The twelfth annual WinterFest, presented by the Jewish Film Institute, is an electrifying showcase of bold, independent films that expand and evolve the Jewish story across two action-packed days at the Vogue Theater in San Francisco. From innovative dramatic features to illuminating documentaries, WinterFest 2025 invites communities in the Bay Area and beyond to dive deep into tales that entertain, challenge, educate, and delight us.

Schedule of Events:

Tuesday February 18, 2025

6:00 pm: Among Neighbors - JFI WinterFest Opening Night

12th Annual WinterFest Opening Night

Co-presented with SF IndieFest as the Closing Night of the 27th San Francisco Independent Film Festival (February 6–18).

Director Yoav Potash and executive producer Dr. Anita Friedman expected to attend

Using beautiful 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 Bay Area filmmaker Yoav Potash (Crime After Crime, Sundance Film Festival), Among Neighbors is an evocative and heart-pounding murder mystery with urgent political relevance.

Saturday February 22, 2025

1:30 pm: Free for All: The Public Library

Directors Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor expected to attend

One of the most valued yet endangered institutions, public libraries were founded on a visionary principle: to create a space where anyone can access a universe of information, free of charge. Director Dawn Logsdon travels across the United States, uncovering the stories of historic and modern-day figures who have shaped libraries into pillars of democracy. From the Lower East Side of New York to the Chinatowns of the American West, this inquisitive documentary examines how libraries have supported immigrant communities and how those communities, in turn, have shaped public libraries. It draws stark parallels between the book bans of Nazi Germany and those happening today across the U.S., probing the ways in which the institution has upheld the core values of accessibility and intellectual freedom. Free For All: The Public Library celebrates the civic institution where communities are built, futures are imagined, and, in Jewish tradition, the pursuit of knowledge is valued and encouraged.

4:30 pm: Most People Die on Sundays

David, a gay Jewish millennial  studying abroad in Italy, returns home to Buenos Aires for his uncle's funeral. Upon arrival he is surprised to learn his mother plans to remove his father's life support after years in a coma. Recovering from a devastating break-up and feeling overwhelmed, David avoids saying goodbye to his father by half-heartedly attempting to hook up with random men, scheduling specialist appointments, and practising for his driver's license. But he can only avoid his problems for so long, and his emotional homecoming propels him to finally confront them.

Argentinian actor Iair Said's impressive first narrative feature is a dryly funny and endearingly heartfelt dark comedy, which touches on the emotional toll of grieving loved ones while dealing with the under-discussed financial burden associated. This intimate family story, which premiered in Cannes' ACID program, is brought to life by Said's raw and honest lead performance alongside the wonderful Rita Cortese, who plays David's mother with tender naturalism. -CELESTE WONG

7:00 pm: Everything You Have is Yours

Director Tatyana Tenenbaum, producer Brighid Greene, and participant Hadar Ahuvia expected to attend

In this sensitively crafted documentary, choreographer Hadar Ahuvia interrogates the roots of the Israeli folk dances she grew up dancing with her mother. Facing romanticized stories about her grandparents, Zionist ‘kibbutznik' settlers in Palestine in the 1930's, she begins a personal endeavor unpacking and confronting the appropriative origins of this inherited dance. Through this vulnerable, personal story a larger weaving of powerful artistic portraits emerge- Jewish, Israeli, and Palestinian dancers living in New York City question what is inherited and what to choose to carry forward.

Director Tatyana Tennenbaum conveys the power of dance as an embodied medium for grieving, healing, resistance and reclamation. Everything You Have Is Yours honors these powerful associations, reminding us of our shared humanity and the need for collective liberation.

Please also join the filmmakers at the Creative Interventions: The Role of Art in Healing Political Division panel on Sunday, February 23 at 1:30pm for an extended conversation.

Sunday February 23, 2025

1:30 pm: Creative Interventions: The Role of Art in Healing Political Division

Tatyana Tenenbaum, director, Everything You Have is Yours

Hadar Ahuvia, participant and choreographer, Everything You Have is Yours
Additional guests to be announced

October 7th and the war in Gaza poured fuel on the fire of long standing political polarization and community divisions, making the need for nuanced conversations more vital than ever before. But as topics like Israel, Palestine, and antisemitism continue to dominate the headlines, Jewish communal discussions around these themes are increasingly fraught. Film, and the arts more broadly, offer an alternative lens for unpacking past and current events that can then create space for complexity, nuance, and healing when words alone are not enough. Winterfest selection Everything You Have is Yours tackles these themes head on, tracing the familial and communal fractures that break out along political lines. In addition to the film's director and main participant, this panel will include Jewish community thought leaders and creative practitioners discussing the role of the arts in addressing these emotionally charged topics, and how art works to heal the internal divisions that prevent it from being discussed in the first place. - REBECCA PIERCE

4:30 pm: Outsider. Freud

The life and legacy of Sigmund Freud, one of the most influential and studied figures in modern psychology, is re-examined in this fresh new portrait of the man behind the theory. Over the course of four acts, this fascinating documentary combines animation, dreams, and insights from leading psychoanalysts. A deep dive into Freud's experiences of marginalization as a Jew in Vienna during Hitler's rise provides the context for how this moment shaped his theories and personal life. Through an intimate lens, the film reveals new dimensions of Freud's legacy, focusing on the profound effects of being an outsider.

Outsider. Freud is the latest entry in Qedar's The Hebrews Project, a documentary series dedicated to preserving the histories of Hebrew writers and Jewish authors from the 17th century to present. Crucial to imparting and sharing the stories of those who came before and influence today, this film honors and upends the legacy of Freud as we know it.

7:00 pm: The Zweiflers - Episodes 1-3

JFI WinterFest presents the first three episodes of the series

When the Zweifler family patriarch, Holocaust survivor Symcha, announces his plans to sell the family's deli empire, it causes a shift for the whole extended family to navigate. As news of the sale brings old buried secrets from his past to the surface, the three generations of Zweiflers reflect on their family's history, and their obligations to one another. And when the eldest grandson Samuel, a music manager in Berlin who returns home to Frankfurt, unexpectedly finds himself thrust into fatherhood, he is caught between honoring old traditions and creating new ones.

A vibrant and complex exploration of the intergenerational conflicts that emerge when desires and duty clash, and how the past seeps into the present. Led by an exceptional ensemble cast, this comedic drama, which won three prizes at the Cannes International Series Festival, portrays a modern German Jewish family's everyday challenges, moral dilemmas, and blurred boundaries with refreshing nuance and endearing humor. - CELESTE WONG

Date: February 18 - 23, 2025

Location: Vogue Theater - 3290 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94115

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