Jewish cinema guide issued by San Francisco film festival

LOS ANGELES, April 7 (JTA) — When was the film “American Shadchan” first released? What city is the focus of the British film “Jewtown”? Who stars in “The King of Crown Heights”? These and most other questions about Jewish-themed movies are answered in the “Independent Jewish Film: A Resource Guide,” edited and published by the pioneering San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. The 172-page volume includes synopses of more than 400 films from 27 countries, cross-indexed by theme, nationality and distributor. There are step-by-step instructions on how to put on a Jewish film festival, articles on the state of the Jewish cinema in America and Israel, and a hilarious description of the first Jewish film festival in Moscow. The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is the oldest and largest of its kind in the world, producing 40 festivals in the last 15 years. The resource guide reflects its staff’s knowledge and experience. Copies of “Independent Jewish Film” are available from the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, 346 Ninth St., San Francisco, Calif. 94103. The telephone number is (415) 621-0556. The fax number is (510) 548-0536. The answers to the questions: “American Shadchan” was made in 1940; “Jewtown” is set in Cochin, India; and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher rebbe, played himself in “The King of Crown Heights.”