17th SEASON OF THE SILICON VALLEY JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL OPENS WITH BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES

The 17^th annual Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival (formerly the San Jose Jewish Film Festival) opens Sunday, October 26 and the 3 p.m. film that day is “Fugitive Pieces”, produced by Robert Lantos, who was also producer of the epic 1999 film, “Sunshine.” “Fugitive Pieces” stars Ayelet Zurer, the well-known Israeli actress who has starred both inside and outside of Israel.

This blockbuster film is a gripping drama that tells a story about how a young boy copes with personal ghosts after a traumatic event takes place before his very eyes in WWII Poland. This cinematic masterpiece, through kaleidoscopic cinematography, including scenes from both a Greek island, and Toronto, charts the process by which he eventually frees himself.

The Festival actually begins at 1 p.m. on October 26 with, “The Yiddish Theater: A Love Story.” The wonderful music and singing in the film will bring back Yiddish memories. Opening Day ends with the Israeli suspense film, “The Debt,” which presents a chair-gripping story of the Mossad’s revenge.

Tickets and information to the Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival are available from the Festival web site at www.svjff.org. Patron memberships, which include admission to the movies as well as the Gala Patron Event (dinner and additional film, not included in the regular schedule) on Thursday, October 23, can be arranged through the Festival office at 408-833-9226.

In January of this year, the San Jose Jewish Film Festival changed its name to the Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival to reflect the broad reach of the audience in the Santa Clara Valley. From local to foreign, the Festival again features a bevy of films that entertain, and educate. Numerous Israeli movies are again on the schedule, including “The Champagne Spy” (Sunday, November 2 and Wednesday, November 5), an intriguing James Bond-like story (only real) about an Israeli spy in Egypt, and “The Secrets” (Sunday, November 16 and Wednesday, November 19), a drama about two Israeli girls who meet a mysterious older woman in Tzfat. The Israeli blockbuster “The Bubble”, an adults-only Tel Aviv story, plays Sunday, November 9.

Other films at this year’s Festival include “Un Secret”, a French film (Sunday, November 2). Also on November 2 is “Refusenik”, featuring the dramatic and successful worldwide effort to open up the old Soviet Union’s emigration policy. More than 20 films are shown in the month-long Festival, one of the most significant cultural events of the Silicon Valley.

This year, there are four movies playing at the Cubberley Community Center in Palo Alto on successive Thursday evenings beginning October 30. Check www.svjff.org for more information.

Last year, the Festival attracted attendance of more than 5,000. You are urged to order tickets in advance from the festival web site, or by calling 1-800-838-3006 since movies do sell out. They will again be held at the Camera 12 Theater, 201 South Second Street San Jose. Major support of the Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival is provided by: Addison Penzak Jewish Community Center of Silicon Valley, the City of San Jose, the Koret Foundation, Dorsey and Whitney, LLP, Metro, the Silicon Valley Bank Foundation, and Silicon Valley Community Newspapers.