out of Europe to found this orchestra are at the film's heart. Introduction by Dr. Francesco Spagnolo (The Magnes and Department […]

Fiddler Reception and Klezmer Dance Party

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark play Fiddler on the Roof with performances, screenings, conferences, sing-alongs, and more. When Fiddler on the Roof, a musical adaptation of Sholem Aleichem’s “Tevye” stories, made its debut on Broadway in 1964 it was an immediate hit. Join us for a festive reception and dance party following the 6:30pm California Theatre […]

SFJFF Film Screening with special guest Anna Halprin

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

World-renowned modern dancer Anna Halprin will introduce two short films realted to dance in Israel. Inside Envelopes (2012) 50 min, Dir. Shelly King This documentary tells the story of two dancer sisters and two musician brothers who come together to create a performance piece. Offering a glimpse into their creative process, replete with fiery arguments and […]

Sacred Mountains. Abrahamic Religions and Musical Practices in the Mediterranean Area

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Free and open to the public A documentary devoted to three pilgrimages to sacred mountains in the three Abrahamic Religions. The work explores the role of music practices as a way of prayer and participation, and the importance of sound in shaping and giving meaning to places. The narrative is shaped around three episodes, each devoted to a different event, following the usual moments of a pilgrimage. The Ascent: on the occasion of Shavuot, the Israelite Samaritans go to pray on Mount Gerizim, in the West Bank, where their sacred places are located. The Feast: in August, members of the brotherhood of the Bektashi climb Mount Tomorr, in Albania, where they pray near the tombs of dede, and practice the kurban (a sacrificial slaughtering of a sheep, whose meat is consumed by each participating family). The Descent: in early September, the miraculous statue of the Black Madonna of Viggiano, Queen of Lucania, in Italy, "descends" into the village for a festival. Nicola Scaldaferri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural Heritage and Environment at the University of Milan, Italy, where he founded and directs the Laboratory of Ethnomusicology and Visual Anthropology. He has done extensive ethnomusicological research in Italy, Albania, and Burkina-Faso, as well as research on […]