It can sometimes be easy to overlook Spokane's Jewish population. By most estimates, Jews make up less than 0.5 percent of the local population, meaning their circle is very small but tight-knit. That's part of why the Spokane Jewish Cultural Film Festival is such a point of pride. As the biggest Jewish public cultural event in the Inland Northwest, the festival also serves as an important point of outreach to foster understanding.
"Our region has had a history of White supremacy and anti-semitism with the Aryan Nations and so forth. Almost exactly a year ago, I came to work and discovered the swastikas and the White power symbol on the temple," says Neal Schindler, the director of both the Spokane Jewish Cultural Film Festival and Spokane Area Jewish Family Services. "And so I think [the festival] is an opportunity for people who are not Jewish, who don't have much knowledge of Jewish tradition, to get more insight into what it means to be Jewish. And as I often say, it can mean many things to be Jewish, as with any faith and cultural background. Each year we present some glimpses of what Jewish life is, and what Jewish tradition is. I like to think that it increases cultural understanding and religious understanding and tolerance and so forth."
The 2022 edition of SJCFF will be a hybrid, both in-person and online. The only in-person screening is opening night at the Garland Theater Feb. 17 (proof of COVID vaccination and masks required).
The opening program features two films: the Italian feature A Starry Sky Above the Roman Ghetto and the U.K. short Pops. A Starry Sky tells the story of a girl who discovers a photo of a young girl from the Holocaust and attempts to track her down with the help of her high school pals and a group of kids from a Jewish high school. The teens decide to create and stage a play to raise awareness of the missing girl's story. Pops explores two adult Jewish siblings feuding over whether to bury their dead father or send his ashes into space. After the screening, there will be a discussion with Dr. Torunn Haaland, the director of Italian Studies at Gonzaga University and a film scholar.
All 11 films will be available for streaming via sajfs.org/our-programs/sjcff. The other offerings include films about an Orthodox Jew doing stand-up comedy (A Jew Walks into a Bar), a teenage gang member hiding his Jewish heritage (Wet Dog), family members sorting through an interfaith marriage (American Birthright), and even shame brought on by being part of a "Human Centipede menorah" as part of a joke on Conan (Eight Nights). The films will be available in staggered three-day windows through Feb. 27 to spread out viewing and allow for Zoom Q&As for some films.
Film critic Roger Ebert said "movies are like a machine that generates empathy," and in many ways that's the core idea behind what makes the Spokane Jewish Cultural Film Festival so vital.
"Film is such an accessible medium ... it resonates emotionally in ways that some other cultural products don't as much," Schindler says. "Ideally, I guess everyone would read books about Judaism and understand better, but that's not necessarily going to happen. Film is a really great way for people to get a better sense of what it can mean to be Jewish." ♦
Spokane Jewish Cultural Film Festival 2022 • Feb. 17-21 • Festival Pass: $42 • Opening Night: Thu, Feb. 17 at 7 pm • $8 • Garland Theater • 924 W. Garland Ave. • sajfs.org/our-programs/sjcff • 509-747-7394
