The 21st annual Spokane Jewish Film Festival showcases diverse representations of Jewish life throughout history

click to enlarge The 21st annual Spokane Jewish Film Festival showcases diverse representations of Jewish life throughout history
Just the Tip

For more than two decades now the Spokane Jewish Film Festival has brought collections of films, documentaries and shorts presenting Jewish life and culture to the Inland Northwest. Each year, the festival supports the nonprofit Spokane Area Jewish Family Services (JFS).

"It's important that we grow the film festival every year, to support JFS and the work it does, like providing supportive services and programming for families, children, low-income families and seniors in our community," says Jack Sorensen, a member of its board. "Not just that, film festivals are a really engaging and educational way for people to learn about other communities and cultures that they live with. I don't know of a better medium than film in which to do that."

This year, from Jan. 25 to Feb. 2, the festival showcases a collection of 11 films and shorts documenting the diversity of Jewish life. Between serious documentaries about Holocaust survivors, the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict, and a Jewish community's impact during the Civil Rights Movement, attendees will find brevity in other short films about circumcision (Just the Tip) and familial arguments about what kind of takeout to get (We Should Eat).

While the festival lineup is technically shorter than last year's 20th anniversary celebration, Sorensen says there's been growth in other areas. For example, this year's festivities mark the event's return to the Magic Lantern Theatre, Spokane's only art-house theater.

"[The Magic Lantern] is really well suited to host events like the film festival," he says, "and one of the deciding factors for us to choose this venue was in the value of supporting a local, independent theater."

Additionally, Sorensen says the film festival offers more in-person showings, receptions and post-screening discussions than last year. There are even a few films, Vishniac and The Goldman Case, alongside the short Tattooed4Life, that can be viewed from home.

Every film and short in the festival's lineup was hand-picked from a pool of similarly great submissions months ago, and are all worth a watch; however, Sorensen says these three feature-length documentaries are must-see experiences.

CARLA THE RESCUER
Sat, Jan. 25 at 4 pm (also at 7 pm, sold out)

Carla the Rescuer, a locally made documentary featuring World War II Dutch resistance member Carla Peperzak, is the headlining film in this year's festival. Peperzak, who lives in Spokane and turned 101 years old in November, still shares her story throughout the Inland Northwest.

"We just feel how cool and special it is to have the opportunity to really be the premiere of this film about a local Holocaust survivor and Dutch resistance member who is obviously very well known and respected in our community," Sorenson says. "There are many members of the community who have heard her story, but having it captured on film, you know, it wasn't even a question that we would open [the festival] with it."

The short Jack and Sam, which tells the story of two Holocaust survivors who reconnect in their 90s and rekindle their friendship, accompanies the sold-out 7 pm showing of Carla the Rescuer.

LYD
Sun, Jan. 26 at 2 pm

Described as a sci-fi documentary, Lyd examines the rise and fall of the 5,000-year-old Palestinian town which was conquered in 1948 when Israel was formed. The city today, now named Lod, sits about an hour west of Israel's capital Jerusalem.

Co-directed by Jewish filmmaker Sarah Ema Friedland and Palestinian filmmaker Rami Younis, the film explores the impacts of massacre and expulsion on the Palestinian experience. After the showing, both Friedland and Younis are attending a virtual Q&A moderated by Eastern Washington University professor Rob Sauders, an expert on the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We really feel strongly that film festivals, as a community cultural event, are places where we should be challenged and ask questions and have discussion and dialogue," Sorensen says. "The film consists of both documentary-style interviews, but also narrative storytelling through animation imagining an alternative present for Lyd."

AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND
Thu, Jan. 30 at 7 pm

Ain't No Back to a Merry-Go-Round tells the story of the first organized interracial civil rights protest in U.S. history. Directly after the film is a moderated post-screening discussion. While the 2024 documentary directed by Ilana Trachtman doesn't have any direct ties to the region, its showing is thanks to a partnership with Spokane's NAACP chapter.

"This is a really cool event and a really cool partnership to show this film that we're really excited about," Sorensen says. "It's just a fascinating and incredible documentary about a really undertold story of the Civil Rights Movement and a really important story about racial solidarity for civil rights. At this moment, it's the right documentary for the film festival." ♦

Spokane Jewish Film Festival 2025 • Jan. 25-Feb. 2; show times vary • $10-$70 • Magic Lantern Theatre • 25 W. Main Ave. sajfs.org/our-programs/sjcff

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Colton Rasanen

Colton Rasanen has been a staff writer at the Inlander since 2023. He mainly covers education in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area and also regularly contributes to the Arts & Culture section. His work has delved into the history of school namesakes, detailed the dedication of volunteers who oversee long-term care...