Story of a rabbi and his blowtorch a film fest short
It’s the classic story of a rabbi and his blowtorch.
The exploits of Berkeley’s Rabbi Ben-Tzion Welton, who kashers cafeterias and restaurants for the Vaad HaKashrus, is the subject of a brief documentary at this year’s Jewish Film Festival.
How brief? It runs only 208 seconds.
The short, “Kosher Cop” created by Leah Wolchok, was filmed on 16-mm black-and-white stock, and offers a brief glimpse of Welton’s hectic and unusual life.
It shows 1 p.m. Thursday, July 29, at the Castro Theater, 429 Castro St., S.F.; 9:15 p.m. Saturday, July 31, at Wheeler Auditorium, U.C. Berkeley campus; and 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, August 3, at Mountain View Century Cinema 16, 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View.
Information: (925) 275-9490, or www.sfjff.org.
Lesbian wedding then and now featured at film fest
In 2002, Berkeley-based filmmaker Bonnie Burt videotaped her friends’ Jewish commitment ceremony.
Two years later, J. Farrell Cafferata, a former administrator for Oakland’s Temple Beth Abraham, and Caren Jenkins were among the thousands of couples who were issued marriage licenses at San Francisco’s City Hall. They married at City Hall, and once again, Burt was there to document it.
Using footage from both ceremonies, as well as that of other gay and lesbian couples, Burt made “My Sister, My Bride,” a 26-minute documentary that will screen with two other shorts as part of “Mazel Tov! Lesbian and Gay Weddings,” an LGBT offering at the Jewish Film Festival.
It plays 12 p.m., Saturday, July 24, at the Castro Theater, 429 Castro St., S.F.; 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 2, at Wheeler Auditorium, U.C. Berkeley campus; and 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5, at Mountain View Century Cinema 16, 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View.
Information: (925) 275-9490, or www.sfjff.org.