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Jewish Story Partners (Jsp), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit film funding organization, has announced its new slate of grants to 19 documentary film projects.

The org, which was launched in April 2021 with support from Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation, will distribute $490,000 among these independent films, all of which explore the vast and vibrant terrain of the Jewish storytelling space. The announcement coincides with Jewish American Heritage Month and a commitment from President Joe Biden’s White House administration to develop a national strategy to counter antisemitism and “address increasing awareness and understanding of both antisemitism and Jewish American heritage.”

Since its inception, Jsp has disbursed $2 million in funding to 72 documentaries telling diverse Jewish stories.

On the heels of previous Jsp-funded films that have premiered at Sundance — including Paula Eiselt’s “Under G-d,” Luke Lorentzen’s “A Still Small Voice” and Ondi Timoner’s Oscar-shortlisted and Emmy contender “Last Flight Home...

13 titles in Israeli Competition including eight world premieres.

Docaviv, the Israeli film festival for non-fiction cinema, has set the Israeli films for its 25th anniversary edition including a 13-strong main competition.

The 13 films – eight of which are world premieres – will compete for the best Israeli documentary award.

Scroll down for the full list of Israeli competition films

Docaviv will run from May 11 to 20 this year in Tel Aviv, screening 120 titles across the festival. 350,000 Nis in prize money will be available across the festival, including the 70,000 Nis award for best Israeli film.

World premieres in the Israeli competition include Inbal Perlmutter – If It’s Over,...

Arriving at an energizing time in American history (the arrival of a new administration looking to reset certain international priorities), Dror Moreh’s The Human Factor, which premiered at a few 2019 fall festivals––a time when Jared Kushner was tasked with solving piece in the Middle East––is an enlightening and engaging look at fragile peace processes the U.S. worked towards since the early ’90s. Israeli director Moreh, whose previous film The Gatekeepers explored his country’s internal security force, again allows subjects to pull back the curtain and speak freely on matters of importance to national security within and outside Israel’s boarders.

Here the focus is largely on American negotiators caught in the middle, often finding themselves negotiating as “Israel’s lawyer,” as interviewee Aron David Miller laments later in the in the film. The negations and steps towards Middle East peace and prosperity aren’t unilaterally tied to U.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced the lineup for its 34th edition, which takes place from Jan. 30 to Feb. 9. Sixty-three world premieres will debut at the California fest, which is also hosting 59 U.S. premieres from 48 countries. “Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy” will open the festival, with “Spoons: A Santa Barbara Story” closing it.

Sbiff also serves as an awards-season stop, and this year’s honorees include Viggo Mortensen, Glenn Close, Melissa McCarthy, Yalitza Aparicio, Sam Elliott, Elsie Fisher, Claire Foy, Richard E. Grant, Thomasin McKenzie, John David Washington, Steven Yeun, and Michael B. Jordan.

Here’s the lineup:

Babysplitters, USA – World Premiere

Directed by Sam Friedlander

Better Together, USA – World Premiere

Directed by Isaac Hernández

The Bird Catcher, Norway, UK – World Premiere

Directed by Ross Clarke

Cemetery Park, USA – World Premiere

Directed by Brandon Alvis

Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy,...

The film explores the birth of Israel’s controversial religious political party Shas in the 1980s.

The 35th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) opened on Thursday evening (July 26) with Israeli director Eliran Malka’s debut feature The Unorthodox, exploring the events leading up to the birth of Israel’s controversial religious political party Shas in the 1980s.

Festival director Noa Regev and Jff artistic director Elad Samorzik’s decision to select a picture by a first-time director with a religious background was seen as bold move given the festival’s traditionally secular atmosphere, but it appears to be have paid off.

Amir here. It’s been nearly five months since the Hot Docs Festival took place in Toronto – and we covered it for you right here – and one of the films that has really stuck with me ever since has been Dan Shadur’s Before the Revolution. I’ve really lived with this film, not only watching it a few more times since, but showing it to as many people as I could find with a listening ear for what a unique achievement it is. The film mostly revolves around the experience of the director’s parents as Israelis living in Iran before the Islamic revolution. It’s a concept that in today’s geopolitical climate, given the bitter relationship between the two governments, seems unimaginable but in a past not so distant, was easily attainable.

Shadur’s interviewees are comprised of Israeli expats, who knew his parents personally or otherwise...