Turn off your phone and settle in: The S.F. Jewish Film Fest starts July 16

This article was originally published in the JWeekly.

Chances are you don’t go to the movies very often.

What was once America’s go-to weekend afternoon or date-night entertainment has fallen on relatively hard times. Though this summer’s box office is off to a good start, the film exhibition business still hasn’t entirely recovered from its pandemic collapse. In fact, just half of all Americans visited a movie theater in 2025.

It’s easy to see why: There are nearly infinite movies to watch at home, many for free. Meanwhile, two people can easily spend $50 on tickets — and God forbid you want to shell out for popcorn and a soda too. So why go to the theater?

The organizers of the Jewish Film Institute, whose 46th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will run July 16 to Aug. 2, acknowledge the challenge they face.

Still, they offer plenty of reasons for spending your time and money on their event.

Festival director Ash Cook uses a food metaphor to explain its value.

“Yeah, you can go out and find snacks,” he said. “You can eat whatever, you know, sort of junk food.”

Or you can eat conscientiously.

“If you want to know where your [movie] has come from, be able to get in contact with its makers, be able to understand it in a more deep and contextual way, a festival is one of the best ways to do that,” he said. “It’s a little bit more nutritious, filling meal.”

The attendees of this year’s SFJFF will eat well. This year’s festival features 65 films from 17 countries. That includes eight world premieres, a record for the festival.

Read more here.