Shorts: The Arts

San Jose film festival celebrates Israeli cinema

In celebration of Israel's 57th Independence Day, the San Jose Jewish Film Festival will host an Israeli film festival co-sponsored by the Israeli Consulate. "Celebration of Israeli Cinema" will be screened at Camera 12 Theatres, 201 South Second St., San Jose.

In "Turn Left at the End of the World" directed by Avi Nesher, an Israeli cricket team overcomes cultural differences in order to defeat the British. It plays 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, and Sunday, May 22.

"Campfire," directed by Joseph Cedar, explores the internal struggle of a woman who is attempting to relocate to a West Bank settlement. It shows 2 p.m. Sunday, May 22.

"Something Sweet," directed by Dan Turgeman, tells the story of an Israeli businessman who travels with his fiancée to a village in northern Israel where he falls in love with her sister. It runs 4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 22.

Information: (408) 998-3300.




Austrians to sing in Bay Area

Principal singers of the Vienna Summer Operetta Festival Company will perform three "Austria Friendship Concerts" in the Bay Area. The concerts include a performance by Vladmir Zagatzky, a Russian emigre, singing "Jerusalem."

The founder of the program, Gideon Sorokin, a Jewish philanthropist from Tiburon, was inspired to bring the musicians to the Bay Area while on a trip to Vienna, where his family fled the Nazis in 1938.

Performances will be held 8 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Presidio Interfaith Chapel, 130 Fisher Loop, San Francisco; 4 p.m., Sunday, May 15, at the Cupertino Senior Center, 21251 Stevens Creek Blvd.; and 3 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at Angelico Auditorium, Dominican University, San Rafael. Information: (415) 789-5305.




Elton John raises money for poor Israeli students

jerusalem (jps) | Elton John performed at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel recently to help raise funds for disadvantaged Israeli students at the annual benefit of the International Sephardic Educational Foundation.

The entertainer was one of several celebrities on hand for the benefit that raised more than $1 million for ISEF's programs, which provide millions of dollars in scholarships and educational materials to poor Israeli students from all ethnic backgrounds. ISEF was founded in 1977 by the late banking tycoon Edmond J. Safra and his wife, Lily, whose friendship with John occasioned the singer's attendance at the concert.